REBOOT.

I was in the middle of another romantic epiphany blog when it happened again. Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” suddenly went into an impromptu techno remix that only played one note, my mouse no longer worked… and then.. there it was.

The Blue Screen of Death.

I first saw the Blue Screen of Death last November. I didn’t really think too much about it. Just figured it was one of those buggy things that PC’s got every once in a while. So I upgraded my firewalls, upgraded my virus protection, and went about my own business. But then it happened again sometime mid February. And again in April. The Blue Screen of Death was becoming far too regular a visitor to my beloved laptop.

Ordinarily, I would just take Hewlett (my computer), to my buddy Erick and let him tinker with him until he was back in working order. But, I wasn’t in Tampa, and had no plans to travel in the immediate future. So I took Hewlett to the boys over at the Geek Squad to see if they could figure out what was wrong with him.

The diagnosis was bleak.

Hewlett was simply running out of memory and running out of time. Sure, I could buy an external hard drive and milk him a little while longer, but there was no telling when he would surf his final web page or simply give out on me. Here I was, a girl born and raised from the grassroots of internet message boards, and I could barely keep a solid WIFI connection, let alone multitask without sending Hewlett into an electronic seizure. And with all the craziness I had coming up in my schedule, I couldn’t afford to be caught on the road with no access to cyberspace. It was time to face a harsh reality. Hewlett had simply become outdated.

Hewlett and I have seen a lot of adventures (and misadventures) over the past few years. I got him as a Christmas gift from my parents the year I started writing for Sports Illustrated, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. He has seen me through the good times, the bad times, and all the ones in between.

How was I supposed to part with something that had been such a huge part of not only my professional success, but my personal life over the past four years?? Sure his “G” key was a little busted, his speakers were a little rusted, and his memory was at times a little fuzzy, but he always got the job done. We knew the airport security drill like the back of our hard drives, and had become masters of pirating our way through random WIFI connections. But what now?

Hewlett wasn’t the only one feeling the strain the past few years had put on our lives. Between my shooting schedules, upcoming projects, charity work, and meetings, I barely have enough time to sleep let alone take care of myself. And that’s while I was single. My relationships over the past few years had been even more draining, some of course far more than others. I dunno, maybe Hewlett was trying to tell me something. MALFUNCTION: NEED INPUT. Maybe I needed something else in my life. A change, a fresh… something. Maybe it was time.. to say goodbye.

I’m proud of the things I have accomplished in the short four years since that fateful Monday night. People can say I haven’t accomplished much, or downplay the victories I have had, or better yet attribute all my success to cleverly crafted cleavage… but I think they’d be shortchanging me if they did. As some of my colleagues have pointed out on numerous occasions, I wasn’t born into this industry. Nor did I have any real formal training. People work their entire lives to do a fraction of what I have done merely a few years. I was thrust into it overnight, by luck. Ran with it, by chance. And never looked back, with hard work and dedication.

That’s not to say I haven’t had a few missteps along the way. After all, with no fancy publicists, agents, or managers until recently.. I’ve done most of it by myself and the help of a few trusted friends and family. Sure, I will put my foot in my mouth a time or too but I’ve always said I am so much more eloquent on paper. Hewlett has spell check.. grammar check. And a backspace key. Really, what more could a girl ask for?

My parents arrived this week to help me get things in order and make final preparations for the big things ahead of me. After I coerced my dad into reprising his role as Tim the Tool Man Taylor and installing a new air conditioner in my future apartment.. I gave him an even bigger task: One last ditch effort to save Hewlett. My dad is pretty nifty with computers, but something in the back of my mind said this job was just too big for any of us to handle.

As we backed up all of Hewlett’s memories, part of me couldn’t help but get a little nostalgic. There I was…. meeting Brent Musberger in Eugene, Oregon. Shaking & Baking with Tony Stewart and the boys of NASCAR. Falling in love and touching the Ivy on the Walls of Wrigley. There were pictures intermixed of boyfriends past. The ones that were better off friends, the ones that got away, and the ones I couldn’t seem to get .. to just go away. Then, there they were. The infamous screen captures that started it all: The birth of “The Cowgirl.” I couldn’t help but laugh at how things had changed in the past four years. From short shorts and cowboy hats, to power suits and couture dresses. The ‘lil Cowgirl was all grown up. I guess we all have to at some point, right?..

While perusing through the photos I stumbled upon a folder name I didn’t recognize. GHSMB2002. Hm.. that’s weird. I opened the folder.

Sure enough, it was the old me. The one before the plastic surgery, the one before all the heartbreak. The girl who was a hopeless romantic, a prolific piano player, and had one of the biggest cheese grins you have ever seen.

Then it dawned on me.

WTF was I thinking?!?!?!?! I couldn’t disassemble Hewlett. He had served me well, and I was just willing to throw in the towel.. just like that. I don’t think so!!!

NO DIS-ASSEMBLE HEWLETT!!!!!!.........

So, countless hours later, with a new partitioned hard drive and lord knows what other miracles my dad had worked on the operating table, we managed to buy Hewlett a second lease on life. It wasn’t quite starting over per se, because we’d always have our memories and the occasional glitch here or there. But at least we had a fresh blank screen to work on.. a new hard drive. External hard drive for the old memories.. but a place to start anew and keep the good times coming. Then I thought, maybe it was time to shut down my own operating systems for a little while, and reboot myself too.

Sometimes you just have to start life over with a blank screen and leave the past right where it belongs… behind you, whatever hardships it may entail. Otherwise, you could look around one day and find yourself.. well, extremely outdated. I wasn’t about to tear apart all the hard work I had done in the past five years, only tweak it so I could build upon it to start a new chapter. The road ahead wasn’t going to be an easy one.. but I was prepared to do just that.

Please Stand By Ladies and Gentlemen…..

Jenn 2.0 is LOADING.. .. .. .. ..

The You Tube Lecture Video making the internet rounds...again

ADMIN UPDATE:

Well, it's obviously that slow period between football major events...the NFL draft is over, college ball is entering that summer dead time before players "officially" report to school..god knows the NBA can't end fast enough for me and MLB?...yawn..wake me up in October for that one...or don't, I could care less..

That being said, it never ceases to amaze me how other people will then spend their spare time anyway. Apparently, one solution for these geniuses is to drudge up 2 year old You Tube videos and try to pass them off as new content!!

My Admin Gmail account has been hit these past two days with Google Alerts regarding Jenn and some bloggers reporting on this "incredible find". This particular video was posted Wednesday on one blog site as "new content". That of course got picked up by the mental giants at other larger sites and is now being reported in multiple places. While Jenn could actually give a crap about any of this, I, on the other hand, am significantly bored (see first paragraph above) and feel like responding. So here we go!

Lets start with facts....I know this concept is foreign to most of these bloggers and their fans, but...THIS VIDEO CLIP IS OVER TWO YEARS OLD! Don't take my word, go look it up on You Tube...Jenn wrote about it on her blog in April 2006. If you don't feel like reading that post, in a nutshell, here is what you are really seeing online:

1) She was invited, while still a student at FSU, to present an hour long speech and Q&A session to a student public relations class on the topic of "Representation of Women's Bodies in Cyberspace". The professor thought, given Jenn's personal dealings with her sudden rise to internet popularity while still a student, with the Maxim and Playboy issues being released that month, that she was in a perfect position to share her views and experiences with the class.

2) That same day, a reporter and film crew from the Tallahassee Democrat (the local newspaper) were following her around campus for a "Day in the life" segment about the local girl and the buzz surrounding the upcoming magazines being released.

3) When the Democrat heard she was going to do the class that night, they decided on their own to film the whole 1 hour event. What got posted to You Tube were small clips of the Q&A session where she was answering questions asked by other classmates. None of it was planned to be spread all over the internet. The Tallahassee Democrat posted these clips originally with the article that ran. They of course got posted to You Tube (and of course without the Democrat credit or logo, they were conveniently chopped off). Since all of this is over TWO YEARS OLD, the links on the Democrat website we originally posted are no longer active. But, since I'm a great Admin, I uploaded a copy of the original Tallahassee Democrat article for all to enjoy.

So it's that simple, and yes, that boring of a story. It's not some random announcement like the bloggers are posting. It's not a press conference about her boobs. It was a few minutes of clips of her talking about what kinds of things were happening to her back then, taken out of context and out of order. It's Jenn being honest and candid about her personal life, which, if you have read this blog over the years, is exactly what and who she is. The clips show a nervous college girl being asked to speak about her personal life in front of a large group of people for the first time in her life, all while being filmed by a newspaper to support a major article.

But hey, I don't want to ruin the fun of all the other blog sites out there...I'm fully aware much your site traffic explodes when you post an article about Jenn...and I'm sure you need all the Ad Sense revenue you can possibly generate...so have at it! We will keep posting the facts here, and on Facebook, MySpace and a few other online media ventures we will be pleased to announce in the months ahead...so keep checking back here for the true stuff...or be lazy like me and set up a Google Alert for Jenn, I can't keep up with her crazy posting schedule lately..:)

Oh well, time for me to back away from my PC and head out and enjoy my weekend.. Since apparently we are living in 2006, I guess have to go get my new Maxim so I can see Jenn's Cowgirl photos!! Exciting!!

Thanks for letting me rant...

Jax - Admin

Jenn's original blog dated April 25th, 2006

Some upcoming events to feature Jenn

ADMIN UPDATE:

Hey all...just wanted to drop a few tidbits about some things coming up for Jenn in the very near future:

1) Hopefully a lot of you caught Jenn on ABC's Christmas special "Holiday of Stars" that was shown nationally on Sunday December 16th...The special was a look back at the year in entertainment, plus celebrities' favorite holiday memories...Jenn was one of the celebs who got to answer questions with their opinions on "Athletes and their Significant Others" and "Athletes on the Naughty and Nice list this year"...

Well, ABC and Intersport liked what they saw! We are happy to announce that Jenn signed an 6 week deal to work on ABC's "The Race to March Madness"!! Jenn will travel to a different college powerhouse each week to film some background features on college basketball's biggest games this season. You can watch each week live on ABC at 3PM every Saturday starting February 2nd thru March 15th.

Jenn's first assignment takes her to Memphis, Tennessee this week. I have a feeling Graceland may be in the near future for the Sterger Tour 2008! Keep checking back for more information on her upcoming schedule.


2) We reported last month that Jenn was chosen by E! Entertainment to be one of the featured celebrities in their upcoming special "Byte Me: 20 Hottest Women of the Web". The E! crew was in Lutz in November shooting the video feature and interview for that special (of which I still owe you guys some sneak peak pictures I shot of the event)...I just received conformation of the air date straight from the good folks at E! Look for the special to air on Saturday March 8th @ 5PM EST! I believe it is a two hour special, so set your DVR's for a fun event!



3) Also this coming Thursday, 1/10, in Orlando, Florida, Jenn has been invited by the Seminole Club of Greater Orlando to speak to their members about her thoughts on recent happenings with FSU and what's on her plate. If you are a Seminole fan in the Orlando area, come on by and hear the latest on FSU news!

On Truth and Rumors Part 2: Running with the Bulls?...

You know you’re living a pretty pathetic existence when you take great pleasure in spreading untrue rumors about others. Why?.. Is your life that uninteresting?... Are you that bored?... Do you have no friends.. to the point where your mother tied a bone around your neck just so the family dog would play with you?..

Maybe. Or maybe its just pure jealousy.

There have been no less than ten blogs that have popped up over the past few days regarding my appearances at various college football games other than Florida State’s. The most recent ones of course are the ones saying that I’ve thrown my alma mater down the stairs for “greener” pastures, namely the University of South Florida. Since once again you have proved you neglect to do your homework, I guess I can take time from my busy “bandwagoning” schedule to poke a few more holes in your story and fill them with some real facts.

Since graduating from Florida State this past summer, I have been spending a lot of time in the Bay Area. In fact, I’ve pretty much lived in Tampa my entire life. So of course I have a ton of friends down here that go to either Hillsborough Community, International Academy of Design and Technology, and oh yeah.. the University of South Florida.

For those of you that took the time to read my back story, I went to USF for my first two years of college. My parents were afraid that if I just up and left for school that the big mean world would just chew me up and spit me out. They thought I just wasn’t ready to experience the real world yet. I attended my classes, fought for parking spots, and pulled in decent grades, all while holding down a job and being a nanny for a special needs child. This of course, left little time for having an actual social life.

I really had nothing but love for South Florida. They had great instructors, great classes, and were expanding at a rapid pace. The reason I left really had nothing to do with academics, though that’s hardly the excuse I gave my parents. The fact is that I was sick of living at home, sick of seeing the same people, and sick of well.. monotony. I’m sure if I would have joined a sorority or lived on campus, that most of these problems would have been alleviated. But Mom and Dad saw no reason to pay for an apartment while I was living 10 minutes away from the University. And I really couldn’t argue with them. So, the only way I could move out and get my own place is if I left for school.

Enter: Florida State. I guess you could say an even bigger reason for me going to FSU was my rendition of “Good Will Hunting” Syndrome: “I went to see about a boy.” But as most relationships at that age do.. this one fell to pieces about a year after I transferred. It wasn’t really until then, that my college experience began. I was forced to go out, make new friends, and make a separate identity for myself than what everyone else new me as.. “so-and-so’s girlfriend.”

And then, Sept 5, 2005 happened. The Cowgirl was born.

So now, after years of studying, partying, and attending the church of Bobby Bowden at Doak Campbell Stadium… I have returned to my roots in Tampa. With me traveling a good portion of the month, it just didn’t make sense for me to go anywhere else. Why pay rent on an empty apartment?... Who would watch my cat when I was away… though she really seems like she could give two @#$%’s?... When would I ever get to see my family?...

Tampa was just the logical explanation.

Being in Tampa certainly hasn’t slowed down my career any. I still have plenty of irons in the fire… so much so that I am overwhelmed on a pretty consistent basis. And the majority of them revolve around my one true love: College Sports. And I just so happen to be living in the surprise Mecca of them all.

Unless you have been living under a rock or are living your life in a complete miserable denial, you know doubt have noticed a new face in the Top 25 10: The South Florida Bulls. Things have changed pretty dramatically since I was a student in these here parts. For one, the campus is crawling with all kinds of student activities, most of which were just getting started when I was there. Then there’s the off-campus housing. It’s amazing what a few years can do in terms of real estate. I hardly recognize the area around the University. Then of course.. there’s football.

What Jim Leavitt has accomplished over the past few years with this program is nothing short of remarkable. So why wouldn’t their rise through the rankings be a huge deal?..

I have tons of friends in both the athletic departments as well as on the team, so of course its only natural for me to support it when I’m around and available. I’m happy for the Bulls and how their program has blossomed over the past few years. Their administration and athletic department has been nothing but accommodating towards me, and have even gone so far as to thank me for it. But, I have in no way turned my back on my Seminoles. In fact, the majority of the time I have gone to the Bull’s games was in a working capacity with different companies I free-lance for. I’ve attended other school’s sporting events too. And… GASP… even worn their colors. But how quickly we forget these things. (see photos)

In fact, the pictures you used to document your so-called findings are over a year old—when the bandwagon was more of a Volkswagen. Kudos for using some of the most recycled material on the net. Hell, you didn’t even bother to give photo credit to SportsIllustrated.com for it. Nice job douche. Next time try to find some more recent photos to document your findings.

Hell.. I’ll post them here. I have nothing to hide. These are from a couple weeks ago—two girlfriends of mine asked me if I wanted to go to the UCF game dressed up. I understood what I was getting myself into, and hell.. even stopped to talk football and do the chop with FSU fans I saw throughout the day. So make no mistake… my address says Tampa, but my heart says Tally.

I’ve gone to plenty of FSU sporting events in the past year—including last weeks travesty against Miami. Sans hat. I know that’s a crazy concept for some of you to grasp, but sometimes I just want to enjoy the game and forget the hoopla. Don’t worry, the garnet and gold were still in abundance.

Last weekend proved to be a long one as far as college pigskin was concerned. I attended both the Rutgers/USF game and the Florida State/Miami game. It’s not like I am keeping my agenda a secret.. hell, I talk about the games I go to on the radio and television all the time. I guess you’re saying if I ended up at Kentucky last weekend to watch the Gators.. then I am a homer’ also?.. Who’s to say I am not showing up just to see if Tim Tebow’s therapist has helped him come to grips with his emotional instabilities from the LSU game?.. Crying???.. There’s no crying in College Football.

I had business to attend to in NYC, which so happens to be a stone’s throw from Piscataway, New Jersey—where last Thursday night’s match-up was arguably one of the best games in college football this season. I made a lot of friends last year when I visited the Scarlet Knights for the Louisville game. Hell, that game may be one of the greatest upsets I have ever witnessed, barring of course the Boise State/Oklahoma game from last year, and of course Miami/Florida State 2005. It was great to finally take in a game with everyone, and see how far both teams have come since they met last year in Tampa. Though USF was favored by the numbers, history just didn’t bode well for the Bulls. Let’s face it. Any time this season a ranked team has played an unranked team on a Thursday night on enemy turf… well, let’s just say things didn’t go so well. In fact, going back a year from now… Louisville was ranked number 2 going into a similar match up on a Thursday night.. and how did that end?.. EXACTLY. And as usual, Piscataway was rockin, and when Rutgers fans get behind their Knights, they are pretty much unstoppable. Thursday night was a rough one for the Bulls, but nothing they can’t recover from. We’ll see how they fair this weekend against UConn.

Miami/Florida State will always hold a place near and dear in my heart, even though the game didn’t really have the same significance it had in recent years. A game that used to determine Championships is now two teams struggling to find and assert their position in the ACC. Saturday night’s game.. was heart-wrenching. Just when you think you’re beginning to find your rhythm, the boys from the 305 pull the rug out from underneath you. Not that anyone should really be surprised. Whenever Miami’s manhood has been questioned this season… they have always seemed to rise to the occasion. I guess there are a few plus sides to Saturday night’s outcome: The green couch survived another year. My father and I are back on speaking terms. And.. we didn’t have to splurge for a new TV at Best Buy. Now.. if my Noles can just get their swagger back.. that would be great.

As you can see I haven’t switched teams. I’ve simply given props where props are due. So here’s to you Mr. Wanna-Be-Guido hairdo. At least my boys in Jersey know how to rock theirs. I mean, your hair is so greasy, you make Steve Lavin look like an amateur. . You like apples?.. How about them apples?.. And BTW… How bout them Bulldogs?.. Nothing???.. As for your fake boob material.. it’s really tired. I pretend my boobs are about as real as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy combined. I doubt I could even fool Stevie Wonder into thinking they were made by God. But you know what they say.. if you can touch ‘em.. then they’re real.

The bottom line is I am an avid fan of all things college sports. And there’s nothing I love more than college football. I’m a fan of the underdog. I hate blow outs. If you could give me football 7 days a week, I might be the happiest girl on earth. It’s all about competition, drive, and heart. Pigskin is a passion, regardless of the colors it comes in.

So really..

Don’t have a cow bull, man.