site-related 6 Comments

Working in a vacuum

I was never very good at working alone without peer feedback. So, I present for your commenting pleasure, the redesign work-in-progress. It still needs lots of detail work, but this is the general layout I’m thinking of starting with. I know I’m violating some cardinal rule of a website redesign by letting you see it way, waaaay before it’s ready for prime-time, but I’d like some comments. And, hell, it’s not like I have a really huge reader base, anyway. We’re all friends here.

FYI, this is a jpeg of a Photoshop comp, originally 1024px wide. The main content area is arranged so that users with 800×600 resolution can still see the entirety of the content. I’m planning to go whole-hog CSS this time, so the partially-opaque backgrounds will actually be DIVs with an opacity setting, not some trickery of background images. The flower background (and likely the color scheme and masthead) will change as the mood strikes me, although whatever image is there will remain fixed as the page scrolls. I’m defenestrating the iFrames. (Look it up.)

I’m not positive I’ll be keeping the TagBoard, as I’m hoping to upgrade web hosting and move to some sort of publishing software that allows comments. However, if I do keep it, you’ll all be glad to know that I’m working on upgrading to TagBoard Advanced. I doubt it’ll be around for the new design, though.

Comments from the peanut gallery are welcome and appreciated.

site-related

Ready for a Redesign

Yep, I think I’m ready to embark on my website redesign. Maybe if I had a real website with real content, I could get recognized in the “blogging community”… or some shit like that. I mean, shit, look at Dooce. She writes about her new baby, and breastfeeding, and getting fired from her job because of her website, and wrapping pasta around her dog’s snout because it’s funny. We’re both intelligent ex-Mormon women with a good sense of humor and a decent amount of web design skill, IMO. If I spent some quality time on my new site, got it to look all spiffy, maybe spent another few minutes actually composing blog articles rather than just being satisfied with my stream-of-consciousness posts?maybe then I could get some new readership. Or at least feel better about myself.

Next weekend: Mom’s visit and our trip to Dayton. Visit Grandpa and Grandma Cook and Amy.
Weekend after: Michigan Ren Fest (maybe)
Labor Day weekend: Taste of Cleveland (maybe)
Following weekend: Saginaires / Northern Aurora alumni picnic & Black Swamp w/ Amy
Weekend after that: Gravity Games in Cleveland Saturday & parade on Sunday

Gotta staff the phones tomorrow. Blech. I don’t mind it so much, except that I have some stuff from last week to wrap up, and new stuff to learn for this week, and it’s just about impossible while answering phone calls all day.

randomness

Home alone on a Friday night

Ehh. Part of me wants to do nothing but websurf, and part of me is totally bored with it and wants to leave the computer and do something else. Part of me is perfectly content to listen to the Twilight Singers album I just downloaded. (Amazon recommended the album, but I’m sure they intended me to actually purchase it.)

Part of me wants to be creative. To write, maybe. Part of me wants to read, but isn’t interested in either of the books I’m currently reading. (LOTR won’t fit in the purse, so I’m reading a McCaffrey book at work and leaving the Tolkien for just before bed.) Part of me is tempted to go pick up the guitar, but knows that I’d be frustrated after only ten minutes of playing the few chords I know, mainly because my fingertips would feel like hamburger already.

So, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll turn off the music and play some Civ III. I really don’t feel like watching TV or going to bed yet.

::sigh::

crafty 1 Comment

Hey, Beth!

I scanned in that article about the wax paper transfers and posted it here if you’d like to read it. Someone messaged me on the Pop Photo forums and that reminded me that I’d been planning to scan it in for ya.

randomness 1 Comment

Yoga Makes Me Feel Good

After reading sheryls‘ journal, where she points to this article about weight-loss that you really should read, I decided that I needed to start back up on a regular regimen of physical activity. (So, what else is new?) I ended up doing my Yoga for Dummies Workout DVD… and man, that feels good. My arms and legs are kind of wobbly—a little tired from holding up my still-oversized frame in unusual positions—but it’s that good kind of stretchy I-just-worked-out feeling.

Speaking of feeling good about things: holy crap, can you believe the weather?! Sure, it’s overcast, kinda, but I don’t think it got about 70° today. Feels like October in August—not that I’m complaining. Awesome, awesome weather. I went out to get some Arby’s for lunch today and didn’t want to go back inside.

My brain wandered onto this thought today at work: Am I narcissistic? I don’t think so, but I have a strange predilection for poring over photographs and reflections of myself. Sometimes I think I look pretty good, and other times my gorge rises at how large my double-chin once was or how big my thighs still are. It all depends on my mood, I think. Either way, I don’t think I’m obsessed with my looks—not by a long shot. I just find it weird that my own reflection can keep me captivated like a first-grader for minutes at a time.

Now I’m off to rate more stuff on Amazon, so that it’ll give me better stupid ads and recommendations. 🙂