Nice...

Best. Commercial. Evah.

GOT.

HTC EVO 4G



Make no mistake, this phone is badass. A beautiful 720p screen with HDMI output, rear-facing 8MP camera with dual-LED flash, front-facing camera for videoconferencing, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB internal memory, GPS... all of the things that I wanted in a phone plus more. And, a reliable network to boot.

The most common reaction from all my friends has been "OMG ! Why did you dump your iPhone ?!" They could not believe that I didn't upgrade to the similarly-awesome iPhone 4. When I inform them of my reason, they understand fully, with no further explanation needed:

It was the network.

The AT&T network flat-out sucks ass almost everywhere I go. There is no other way to describe it.

It doesn't work at the gym. It doesn't work at the mall. It is choppy in certain areas of my house. I could be standing right next to Danny, who has Sprint; he would have 4-5 bars, and I would have none. No service. Lovely.

The dealbreaker was when I was late getting into work one morning. That particular day, I had gone to the store to get Daniel some Gatorade for his upset stomach, which meant I would be late for my meeting. I dialed into the meeting at home (which involves calling the number and entering in a 9-digit code) and then started driving to the office.

The call was dropped twice in this 11-mile journey, requiring me to pull my car over to the side of the road and dial back in. TWICE ! Complete loss of signal and complete disconnection of the call.

It was then that I decided that I was done with AT&T.

I admit to being somewhat sad at my final decision. The iPhone 4 is a great phone, very similar to the EVO but without the 4G network support. And being one of the early adopters of the original iPhone 2G, the choice to leave the Apple nation was a painful one.

Perhaps someday, when Apple gets their heads out of their asses and decides to allow their hardware to be used with Sprint, I will go back.

I just need a phone that works on a reliable network, everywhere I like to go. The iPhone 4 on AT&T's network simply could not fit that bill. And the HTC EVO with Sprint could.

That is what's most important, isn't it ?

UPDATE: For those who are wondering, I didn't actually "ditch" my iPhone 2G. It's in my glove box, happily serving as a car iPod. It's great for when satellite radio is playing crap.

Good Luck ? Really ?

This past weekend, Danny and I returned to Monterey, CA to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary.

We loaded up our bicycles and biked the stunningly beautiful beach portion of the 17-mile drive. We walked around Cannery Row. We went back to Lover's Point, the gorgeous setting where we said our vows in front of our closest family and friends. And we made reservations at the Chart House restaurant, where our reception was held - the most awesome steakhouse, with superb food and stunning, sweeping bay views.

Walking towards Chart House, hand in hand, we were dressed to the nines. It was a fancy place, and this was a very important celebration. We were almost to our destination, when I heard a smacking sound from above. And then, something hit me.

It was bird shit.

Yes, that is right. I got shit on by a wayward bird, splattered when the shit hit the power lines above me, all down my shoulder and some in my hair, while on the way to celebrate our first anniversary.

Some say that it is good luck to get crapped on by a bird, but I wasn't feeling fortunate at that particular moment. I raced to the bathroom of the restaurant, and soaked myself with soap and water, removing the nasty, stinky excrement from my fancy blouse and hair.

Problem solved, and we had a lovely dinner, with the best filet mignon we have ever tasted in our lives. Plus a heavenly lava cake dessert, given to us for free by the restaurant staff.

The celebration of the beginning our lives together was well worth the bombing outside of the restaurant. I am just hoping against hope that the bird poop good luck charm lasts for a lifetime, and does not need to be renewed every year.

101 Uses for an Ex's Wedding Dress

This is both sad and hysterically funny at the same time. I haven't decided whether to laugh or to feel sorry for the poor guy and his two kids that had their worlds turned upside-down, but this guy definitely has a creative side.

Click the "Launch" button on the right-hand side to view the gallery.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37339251/ns/today-today_weddings