The Good Deed Continues

Well, it appears that Jonathan’s site is getting going. I’m adding him to the blogroll. Partly to see his progress with blogging and partly to remember what it’s all about. There was an interesting article I saw today that said that something like 50 million Americans generate internet content every year. There’s something wonderfully democratic, almost socialist (in a good way) about this movement. This just makes me believe all the more in open-source ideas such as WordPress, Linux (which I might give a second try when Dapper Drake drops), and the ilk.

You can find Jonathan’s site at www.whyyoursonplaysrightfield.com. Nice name for a site, albeit long. It’s a sports rant site. Damn you, Jonathan! That would have made a great list page.

Speaking of lists, Mr. Softee has a new “blogging” service I’m going to try. Just to try it. I’ll possibly try it with OMG!!!Ponies!!! That’s right, every time I write OMG!!!Ponies!!! I use the full name with exclamation points.

My Good Deed

Wow. I’m now unofficial WordPress tech support.

Someone came out with a program called Canvas which allows a lot of customization of WordPress blogs without any actual hand-coding. Basically, each section (.div) is represented as a block that can moved around in an AJAX interface. It’s a good concept but the design is intimidating and the documentation is sorely lacking. I tried it out, but, because there is only one theme available, have set Canvas aside for now. Maybe when there are more themes from which to choose, I’ll take a second look.

Someone posted the release on Digg and everyone was sort of wading through the installation and use at the same time. Installation is quick and painless relatively easy but tedious because of the size of the install. Additionally, the beta bugs still need to be worked out. I was getting a conflict with last.fm, but, since I don’t use my last.fm plug-in right now, I was more than willing to shut down the last.fm plug-in so that I could use Canvas. Like a good samaritan, I posted my little walkthrough on Digg and left my email addy for anyone who needed a little help.

Lo and behold, tonight, a blogger who is in the same boat I was three months ago took me up on my offer and, through GMail, I was able to walk him through step by step. He said he’s using his host-providers java FTP client. Personally, I prefer IE for FTP for the sheer simplicity of it. It’s about the only thing IE is good for. Anyway, he seems to be up and running. All’s well that ends well. It’s always nice to help out a fellow blogger. Thank you Jonathan for letting me be of assistance.

R2-D2 will KILL YOU!!!

Everyone thinks of Artoo as that lovable, foul-mouthed astromech droid. But this R2 unit fires depleted uranium or (more recently) tungsten armor-piercing rounds.

read more | digg story

A Post In The Wee Hours

One last post before bedtime.  It took me enough tooling around in the code, but I figured out how to add a nice little transparent header image, lovingly hand-crafted using the GIMP.  I think the parchment monogram adds a nice flair.  In all, I like it, but I still get a sneaking suspicion that my fiddling around knocking something out of whack.

Who Cares About Ink By The Barrel?

I’ve really come to hate the Gray Lady. It just keeps getting more and more condescending. And now, in yet another fluff piece that the Times has taken to printing, the New York Times, the paper of record for Manhattan, has insulted my neighborhood.

I like where I live. My landlady is nice enough, though my rent is a bit high. The neighborhood is quiet and people are friendly. Here is what the Times started of its article on the fact that *gasp* two coffee shops have dared to open in the wastes of Windsor Terrace:

This time last year, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, was one of the last places in the city where a resident would have been challenged to spend $1.50 on a small cup of fine coffee. The neighborhood, a largely working-class, mile-long wedge between Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery, was home to multiple laundries and bodegas, but there was nary a raisin scone to be found.

Now, however, residents suddenly find themselves with a choice of businesses peddling the freshest of French roasts. There are two cafes in Windsor Terrace, long a no-frills zone next to Park Slope.”

A Half-Rack Of Delicious

It’s my favorite weekend of the year:  Sauce Weekend.  It’s the weekend I make my first batch of sauce for the BBQ’ing season.  That’s right… I think of the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day as BBQ’ing season (kind of like fishing season and hunting season).  This year, I started off with the traditional sauce:

I took about 8 oz. of Brer Rabbit molasses and poured it into the blender.  Next I took about 15 oz. of tomato sauce and poured it in.  I followed it up with with a can of pickled jalepeno peppers, juice and all.  Next, I poured in a few splashes of apple cider vinegar.  I added about 1 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp of cayenne, 2 tbsp of onion powder, 2 tbsp of black pepper.  I fixed it up with a couple of other tidbits, but the bottom line:  a delicious half rack of pork ribs.

And for you vegans, this sauce is great on tempeh and tofu.  Mmm mmm mmm.

On another front, I’ve been avoiding doing any work this weekend.  I’m going to have to get a little done.  Whatever.  I’ve gone into full procrastination mode.  The floors have been vacuumed, I dusted the bookshelves, and the pad is halfway tidy.  Not too bad for dodging work.  Not only that, I finished reading another 10% of the internet.  Almost done.

Canvas for WordPress

“Canvas brings the freedom to express yourself through design without needing to know CSS or PHP. With Canvas and Ink for WordPress, you can easily rearrange, reconfigure, and colorize your entire blog without ever touching a line of code.”

I’m going to try this out. Damn, just when I was happy with how things looked. Once a tinkerer, always a tinkerer.

read more | digg story

Random Thoughts Over Tea

This is just some random thoughts before I doze.

Feels good to really be back on the blogging tip. There is some therapeutic benefit to it. Speaking of which, I can actually say (and this time I mean it) that I’m happy the way it looks. Very clean and plain, with a handful of old-fashioned fonts. Fast and clean. Also, I got a nifty spoiler plug-in for when I break the prime directive.

Sorry about the STTNG reference. I just watched Lord of War. It’s kind of like The Constant Gardener except that The Constant Gardener was a good movie. Lord of War wasn’t necessarily bad, but it was not good. So, to make up for it, I’m watching a movie that doesn’t even pretend to be good – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I never trusted Klingons and I never will. I can never forgive them for the death of my boy.

I’m halfway done transitioning my Internet Stupidity pages to OMG!!!Ponies!!! and picked out a theme for it.

What’s left to say? Not much. Just starting on some tea. Earl Grey. Say what you will. Earl Grey tastes good. And it goes well with the bacon-y smell of Shatner, the Canadian Ham.

Inanimate Carbon Rod

There is a certain perfection that can only be achieved through total rage. It allows one to see things in a whole new light. [spoiler] Since we’re all overworked, for the time being, competence is no longer a requirement for job. There is no bare minimum. WOOT!

Actually, I was very good. When **** came in to tell me that his worrying about my cases woke him up at 4 a.m. I was very good and didn’t tell him that at 4 a.m. I was in the middle of a drunken sleep. Way to not get fired. [/spoiler] WOOT!

Post-Drinking Post

As is my Friday ritual, time for the Post-Drinking Post. Got home just fine thanks to geebee and Mr. Morning and no thanks to cabbie who had some – problems. For the record, I did not fall asleep in the cab. I was just resting my eyes. No valerian/melatonin combo for sleep – conked right out from the PBR. And that is all I will say about the physical effects of PBR on my body. Because there is too much nastiness on the internets already.

In spite of Mr. Morning’s imploring, here is the link to the Flickr gallery of last night’s festivities. Admittedly, HP picked a lame-ass place – Coyote Ugly. It was balls-hot (my description) and stank of stale beer (HP’s description from CBNYC). General rule of thumb – don’t pick the bar that was featured in a movie starring five starlets dancing around on in tight clothes. And the corollary – don’t pick said bar during Fleet Week. For the record, we were in the East Village, not the West Village, and those are REAL sailors.