So it’s been a while since I’ve written in this blog, eh? In my defense, the day job at Mashable keeps me pretty busy. I write day and night and don’t have much time to do my own personal writing. Having said that a MAJOR redesign effort is in progress as well as a better fusion between my various social media profiles.

It’s funny how life works. Four years ago, I was in school, contributing a column to USA Today and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. Today, I’m sitting in my office in Atlanta for what will be one of the last times, penning this entry, about to embark on a brand new adventure.

Grant and I are headed to New York! I will be working out of Mashable’s offices in New York City as of April 18, 2011. Grant has a great new job at the Daily Dot where he will be kicking ass and taking names and we’re both ready for a brand new adventure!

The move has been in the works for some time, basically since January, but we were thinking about it even before then. I’m so grateful and fortunate to have a partner like Grant. Not only is he moving with me, he’s handled most of the difficult aspects of the move itself. Seriously, Grant is my rock, my savior and my best friend.

With beginnings inevitably come endings and in addition to saying goodbye to Atlanta, my parents and Dunwoody Place (my home for like 9 years), the web is also being forced to say goodbye to Download Squad. In the wake of the Huffington Post acquisition, it just didn’t make sense to keep Download Squad (or as it was recently rebranded, Switched Download Squad) around. At least that’s what we think. Only the bean counters no for sure.

Download Squad may not have ever been the biggest or loudest site on the block, but it will always hold a place in my heart because it, along with TUAW, was where I started really writing about technology and software for the web. Moreover, it was where I met Grant. Grant and I met in October, 2007 and soon started doing a weekly video series together, the Squadcast. The show didn’t really take off but the chemistry between Grant and I did. It was also some of the earliest training I had for my work on Briefly Awesome (new name is forthcoming) with Dan Benjamin.

The web loses something with the shuttering of Download Squad, but I can’t help but find the timing almost fitting. Grant and I are headed for the big city to take on a new adventure. I can’t wait and I look forward to the future, getting married, living in Brooklyn and working in-person with all of my wonderful colleagues.

I loved by time at both TUAW and Download Squad and will always be grateful for the experience, the people that I met (most importantly, Grant), and the opportunities that have come my way as a result of my time with WIN.

So for two weeks now I’ve been at Mashable and I’m just so excited and overjoyed to be part of such a cool team. Sharon, Adam O., Jenn, Ben, Barb, Stan, Adam H., Tamar, Frederick, Brett, Josh and of course, Pete are all AWESOME. And I’m not lying. Hand linking all those Twitter accounts was a pain in the ass.

So I’m writing full-time at Mashable, doing The Flickcast and doing another project that I desperately want to discuss but must continue to keep silent about (it’s awesome, it’s movie related and it’s tons of fun). Here’s the important thing: I’m at the point in my life where I can actually say that I’m a full-time working writer.

The fact that I can say this at 26 is really, really amazing. Two years ago, when I was finishing school and trying to kind of decide what to do next, my end-goal (in the back of my mind) was to be able to carve a career for myself writing about technology or film or popular culture.

That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t love the opportunity to sell a screenplay or work on a television show (or hell, become the megalomaniacal studio boss that I’ve always fantasized about being — I really am only half-joking when I say I want to be Rupert Murdoch without all the evil — a Christina Media Empire would be freaking awesome), but realistically, in my heart of hearts, what I want to do — what I’m good at doing — is writing about the latest news, reviewing products and services and sharing my love of film, pop culture and technology with anyone willing to take the time and read my stuff.

I’m truly blessed that in two years, that has now started to become a reality.

Today is Labor Day in the US, and I have the day off. I’m upgrading our remaining Macs to Snow Leopard (life is busy and it hasn’t been easy to find time to do that sort of stuff) and just enjoying knowing that I have a great job and great people to work with tomorrow.

Not only am I lucky enough to get to do what I love, I have the most amazing, most supportive and most loving partner a girl could ask for. Somebody pinch me and tell me I’m not dreaming!

Out!

So Grant and I are driving this year. After last year’s hilarious, yet ultimately awesome snafu with the whole having to drive from Dallas to Austin with friends I made at the airport bit last year, it made more sense for us to drive this year. Especially when we booked our hotel in November, you know, before flights got so cheap. Le sigh.

The awesome, Corvida will be road tripping it with us, and we plan on having a blast. Chris, the brother of the AWESOME Kimberly, of Regator fame will be driving back with us. Geek trip!

OK, so I’ll be in Austin, God-willing, from Thursday — Wednesday. DM me on Twitter (@film_girl) so we can meet up if you’re in town.

Also:

Be sure to check out my StudioSX interview with skinnyCorp’s Jeffrey Kalmikoff on Saturday at 3:00 PM. You can also watch the video online afterwards, and I’ll be sure to pimp it out — you know, unless I royally fuck up or something. Just kidding, even if I fuck it up I’ll still pimp the hell out of it.

Victor is leading a Core Conversation about organically growing a fanbase and Grant and I will both be giving some of our thoughts.

I’ll also be moderating a panel on The Convergence of High-End Design, Fashion and Technology at 5 PM.

And of course, I plan on attending as many parties, meet-ups and drinking sessions as possible.

Oh — and because Grant has to have something attention-grabbing at anything he does, we created imamarketingjackass.com to coincide with his new brand: social media “expert.” Really, it’s just a play on all the people that brand themselves as experts in marketing or social media or this or that, but really have no qualifications or ideas on what is actually required. Plus, it matches his business cards. Which I also designed.

OK, my jeans are done, the reds are in the wash and I’m off to do like 50 other things.

See you in Austin!

Out!

First things first: Happy almost 2009! The last few months of my life have been CRAZY and the next 12 days look to be even more insane! I wish everyone a joyous and exciting 2009, with a special finger-crossed wish that the US housing industry gets back on-track (or at least, more on-track). My dad is a builder/developer, so I clearly have a personal connection to this whole crisis, but truly, the economy as a whole won’t be able to bounce back until housing gets out of the weeds.

But on to more pleasant topics:

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. Chritmas (Merry Christmas everyone!), working, packing and just yesterday — moving into a gorgeous, huge, awesome apartment with my one and only. We were originally scheduled to move on January 2 — thankfully we were able to take possession of our new unit early and move earlier.

I leave for Macworld 2009 on Sunday January 4, 2009. Wow, that’s like 5 says away. Freaky. I’m going on behalf of TUAW and I’m ecstatic that I’ll finally get to meet a bunch of my fellow bloggers in person for the first time!

The new apartment is awesome. It’s more than twice the size of our old place (where I lived for 5 and a half years — my entire early twenties were in that apartment!) but in the same complex and it has an amazing, amazing floorplan. I have photos that I’ll upload to Flickr as soon as I can find my camera adaptor. Still unpacking.

Anyhoo, New Years Eve is tomorrow night and I’ll be a mix of unpacking, packing and other such stuff until then. So I won’t be able to do my usual yearly New Year post (well, probably not), so I’ll just say it now:

Happy New Year!

26 Things I Learned (or re-learned) at 25:

1. Love can happen when you least expect it.
2. If you constantly settle for less, be it in work, friendships or relationships, you will ultimately never get what you deserve.
3. Twitter is awesome.
4. CHANGE is actually possible.
5. Django.
6. My instincts about people are usually more right than wrong.
7. Working with people from all over the country (or world) is rewarding and makes meeting in person that much better.
8. TV seasons during a writers strike totally blow. Even though I fully support the WGA, truncated seasons blow.
9. It is possible to make a movie based on a TV show that doesn’t suck (see, Sex and the City: The Movie and Get Smart).
10. Even if it doesn’t get to be my full-time career, film is still my ultimate passion.
11. Lisa is my Diana (or I’m hers — Anne of Green Gables reference). I love you Lisa!
12. Mac fans are freaky crazy. They’re awesome, but they are insane. I’m glad to be one of them.
13. The fluttering sensation of seeing my byline in print or online hasn’t disappeared.
14. Being in a healthy relationship underscores how dysfunctional my previous relationships really were.
15. Sometimes it is necessary to emotionally cut people out of your life. I’m better for it.
16. I can usually accomplish what I set-out to accomplish. Setting mental goals is important.
17. Losing out on something is OK. It can often lead to better opportunities.
18. Never underestimate the person on the other end of the phone or e-mail. He or she could change your life.
19. It is possible to grow at least two inches after turning 25. It’s fucked up and weird, but possible.
20. I CAN get too thin. I have to remind myself of this because when I start to look normal (now), I can’t mentally see myself as fat.
21. I love public speaking. I’m good at public speaking. I need to do more of it.
22. There are two Apple products one must never buy: The Mighty Mouse and the original in-ear earphones (the unreleased revision might be better).
23. The iPod Touch really does kick ass. Too bad AT&T sucks so much.
24. Humor is a necessary and important part of any relationship — personal or professional. If you can’t laugh, I can’t deal with you.
25. It’s OK to get personal on this site.
26. I’m grateful to be alive. And for me, this a huge statement.

Out!

Thank you. THANK YOU.

On Saturday, Grant and I officially celebrated our six month anniversary. Six months! I try not to write too much about my personal personal life here, but I’m making an exception because I am just so freaking in love. I have never been in a better relationship, nor a more wonderful person.

We started to kind of have feelings for each other at SXSW, but we didn’t act on it until after we got home — you know, wanting to make sure it was for real. It is for real. I am infinitely grateful to have him in my life.

2008 Emmy’s

Tonight, starting at 6 PM EDT, I’ll be one of the StyleListers liveblogging the Emmy’s pre-show for the new StyleList Blog (nee StyleDash). Tune in if you want to see, intelligent, funny and sassy coverage of what everyone is wearing.

For the last few years, I’ve liveblogged the Emmy’s at my old journal. Last year, I actually didn’t do it — because I was watching with someone else, but I tried to post about it using some of the Mac programs (it was how I first tried MarsEdit, though I have to be honest, ME is MUCH better at WordPress and other blogging engine than LiveJournal, at least when compared to the Windows standard, Semagic), and got just too frustrated.

I suppose you could say the Emmy’s was one of the final catalysts for me to start my actual website after years of just putting it aside. After doing work for other people, it is still insane that it took me so long to get my own public public outer-image intact.

Anyhoo, I’m uber-excited about both joining my other SLers to discuss the fashion at the Emmy’s. And I might pick up the actual show on this blog, depending on my stamina. I’ll say it right now, if the fucking Amazing Race wins best Reality Show again, I’ll go apeshit. Like, four years ago, back in the era of Colin and Christy (best race team EVER), fine, it made sense. But when you compare TAR against “Project Runway” and “So You Think You Can Dance” — shit, even “Top Chef” — it is just nuts. That PR didn’t win was totally unfair. And that Cat Deeley didn’t get a nod for Best Reality Host and SYTYCD didn’t get a nom for best reality show was the snub of the year. There, I said it. Heidi Klum or bust.

As for the real awards, I’m actually quite happy with most of the big award categories. I think “30 Rock” and “Mad Men” will probably win their respective categories. I’d prefer “Dexter” to win over the AMC thing, but I know where this is going and am OK with it. I mean, as long as “Two and a Half Men” loses, I’m happy.

John Adams will sweep the miniseries awards, just like it did at the Creative Emmy’s — but that is far from surprising. It is this year’s big HBO production. If it didn’t sweep that would be the travesty.

Part of me would like to see Christina Appelgate win just because I’m a sucker for a cancer story, especially when it happens to someone as genuinely funny and seemingly nice as Applegate. Kelly Bundy FTW. Though I think Tina Fey or Julia will take it. I’m actually fine with any of the lead actress nominees. The fact that Amy Poehler got a nod for SNL, for Best Supporting Actress comedy is pretty huge too. Like, whoa, what?

Anyhoo, I’m out for now.

Gretchen was a brilliant dog, she couldn’t be kept inside fence (she just tunneled underneath), looked both ways before crossing the street, and was perhaps too clever to be a dog. Someone picked her up from the construction site (my parents think she was lured with food, her weakness) and because she was an extremely well-bred dog from a lineage of champions, probably sold. Someone (probably the thief) even had the nerve to call my parents house (they put ads in the paper, went to where she was stolen, looked everywhere) to ask if they ever found their dog — mentioning that he found a female Doberman in the same area and “gave her away.”

I cannot even imagine the kind of pain my parents and my older sister must have gone through — losing the dog in that way. I know that the stories alone affected me, and I was a baby.

After Gretchen, my family went through a number of less than stellar dogs. There was King, the mean Doberman left to us by some rich guy that thought of my dad like a son. He was no longer a member of our family after growling at me — an experience I remember vividly as being kind of terrifying. There was Oreo, the Black Lab with the white stomach, that we found while at the lake and that my sister refused to let us leave without. Oreo was awesome, she was just a bit too feisty. When she jumped through our screened in porch, that was one thing. When she jumped through the neighbors (she saw my sister and I go over, we left through the front door — hours later she wanted to see us), she had to go to a new home. There were the bird dog puppies, Buck and Sugar, that I loathed because they were small and jumpy and scratchy. There were a few other bird dogs, including Jill, an old dog who was probably 10 or 11, who got out of the yard because our neighbor (who liked the dog because she was old and thus practically unable to move and “frighten” his children” and opened the fence between our houses to allow the dog to have more roaming space), left the gate to his carport open.

And then there was Shadow. Shadow was the first animal that was a pet to my entire family. My sister is six years older than me and even before Gretchen, had lots of different dogs (and even briefly a cat). My parents were married for 4 and a half years before having my sister and they too had pets. But Shadow was the first pet that was around to be enjoyed and loved by the entire family. Shadow was the ultimate family pet.

We got Shadow at the Humane Society in 1990, when my parents went out looking for Jill. I had just started second grade, and I remember coming home off the school bus and seeing the dog in the front yard. Like Gretchen (and Gretchen’s brother, mother and father — who also lived with my parents or my uncle at various times), she was a Doberman Pinscher. She was five and from a very nice family in Pennsylvania that had just moved to Atlanta and into an apartment. They loved her very much but were worried that such a large dog wouldn’t be comfortable in small quarters, so they gave her up. In actuality, she probably would have been just fine indoors, but their loss was our gain.

Shadow was smart, which is pretty common for Dobermans, but she was also extremely sweet and gentle. She was the perfect family pet. She could shake hands, which always impressed visitors, was impeccably behaved (save the two times she got out of the yard — both times she was caught by my cousins who lived a few houses down the street), well trained (she used the pine straw that lined the back fence to do her business and then buried it), she was perfect.

We had and loved Shadow for 8 years. She got on in age and had some kind of cancer (we could see the tumor in her stomach) and in October of 1998, when she was having a hard time even lifting her head, as a family, we took her to the vet and had her put to sleep. It was incredibly sad and painful and a sense of loss I had not experienced up to that point. I am thankful that the entire family was there when we put her down, holding her and telling her we loved her. She was, after all, our pet.

In January of 1999, we got Jamie. Now, 1999 was a pretty terrible year for my family for a variety of reasons. I was 16 and suffering my first debilitating major depression. Although I have suffered from Major Depression since I was a child, it was January of 1999 that things were so bad that I could not get out of bed. I just wanted to die. My parents felt helpless and the medication and doctor’s seemed incapable (or unwilling) to do anything. It was pretty awful.

My mom didn’t want another dog; she wasn’t ready and claimed (as she always claims) that after Shadow she did not want a pet at all. My dad, however, wanted another dog. My parents went to the Humane Society and found Jamie — a Black Lab who the vet estimated was between 1 and a half and 2 years old.

I remember being in bed, incredibly sick (I had bronchitis) and depressed and this dog barreling up the stairs. Shadow was terrified of heights so she never came upstairs, but Jamie was immediately at home. He licked my hand. And despite not wanting another dog, I was in love.

Jamie was not a smart dog. In fact, he was as dumb as they come. He would eat anything, had no sense, was scared by ladybugs, you name it. That said, Jamie was without a doubt, the sweetest dog our family ever had. He never growled at anyone, he never did anything but love us and love his pig’s ears. He could be a handful — like his penchant for tunneling out of my parent’s new house (they had to install an invisible fence) and his fear of the hardwood floors that kept him from coming inside the new house for almost a year. I wanted to take him to a dog psychiatrist or dog hypnotist and the family all said I was crazy. Now the Dog Whisperer has made a bajillion dollars and I don’t look so crazy.

Still, Jamie was wonderful. He was the sweetest most happy dog you could imagine. And we loved him. As Jamie got older and it became harder for him to walk up the steps of the deck to get into the house, he still remained a jubilant puppy.

Jamie died last night. My mom called me at 11:00 PM with the news. She and my father were of course, devastated. He had been a little sick the day before and had thrown up a few times that day, but initially they were planning on taking him to vet this morning for a visit. When he threw up again and seemed to be having trouble, they took him to the emergency room. He died as they got there. My mom said that he heard her voice, saying she loved him, wagged his tail and then died.

My dad thinks his kidneys shut down — which would make sense because he was drinking lots of water and throwing-up.

When Shadow died, as horrible and tremendously sad as it was, we were in a sense prepared. We saw her downturn coming and collectively as a family decided to put her to sleep. She probably would have passed on that same day or the next naturally, but we knew it was coming. Jamie came as a surprise. Sure, the dog was getting old, but his puppy-like nature never made it seem like he was aging.

As my mom said, I’m just glad they were with him and took him to the emergency room. I can’t even imagine them having to find him dead in the back yard this morning. That would just be too awful for words.

Our family had Jamie from January 1999 until now — so we had him for 9 and a half years — even longer than our beloved Shadow. And although I was in college and living on my own for the last 7 years or so, I was home often enough that he was still our dog.

People say that losing a pet is like losing a child or a parent — I think because they love you unconditionally in the same way; because they ARE part of the family. I cried last night more than I have cried in years. Our wonderful puppy, and the last “family” pet (if my parents get another dog, it will be theirs, not the families) is gone.

If you have read this far — thank you. I would normally do this sort of thing in my journal. But seeing as I don’t use that anymore, I figured I might as well use my site/blog. It’s not the type of stuff I normally write, but it’s real and it is my life, and I want to write about it.

I don’t have access to all of my old pictures from my last digital camera so I can’t include a picture of Jamie (I didn’t get any of him at Christmas for some reason), but here is a Black Lab that looks strikingly similar, and this will do until I can get a real shot inserted.

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p> I’ve wanted a new Blackberry for a long time, but I had to wait for my old contract to run out (or at least get to the point that I can get all the upgrade deals — that happened in November, but I was less set on a Blackberry then (this was pre-Twitter madness) and I was also holding out for either a better price (and to save up more money on my own). I ended up getting the Blackberry Curve 8320. It should be here on the 21st (President’s Day and all that), which is conveniently when my new billing cycle starts, so my new plan will start then too.

<

p> I ended up getting a pretty nice deal on the phone — the equivalent of what a new customer going through T-Mobile would get (going through a dealer you could get a better deal): $250 (after $50 mail-in-rebate) for a two-year contract. I could have only extended my contract for a year for an additional $50, but I just went for two. Some people might think that signing a 2-year agreement to save a mere $50 is stupid — but I’ve been with this company for SEVEN years, through two name changes (from Powertel to VoiceStream and from VoiceStream to T-Mobile). What can I say, I stay with a service I like, and I like T-Mobile. They are always incredibly helpful and NICE if I have to call them, they’ve given me a discounted rate plan for the last three years that is only now being offered to regular customers.

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p> The better deal, however, is on the rate plan. Even though T-Mobile charges more for their variation of the Curve than AT&T Wireless does (a new contract with AT&T would net me a refurb phone for $120, less than that if I went through a re-seller), T-Mobile is the better company when it comes to the service plan. For $60 a month (basically $10 more than what I pay now), I’ll get 1000 anytime minutes (the same as I have now, less the unlimited nights/weekends that I never come close to using anyway), unlimited data (and the Curve is EDGE and has built-in Wi-fi), unlimited text, unlimited e-mail. I haven’t used Twitter on my Razr because I hate the SMS system, but I’ll use it all the time on the BB. Plus having e-mail on my phone will be SO nice. AT&T’s closest plan would be $50 more a month. $50 more a month!! I’m sorry, but fuck that. I’ll pay $100 more for a phone (or even $200 more if you get one of the AT&T bundles) for the monthly savings.

<

p> So you ask, “Christina, you write for TUAW, you were in on the iPod revolution from the VERY beginning¹, why do you not have an iPhone?”

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p> The answer is simple: I loathe AT&T/Cingular/BellSouth Mobility/Whatever-name-they-have-now. The people are assholes. The contracts are overpriced. And I’m still mad about the billing fiasco from 2001. Yes, I hold grudges. But seriously, I also remember working in Wireless and granted, this was years ago, but I dealt with both halves of what is now AT&T and the people could always be counted on to be terrible. I deal with enough assholes, I don’t need to have my cell phone provider treat me like crap and overcharge me just so I can have an iPhone.

I mean, I think the iPhone is sexy as all get out, but the iPod Touch is a much more likely gadget for me at this point. I mean, I can get it in a 32 GB capacity. Reminds me, I need to make sure I can still trade-in my old-ass 3G iPod, I think I have until late March — gotta check and see if I can just get a Touch for it.

Here’s the thing, I would have an iPhone if using it with another provider didn’t require me to keep up with the hacking/dev community, leaving me unsure if my actual phone will work or not. Like, I don’t have a landline, I’m not willing to risk no access to a human voice (aside from Skype which is so not the same thing) just because some pimply faced virgin found an exploit in a baseband and got it to accept outside SIMs. And I’ll be honest, I’m all about hacking the shit out of my phone/toys/gadgets (I’ve been downloading updated firmware and customized stuff for my phones for years), but there is something innately troubling to me about the way these unlock hacks are developed. Like, I get wanting to program for the device — I think the SDK should already be available — but if I have to modify the bootloader and baseband of my communications device, a device which is a full functioning computer for many intents and purposes, I don’t really like having to do that. At least with the traditional unlocks it’s just people finding ways to access a legitimate system without being a dealer. Creating your own system is just not my bag, not for a cell phone — sorry.

/Rant (this is why I don’t ever post anything about the iPhone on TUAW; I have nothing of value to add and I have serious security qualms about the “hackers” (Erica excluded, of course).

Anyhoo, I’m very excited that I’ll be fully plugged into Twitter for SXSWi! Grant and I will be there (as will our trust producer/boss man/Yoda, Victor) doing video coverage for The Squadcast and Download Squad and I’m really looking forward to meeting some of my Twitter peeps in person.

Out!

1. Again, please keep in mind that that journal entry is 5 and a half years old — now I feel old — wow.