MySpace Part Deux
I recently wrote about my gut-wrenching entry into the MySpace swamp. Once I got in I didn't realize that I was going to be sinking faster and deeper into a quagmire of horrible design and layout. I started to customize my page and then gave up and pondered even telling anyone about it, lest my skills as a graphic designer come into question...okay so you already question them, shut it.
I felt nauseous every time I visted my page to see my new friends or to see what pithy comment had been written-until today. Mike Davidson (one of the blogs I read regularly and the host of the famous Steve Jobs Movie Poster Contest) wrote about his experience customizing MySpace. After looking at what he had done I injected some sanity into MySpace.
You can see all the tomfoolery here.
I'm Sorry...
This is quite possibly one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write. I'm very emotional as I write it so if that comes out in a wrong way forgive me.
I need to make a confession to everyone that reads my blog. I did something last night that I swore I would never do. I've heard stories of others that had done it and I always said to myself "that won't be me." I saw youth pastors and youth leaders do it, but I was still in denial that I could ever stoop so low. My guilt and shame have gotten the best of me today and I can't bear it anymore. I need to confess.
I signed up for a myspace account...
Don't judge me all at once. I fought this with everything I had, and in one moment last night all of my willpower came crashing down. I sat in front of the computer with glazed eyes and couldn't help myself. Throughout the late hours of the night I was in deep in a myspace frenzy editing my profile, feverishly searching for old high school friends, wondering when I would quit being a "myspace loser" and actually get some friends, trying to figure out how in the world to get a song on my profile, and finally figuring out that clicking "home" at the top of the page lets you edit stuff.
So there you have it. My confession. I deeply regret my actions. One piece of advice: never say it won't happen to you-because before you know it you'll be in up to y'ur neck! For those of you who want to see the incarnate evil that is my myspace page, click here.
Feed Me!
Every morning I have my routine. I get up (or I'm forced up by my wife), I shower, I buy some carmel and mocha cappucino from Kum and Go (mmmmm), I drive to work, and I read my rss news feeds. (I also get dressed and brush my teeth in case you had a really weird picture of me walking into work...)
But it's the last item on my list that is important. I get so many ideas and random bits of knowledge from this time it makes it invaluable to me. So I thought I would share the links to my absolute favs. Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't but here we go. Note that the links are to the rss feeds not the actual sites themselves. If you're not sure what rss is check out this article. I use the Sage Reader - a free extension for the Firefox browser.
By the way, we did have more than 10 people show up at our garage sale and we were able to get rid of some stuff - though nobody wanted my cute Taco Bell dog that says "Heeeere lizzard lizzard lizzard." Strange...
Sports
- ESPN
- Bill Simmons - quite possibly the funniest sports writer ever...
Technology
- Make Magazine - This is a colection of DIY projects that range from insanely cool to insanely inane.
- Lifehacker - one of the best sites for useful everyday info
Random
- Woot - They sell one thing a day, normally for a crazy price.
Stuff for Ministry
- Church Beauty - a collection of the best church web site designs
- Church Marketing Sucks - great tips and articles on the failure of the church in communicating relevantly today.
Web and Graphic Design
- Netdiver - where I go for inspiration
- Cameron Moll's Authentic Boredom - an "A List" designer with great insights and articles
- Netcocktail - A collection of cool color palletes and the sites they appear on
Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite RSS Feeds are.
Acting Like a Chicken with Wet Hands
I am a big proponent of common sense (though some would say I fail to practice it at times). On a daily basis I come across stuff that was clearly not thought enough about. Case in point: in one of the men's restrooms at work the paper towel dispensers are about as high up on the wall as humanly possible. Vince Carter would have a hard time getting his hands dry in the proper fashion.
The height is not really the thing that is frustrating - it is the fact that every time I reach up with wet hands, all the water ends up running down my arm, over my elbow and into my shirt. I've tried various manuvers to ward off the annoying trickle. My favorite is the chicken wing. I put my elbow as high up in the air as I can without breaking my arm and then proceed to jab down on the dispensor in a sort of short pecking motion. I've also tried the "pull the torn edge from the previous paper towel and hope the next comes with it" manuver. Though that rarely works.
So next time you have a relatively simple task to accomplish, take a minute and think about the long term consequences of your actions. You may have to endure walking into a mens room and being exposed to my foolishness.
Spring Cleaning
As you have noticed, the site has a fresh new look. I've been using Blogger for the last year or so and I think I am ready to graduate to bigger and better things. Enter Word Press. It is a free publishing platform that is very easy to use and has tons of really cool features and extensions.
You'll notice that you can now view all of our photos on the site again due to a sweet plug in that pulls our Flickr data into the site. There is also a [insert supurlative here] feature that allows y'all to view the pictures in the posts in a whole new way. Click on the pic to the left and prepare to have your world rocked!
Those of you who subscribe by email and rss should be getting the new posts in your inbox as well. The previous feed broke. If you aren't receiving regular updates after this please let me know so I can fix the problem.
We're having a garage sale this weekend and while normally I am a very optimistic person I don't think more than 10 people will show - but hopefully I'm wrong. Mickie's family is coming up so I'll at least get some golf in for the first time this year. My goal is to not lose all my balls and to legitimately break 110. My father-in-law got some brand new Taylor Made irons a couple months ago so I'll probably be drooling all over myself.
Wow, who would have thought President Logan was that shrewd? Was the lame duck stuff all an act??? I have to hand it to 24 - you got me again...