NicoleAdams09

Since Everyone is Asking

2010-02-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

To answer your questions, the Lunnys and others in the video had nothing to do with the financing, concept, editing or production of the video. They allowed me to film them but that's the extent of it. An acquaintance of mine who is a resident of Marin and has never met the Lunnys contacted me in October and suggested that I help them and they offered to help finance it. I'm building a business as a social media expert specializing in anti-smear campaigns so this was right up my alley.

As I began to research it I too became passionate about the cause and felt that the Lunnys had been treated really unfairly and I decided that a viral video that raised awareness and created a political constituency to support the Lunnys would be the right way to go. The video is factual and there is corroborating evidence to support all statements in it. It was never intended to be a journalist piece, though, it is a political piece designed to build support for the Lunnys.

The most significant part of the video is that for the first time, it uncovers hard evidence that there was a secret meeting between Bennett and the park service where it was decided to make it difficult for the Lunnys, something that Neubacher adamantly denied during the Inspector General's investigation. We have lots of footage of Ken Fox giving details of that meeting which could be construed as a conspiracy against the Lunnys - I'd ask Neubacher what he thinks of that, if I could!

Thanks,

Nicole

2009-11-01T11:11:00.001-08:00

There is a local Oyster Farm in Marin that needs all of our help. The Government is unfairly trying to shut them down through lies and scientific misconduct.

Randy and I with the help of friends have a created a preliminary website, it will continue to be edited and modified. I encourage all of my friends and family to read through this site.

Please learn the Facts and help us spread the truth. Here is what is at Stake http://drakesbayfamilyfarms.com/at_stake/ The Lunny's are being unfairly treated,they are from generations of local farmers- salt of the earth sort of family. Hard working and all around amazing people.

If you follow my status updates or my tweets then you realize that I don't sit back, I get involved in different causes that are near and dear to my heart. This one especially has caught my attention. It is going to take all of us and a small miracle to get these government agencies to stop spreading untruths and misguiding the science in order to Save The Farm.

We were written up in todays New York Times.

Please be part of the Small Miracle Sign-up to learn more and hear what is going on at the Farm.

Many Thanks,
Nicole

JobTrain Trainee of The Month Celebration

2009-10-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the Trainee of the Month Celebration. It is amazing to me no matter how many times I walk in through the doors of JobTrain that almost each time I am brought to tears. The stories of trials, tribulations and accomplishments, from all aspects of JobTrain are always inspirational. These stories range from the Founder all the way to the students they help.

Sharon Williams the Executive Director told a wonderful story about a man named Leo Sullivan who was a Reverend in a Church from Northern Philly. Over 40 years ago a despaired Leo was frustrated that his peers were never hired for jobs in any successful large company. One that stood out was Tastey Cakes. This was a time when urban rioting was at an all time high. So the Reverend set up a protest against Tastey Cakes, for not hiring any of the African Americans in their community. The head of Tastey Cakes, said "we would be happy to hire people from our community", so they did. Within a matter of weeks they had to let go of the new hires. I thought to myself why would they do such a thing, when they had just helped so many people.

They hired a bunch of people that had no skills, no training or experience, so it made sense they had to let them go. Leo Sullivan was a man who always said "Motivation without Preparation causes Frustration". He then realized that he needed to do more then just locate jobs for his peers, and that he needed a place to educate, train, and prepare them for new tasks they would preform at a new job. He then raised funds to turn a old jail house into OIC.
OIC was named that because during Leo's fundraisng efforts, he kept telling the prior story and his prospective donors would respond, "Oh I see"!! Leo soon after he created OIC in Pennsylvania, met a man named Father John Sweeny who was going through a similar situation in East Palo Alto he heard of OIC so together Father John Sweeny opened OICWest or just OICW. It was founded in Menlo Park over 40 years ago and is known today as JobTrain.

Over time I have been able to witness Graduations, Food Contests inside the Culinary Arts program, and once a month the Trainee of The Month Celebration. They award it to a person that exhibits great leadership skills, one that has overcome many obstacles to be where they are today. They have the qualities that embody what it will take to hold down a job after graduation. This month's award went to Margarita D'Evers from The Culinary Arts program. She was also awarded for her 100% attendance along with 29 other JobTrain students. It was such a great day hearing all the stories. It makes me so proud to be part of such a great organization.

Write about What you Like

2009-10-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have recently been inspired to write again, Thanks to Seth Simonds. http://sethsimonds.com/ He told me that having lots of kids was no excuse. "Update Your Blog Woman" were his exact words. Write about what you like. So here I am, giving it another shot.

I honestly just really felt who wants to read what I have to say. I really don't consider myself an Authority on any one topic and thus the reason for the lull in my creative writing.

Most (writer's) Blogger's present their opinions, angles, spins, truth's in such a expert way, which made me feel disconnected and unworthy of people's attention. Since this is not my approach. Seth's point to write about what you like is what stood out the most. It made me realize that I don't have to be like the others, just as long as I'm writing about what what I like and what I'm passionate about in my own words the rest will just fall into place.

I plan on writing about People, Relationships, kids, Experiences, Green Tech, Food, Comedy, Wine, Running, Social Capital,and Charitable Causes. These are all things that I enjoy about living and learning. Thanks Seth for getting me out of my shell and back into sharing and connecting with others. I look forward to Aquathon and watching you boogie!!!

JobTrain Graduation

2009-06-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE JobTrain

Contact: Kail Lubarsky

Development & Marketing

Manager

650.330.6569

JOBTRAIN SPRING GRADUATION: TODAY, JUNE 11, 2009

Menlo Park, CA Ð JUNE 11, 2009 Ð JobTrainÕs graduation is unlike those typically covered in
the media. Our graduates have overcome extraordinary and unconscionable barriers ranging
from homelessness, parental abuse, poverty, debilitating illnesses, substance abuse and even
incarceration. Yet, despite their amazing and brilliant achievements Ð theyÕre efforts-- and even
well-deserved 15 minutes of fame Ð are eclipsed by conventional graduations which are always
covered in the media.

The JobTrain graduation is parallel to none; and will occur tonight, June 11, 2009 at 7
oÕclock. Our graduates would be honored and more importantly, obtain a greater sense of
purpose and self value if youÕre there to acknowledge their success.

Resultant of the protracted economic crisis and statewide 9% unemployment rate, JobTrain will
graduate its largest class at St. John Missionary Baptist Church this evening. Exactly 239
students will receive Certificates of Program Completion at JobTrainÕs 17th annual graduation
ceremony.

JobTrain, established in 1965 under the OIC of America affiliation, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational
and vocational training institution. We provide services to disenfranchised residents of East Palo Alto,
east Menlo Park and areas of Redwood City. WeÕre fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools
and Colleges and provide impactful programs structured to eradicate the pervasive cycle of homelessness,
welfare, unemployment, substance abuse and crime Ð all of which are insidious throughout these
communities.

JobTrain is founded on the belief in the potential in every human being. We believe that through training,
encouragement and inspiration, our trainees will become self-supporting and thriving members of society.
Throughout our history, weÕve reached 130,000 people with transformative and impactful programs. In
2008 approximately 4,500 clients participated in a variant of programs ranging from Culinary Arts to Solar
Panel Installation to becoming a Health Care Professional. Since our inception 44 years ago, our
philosophy has remained intact: Provide our clients with a hand up Ðnever a hand-out!

WHAT: JobTrain 17th Annual Graduation

WHERE: St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 1050 Bay Road East Palo Alto

WHEN: June 11, 2009 at 7:00p.m.

09 is Rolling In!

2008-12-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks have been a blur. I felt like the days went screaming by. There was so much going on that I really felt more stressed out then festive. It took me longer to get into the Holiday Spirit!

I did however have a free afternoon about a week ago where I was able to meet a friend for lunch, drinks and shopping! I met her on twitter. We would @ each other about our runs; what was a good recipe for a nasty cold! We also figured out that we knew some of the same people... small world.

Randy and I braved the awful holiday airport craziness to head to LA on Sunday. It was worth it, not just because we had the opportunity to see a run thru of Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome America", but because it was great to take a few days and do nothing. It was an early Christmas gift to myself. I literally sat in bed almost the entire day ordering room service, watching movies and donating to the Ronald Mc Donald House in all my family members name! It took me like 2 hours! I have a big family!!

With the end of December around the corner and '09 rolling in, in a few days I always wonder why people make New Years resolutions that they never keep! I don't have any! I do however, in July during my Anniversary weekend, sit down with my husband and write out goals for the year, some personal and some for our family. We have been doing this now for 9 years! It works for us! I usually set my goals realistically! Like family dinners at least 3x a week (with teenagers playing sports that is realistic)!

I do hope '09 is a good year! Not that '08 was bad, because it was not! I just would like to see the economy start to recover. i don't like watching the news and learning more people have lost their jobs or there house.

Nothing is a joy..

2008-12-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there is so much happening with 5 boys in the house, holiday plays, celebrations, play dates, church, etc. that the weeks just scream by and before you know it, it is the weekend again. Things seem then to slow down a bit then and sometimes you have a day when you get to do practically nothing - and it is a joy to slow down just for a moment.

Today we did nothing - well not really. We got up early with the boys, sat with them, played with them, cooked for them, made gingerbread cookies with them, sat around the dinner table with them, enjoyed them. It was not all perfect - at times they were totally bored out of their minds and whined to go out and buy some video games or go to lunch but we stood firm - this was going to be a "nothing" day. Our 14 year old complained that he was bored and set a countdown timer to when he was going to get to go to his Grandma's, 18 hours, 23 minutes, 15 seconds and counting. We ignored it. We turned on the TV for a while - it was a Will Ferrell marathon on KOFY - first Anchorman then a few minutes of Taladega Nights.

We took showers late, never left the house and spent the entire day boring our kids out of their minds. Now they are all in bed but the countdown timer continues to tick off the seconds and we're about to head out to a date night in LA tomorrow, but no matter how fun and exciting tomorrow will be, we will always treasure the nothingness of today.

guest post by Randy Adams

Getting Ready for LA!

2008-12-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Randy came home recently from a Funny or Die board meeting and asked me if I wanted to go to LA to see a run through of what will become Will Ferrell's Broadway show where he will be impersonating George Bush!

A Message from George W Bush by Will Ferrell

I looked at him and said "Do you really have to ask?" Of course I would love to see Will again. This not the easiest task to pull off. Randy and I have 5 boys at home so finding care for them is not always easy! We are totally blessed with the best help ever and no I am not giving out name or numbers - they are all mine!!! We now have childcare lined up, and I just receieved a confirmation e-mail that we are dining at Craft at 6PM before the 8:30 show - yummy!

Should be a wonderful time and I am very thankful to be able to do it.

Busy, Busy Day!

2008-12-12T23:09:00.000-08:00

I knew earlier in the week that Friday was gonna be a busy busy day! I started to feel a bit under the weather on Tuesday and knew that I better get some rest so I wouldn't miss all the festivities on Friday!

Friday started with the baby waking at 4AM, (thanks Randy for getting up with Nate!) After Nate went down for a nap, Randy made all the kid's lunches and got Nick ready for his 8:10 AM drop.

Later I begged Evan to wear nice clothes for his Holiday Sing, he said "No" because Nick wore sweats! I said "Ev, go put this on now", and ran and packed Nick a change of clothes which I later gave him to change into at school. Nick was so cute "But Mom, I wore a khaki shirt! "

So Randy and I went to Evan's sing at 10:30AM, it was fun, Evan's favorite song was Feliz Navidad! Then we ran home and changed. Then headed to the Searchme Holiday Party.

The Searchme party was GREAT! I felt it was so important to get us all together for once, since we have two offices one Mt.View and another in SF. We had about 45 people there, with great wine and great food! Randy told me to interview everyone, but I didn't have time, I had to hightail it to Nick's sing, where he was so happy to sing along with his classmates. Even though this is probably my 20th Holdiay Sing between a blended family of 7 kids - it was still so special!

I was a little sad I missed Randy's Holiday toast back at the party, but I was able to get back to the party while everyone was just sitting down to eat! There were great conversations of both work and personal life. It was a very perfectly planned event, Thanks Dinah!

Our day was not over yet, next we needed to get Nick, take him to a birthday party and Randy still had a one hour radio interview to do! Nick had a great time at his party and Randy nailed his interview and now we have put all the kids to bed (by 10:48PM) and although our day was full and wonderful, it's time to call it a night and be thankfull for all the great things today!

My fish died!

2008-12-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

So this posting is a little personal! I bought fish for all the kids almost 6 years ago this Christmas! I remember bringing the tank and picking our fish and taking them to the checkout stand like it was yesterday.
The reality is that yesterday our family fish died! The worst part is, it is my fault, Nathan pulled out the plug to the filter (how they get their oxygen) and I plugged it back in. I accidentally plugged it into the timer, not into the actual wall socket!
When i woke up the next day they were no longer living! Randy woke up at, 4AM and tried so hard to get them to respond like he had done several times in the past. This time there was no response. I have to say I am really bummed! We loved our fish, they were part of our family!

What do you want for Christmas!

2008-12-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

I have received several calls in the last couple of days from family members asking what we want for Christmas. We for several years have been asking our extended family to please not buy us gifts. The amount of stuff (plastic) we get is ridiculous. Last year we asked our family to donate money to the Ronald Mc Donald house under our name. We decorated our tree with pictures of the kids and their families. We placed all the receipts and letters when people donated in our name on our tree!

It was great to see our children share there blessings with others. The Grandparents still bought a educational gift for each child and we obviously still bought them some gifts. It brought tears to my eyes when my 7 year old asked can we give our gifts to the kids at McDonalds again.

Since the economy is down and we are all feeling it, Randy and I will donate to the Ronald McDonald house in Everybody's name who donated for us last year as their gifts!

We will ask this year for the Grandparents to give family experiences instead of individual gifts! A trip to the movies, or a lunch out. No matter what, when we say no gifts, they buy them anyway, and say that's what Grandparents do!

Holiday Parties Have Arrived!

2008-12-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last night Randy and I attended the Kleiner Perkins Holiday Party at the Circus Club in Atherton! It was a beautifully planned event and it was an honor to be invited! The food was great, and bars were set up in every corner. Decorated Christmas trees invite you in, but the question of who is in the room keeps you there. Wine and champagne were flowing. All the valley luminaries were there and I wondered who would I run into next, would it be Al Gore, or would it be my husbands poker buddies?

It was great to see Vice President Gore , but really it was great to see the poker buddies standing in a corner laughing and not caring who might be walking by! They enjoyed each other and catching up, asking each other about the kids and the family. The beauty is they see each other often. Once a month they will meet up and play a few games of poker and they've been doing it for the last 22 years!

I was really happy to run into Ron Conway, because I think he is a man with integrity. Being around the Valley for last 12 years I have learned there are some really amazing men here, and Ron is one!

I was a little sad there was not a gift bag like last year. Yes, I am shallow! I use my Bloomenergy mug from last year almost everyday! I also loved our matching KP scarf and KP tie that we got last year too, oh did I mention they gave us wine too? No really it was a great party this year, but last year was hard to beat!

Bird in the Living Room

2008-11-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Around noon today, I heard a strange chirping coming from our living room. Yes, a bird had flown in from outside and was perched on our silk sofa. Droppings! He jumped. More droppings. He landed on a velvet pillow. More droppings. On to the coffee table. More droppings. This bird had more active bowels than my grandpa on prunes. Unbelievable. I screamed for my husband (who had left the door open and was to blame for this mess), he came running in, summed up the situation and said as only a MIT graduate can say: "A Bird!" duh! Obviously this had happened to him before because he said: "Do you have a broom?" Yeah, like I carry one around! The bird must have done this before too, because he immediately took off for the heights of the ceiling while my husband ran off to do a Google query on removing bird from a living room. Fortunately the bird found the open door and left before we could effect any harebrained scheme for his removal.

Why do I tell you this? Because it reminded me of 3 weeks ago when I listened to Al Gore at Web 2.0 as he eloquently talked about how we are melting the polar ice caps and completely clueless about it. I thought that we are the mirror image of the bird out of his environment, pooping on couches and flirting with death. We are pooping on the ice caps with our carbon based fuels, and we are in actuality, more peril than that dumb bird in our living room, except that we don't have the sense to recognize it and solve it. I harped at my husband so much after I listened to Al, that he hooked our former VP up with the VP of comedy, Will Ferrell to make a video that maybe, through humor will wake people up to the fact that we are destroying our world in our lifetime.

Wednesday I have the honor of attending a party where I might just get a chance to talk to Al one on one. I wonder if I'll have the nerve to talk about that bird.

Electronic Wish List!

2008-11-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning inspired by the new searchme.com shopping button! After reading about all the craziness of Black Friday, I figured there has to be an easier way to find what I'm looking for and I think I found it.

Since I have 5 brothers and one sister and 4 sons of the electronic age, I figured making an electronic stack would be the way to go! I was so excited about my findings that I jumped the gun and bought myself a new Flip camera from Zappos.com! I like Tony (Zappos CEO) he is a nice guy (see picture of me with him - I'm on the right), so happy to give him my business! Alfred is a nice guy too if you don't already you should follow them on Twitter.com (zappos)(alfred_zappos) - they crack me up!

I shared my stack with some friends and family and am so excited to see that Searchme added my stack to the featured section of the homepage.

Searchme

View in searchme: full | lite

IDate!

2008-11-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

To tell you the truth when I think about romance I NEVER think about computers, do you? But I have to tell you that tonight my husband's iPhone set the stage for a very romantic evening. We were getting pedicures - yeah, he didn't want to go with me but I forced him to sit beside me and feel awkward while I enjoyed myself.

He had just downloaded his latest iPhone app, OpenTable, and was fiddling with it trying not to notice the small woman working on his feet. He was looking for a place for us to have dinner, using the GPS and he kept telling me we had to go to Scott's Seafood, not our usual place. He said the program kept suggesting it so we HAD to go there. Somehow a iPhone picking my dinner spot sounded less than romantic,and but he had been a good sport with the pedicure so I humored him and agreed.

I'm sure glad I did because when we arrived, the hostess escorted us to a very romantic half circle booth that usually seats four, but she said it was very romantic and moved our place settings very close to each other. We discovered, much to our suprise that the wine list contained half bottles of our very favorite wine, not usually found anywhere else, and we toasted each other, happy to be finally alone after a kid and friend filled Thanksgiving week.

Six oysters and a prawn cocktail later we were totally relaxed and having a wonderful time, very romantic and totally unexpected. It was great, I can hardly wait to see what the iPhone has in store for our next date night!

2008-11-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

I was sitting on the couch with my sons wondering how others will spend this Holiday weekend. How many of us will jump on a plane to visit family and how many of us will spend it alone?

As I sat on the couch with my little boys I was overwhelmed with emotion. If I were to try to express it in one word it might be peace. For that moment I was content! I felt none of my everyday stresses of being a mother, wife and volunteer! I just felt like it all made sense and my reward for my work was sitting there on the couch laughing, making weird sounds, not really knowing how incredibly lucky and loved they were!

As we sit in the comfort of our homes, others are without family, love, warmth or food and that makes me sad! It also make me want to find and fill a need. I want to find a way to really give of myself, If you have any suggestions please comment here or send me an e-mail Nicoleadams2005@gmail.com Feel free to send me links to sites that are giving back to their communities and I will add them to my blog and tweet them.

-Nicole Adams

Going Viral!

2008-11-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

Today I was sitting on the Bike at the gym, when I read the Tweet John Furrier sent out of his blog post, http://tinyurl.com/6o3gse After reading it I felt inspired to help him get the word out. Please use your blog, myspace, facebook, twitter account or even digg his blog post so we can make this happen for these kids!

I believe that with the help of our communities we can do this! Even if you don't have the money right now to contribute you can still make a difference by getting this campaign viral! Email the link above! We saw how powerful social media tools can be for Obama's campaign now I'm hoping that we can use it for these kids!

We will have to bug John to blog about the kids and their journey! I truly thank you for your time and you can also follow me on twitter by going here http://twitter.com/NicoleAdams

-Nicole Adams

First Blog Post Ever!

2008-11-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

So, after a lot of consideration I decided to start a blog. I have been thinking about doing this for almost 8 years but always felt I was not a writer and no one would want to read what I wrote. I obviously have changed my mind, not because my writing skills have improved but because it just seems like the right thing to do. Every since I met my husband almost 12 years ago I became obsessed with business and technology and the way things work here in the Valley!

Being married to Randy Adams CEO of searchme Inc., taught me so much about business and technology , it's been like the best internship ever living next to a man that has been a part of so much that has gone on in Silicon Valley for the last 20+ years. It would take up the rest of my blog post to give his background so I decided to skip that and give you a link to his profile in case you give a hoot! http://www.linkedin.com/in/randyadams

So over the last decade or so I have added on to my family, with a blended family of 7 kids and a love and for latest greatest happenings in the valley, but not in a valleywag sort of way. I already know people are human! Plus if you work hard you should play hard, given you do it in a responsible way! In this blog I plan on talking about my favorite sites and why and updating you on the inside scoop for searchme.com, funnyordie.com and what ever site ends up on my radar, plus the craziness that goes on raising such a large family!

-Nicole Adams