Ok, now that I've fallen off yesterday's soapbox, I've spent most of the day curled up in a ball from having 2 teeth pulled. And I don't even have bounty from the toothfairy to look forward to (sigh). Cheek's swollen out like a chipmunk (heavier sigh)
Still don't have a way to post photos, etc. (sob) Oh, wait, maybe that's a good thing, since I look like a chipmunk (lol) And it's probably a good thing I don't do podcasting, since my enunciation is pretty much down to vowels only, right now :D
Oh! My husband just got home from his drumming class....& he brought me FLAN! Yeah!
Alrighty, then, life's getting better! (Mmmm.....flaaannn....)
He is so sweet! (wipe tear from eye)
Did I mention painkillers give me extreme mood swings? :>)
You noticed?
I'm feeling like a hedgehog - in other words, time to curl into a ball again....
Monday, October 24, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The Heartbreak of Broken Blog Syndrome
In our last episode, it was revealed that Tinker's blog was BROKEN & her toolbar icons either stolen by the jealous cat gang or possibly destroyed by the Cyber gods, who were greatly displeased by her feeble attempts at blogging. Outlook Express was also appalled at her inept ability to correctly identify her server, & was holding her for contempt of cybercourt, without even allowing her to make an e-mail to Blogger. Also, her computer may be possessed by the spirit of HAL of 2001 fame.
When she called for help, a mysterious stranger appeared in her comments section, assuring her that by purchasing his wares, the Cyber gods would be appeased. But then she must also post photos of herself or other attractive female humans wearing his wares; only then would he help her vanquish the Byte Monster still attacking her.
Since we last tuned in, Tinker attempted to bravely confront the mysterious stranger with the following reply to his comment:
Dear TAL, Thank you for your comments & advice. Alas, the Cyber gods are obviously far from omniscient, since a) I cannot purchase blogging or any other wares to appease them, since my current occupation is listed as 'artist, starving.' (I would however be willing to paint them an altar, crochet them a tea cozy or if need be, send them a cat. If they pay the postage.); and b) They obviously forgot that I CANNOT POST PHOTOS!! Photo posting is impossible, even if I really wanted to! Even if the Cyber gods themselves, were to suddenly appear on my monitor & COMMAND me to post a photo - I could not! Because the photo icon (& all others!) were eaten by the Byte Monster! REMEMBER? Thank you for your kind interest. Have a nice day!
Then, when Tinker went to post this comment/reply, she discovered the Byte Monster had STRUCK - AGAIN!! (cue organ music) And the WORD VERIFICATION prompt, for posting comments? WAS GONE! There was no way to enter the characters - because suddenly they were INVISIBLE! She looked to the Word, and Verily, the Word was not with her; the Word was no where to be seen! So, now, Tinker can't a) Post photos; format/change text; b) E-mail Blogger or anyone else by using Outlook Express; or c) Post comments/reply to her own cursed blog!!!
What will our poor blogger do? Is there no one who will come to her aid? Will no one slay the Byte Monster before it strikes again? Is TAL, HAL's evil twin? Will this blog survive?
Tune in next time, when we hear Tinker say, "This bytes!!!"
(closing organ music, fade to black)
When she called for help, a mysterious stranger appeared in her comments section, assuring her that by purchasing his wares, the Cyber gods would be appeased. But then she must also post photos of herself or other attractive female humans wearing his wares; only then would he help her vanquish the Byte Monster still attacking her.
Since we last tuned in, Tinker attempted to bravely confront the mysterious stranger with the following reply to his comment:
Dear TAL, Thank you for your comments & advice. Alas, the Cyber gods are obviously far from omniscient, since a) I cannot purchase blogging or any other wares to appease them, since my current occupation is listed as 'artist, starving.' (I would however be willing to paint them an altar, crochet them a tea cozy or if need be, send them a cat. If they pay the postage.); and b) They obviously forgot that I CANNOT POST PHOTOS!! Photo posting is impossible, even if I really wanted to! Even if the Cyber gods themselves, were to suddenly appear on my monitor & COMMAND me to post a photo - I could not! Because the photo icon (& all others!) were eaten by the Byte Monster! REMEMBER? Thank you for your kind interest. Have a nice day!
Then, when Tinker went to post this comment/reply, she discovered the Byte Monster had STRUCK - AGAIN!! (cue organ music) And the WORD VERIFICATION prompt, for posting comments? WAS GONE! There was no way to enter the characters - because suddenly they were INVISIBLE! She looked to the Word, and Verily, the Word was not with her; the Word was no where to be seen! So, now, Tinker can't a) Post photos; format/change text; b) E-mail Blogger or anyone else by using Outlook Express; or c) Post comments/reply to her own cursed blog!!!
What will our poor blogger do? Is there no one who will come to her aid? Will no one slay the Byte Monster before it strikes again? Is TAL, HAL's evil twin? Will this blog survive?
Tune in next time, when we hear Tinker say, "This bytes!!!"
(closing organ music, fade to black)
Saturday, October 22, 2005
How Do You Mend a Broken Blog?
Help! Won't somebody pleeease help me? My blog is broken...I have no idea what happened, because I am a techno-idiot; I am one of those people that they write the "Dummies" series for....& I still can't get it right!
It all started night before last. I was so happy then (sob)! I actually had a photo I wanted to post to go with "The Waiting Is the Hardest Part," where I had painstakingly painted (with a non-optical mouse & a lot of unhelpful help from cats trying to catch said mouse) a devil costume & flames on a photo of myself - I was so proud! And as they say, pride goeth before a fall....and now I've fallen & I can't get up!
I thought I had just successfully posted the photo to my blog on the "create" page - then I published the blog. Went to the bathroom. Came back to view it & the text was there, but no photo! So I went back to "edit" & my text is there, but no photo...& so I went to download the photo again, but...guess what! I no longer had a PHOTO ICON. In fact, I no longer had ANY ICONS on my toolbar....AT ALL!!!! Thus making it a tool-less toolbar. If a toolbar has no tools, can it even still be called a toolbar? So, wouldn't that really mean, I no longer HAVE a toolbar?
Is this situation covered in the HELP section of Blogger? Of course not - I am obviously the ONLY idiot in the history of blogging to have effectively eliminated their own toolbar.
Therefore, I can only conclude that my manipulated photo was so UNSIGHTLY, that it seriously offended the Internet gods, who zapped the computer with lightning bolts & BROKE MY BLOG!
My only other theory is that my blog was hacked into by....MY CATS. (I have to type this part very quietly. They're watching me right now....) You see, my cats have become EXTREMELY jealous of the attention I pay to this strange box; how I stare at it for hours (even more than that other noisy box (TV) I often stare at, instead of gazing with admiration uponTheir beauty); and I play with that clickety mouse on a string & NEVER give them a turn with it....they really hate that. So they had the Motive, AND they had the Opportunity - I DID get up to go to the bathroom while I waited for my blog to publish, & NOT ONE CAT TRIED TO FOLLOW ME IN THERE! Very suspicious behavior on their part! Usually I can't go in there to blow my nose without one or more of them keeping me under their intense scrutiny. (Normally I'm under their 24 hour surveillance; they have shifts & everything. Really!) But this time, when I came out, not one cat was looking at me; they were all lying around the floor under the computer table, looking very casual & nonchalent....just a little TOO innocent-looking if you know what I mean!
On the other hand, there is further evidence that I may be paying penance to the Internet gods: I am caught in some terrible loop with Outlook Express, wherein my server is listed incorrectly. It won't let me correct it. Therefore, I CANNOT contact anyone at Blogger for help. Ever. As far as Outlook Express is concerned, I have made a VERY serious server address error & I MUST be punished & kept from contact with anyone, ever, EVER again. To them, I am a wayward sinner in the Internet society who must be shunned for the good of the world wide web.
If anyone out there has any advice (including appropriate sacrifices to appease the pissed off Internet gods & which wine I should serve with it), please, PLEASE comment here! Or contact Blogger for me! Or call Bill Gates! Something! Anything!!
Uh-oh. I just had a thought (rare occurence, I know) - what if it's my computer, ITSELF! Sort of a 2001 HAL situation...an "I'm sorry, I can't open the pod door" type thing....If that's the case then I guess I'm just ERROR/errOR/user error/illogical sequence encountered/cannot execute command//
It all started night before last. I was so happy then (sob)! I actually had a photo I wanted to post to go with "The Waiting Is the Hardest Part," where I had painstakingly painted (with a non-optical mouse & a lot of unhelpful help from cats trying to catch said mouse) a devil costume & flames on a photo of myself - I was so proud! And as they say, pride goeth before a fall....and now I've fallen & I can't get up!
I thought I had just successfully posted the photo to my blog on the "create" page - then I published the blog. Went to the bathroom. Came back to view it & the text was there, but no photo! So I went back to "edit" & my text is there, but no photo...& so I went to download the photo again, but...guess what! I no longer had a PHOTO ICON. In fact, I no longer had ANY ICONS on my toolbar....AT ALL!!!! Thus making it a tool-less toolbar. If a toolbar has no tools, can it even still be called a toolbar? So, wouldn't that really mean, I no longer HAVE a toolbar?
Is this situation covered in the HELP section of Blogger? Of course not - I am obviously the ONLY idiot in the history of blogging to have effectively eliminated their own toolbar.
Therefore, I can only conclude that my manipulated photo was so UNSIGHTLY, that it seriously offended the Internet gods, who zapped the computer with lightning bolts & BROKE MY BLOG!
My only other theory is that my blog was hacked into by....MY CATS. (I have to type this part very quietly. They're watching me right now....) You see, my cats have become EXTREMELY jealous of the attention I pay to this strange box; how I stare at it for hours (even more than that other noisy box (TV) I often stare at, instead of gazing with admiration uponTheir beauty); and I play with that clickety mouse on a string & NEVER give them a turn with it....they really hate that. So they had the Motive, AND they had the Opportunity - I DID get up to go to the bathroom while I waited for my blog to publish, & NOT ONE CAT TRIED TO FOLLOW ME IN THERE! Very suspicious behavior on their part! Usually I can't go in there to blow my nose without one or more of them keeping me under their intense scrutiny. (Normally I'm under their 24 hour surveillance; they have shifts & everything. Really!) But this time, when I came out, not one cat was looking at me; they were all lying around the floor under the computer table, looking very casual & nonchalent....just a little TOO innocent-looking if you know what I mean!
On the other hand, there is further evidence that I may be paying penance to the Internet gods: I am caught in some terrible loop with Outlook Express, wherein my server is listed incorrectly. It won't let me correct it. Therefore, I CANNOT contact anyone at Blogger for help. Ever. As far as Outlook Express is concerned, I have made a VERY serious server address error & I MUST be punished & kept from contact with anyone, ever, EVER again. To them, I am a wayward sinner in the Internet society who must be shunned for the good of the world wide web.
If anyone out there has any advice (including appropriate sacrifices to appease the pissed off Internet gods & which wine I should serve with it), please, PLEASE comment here! Or contact Blogger for me! Or call Bill Gates! Something! Anything!!
Uh-oh. I just had a thought (rare occurence, I know) - what if it's my computer, ITSELF! Sort of a 2001 HAL situation...an "I'm sorry, I can't open the pod door" type thing....If that's the case then I guess I'm just ERROR/errOR/user error/illogical sequence encountered/cannot execute command//
Friday, October 21, 2005
Favorite Things
Sorry I've been such a whiner (or is that weiner?) the last few entries....haven't been listening to my body lately when it's been trying, then nagging, then begging me to PLEASE take care of it (me! Why do I still talk about my body like it's some totally separate entity? I'm sure a therapist would have a field day, with all my various quirks - that statement right there is probably indicative of some narcissitic tendency of mine!) Anyway, I've just basically not been taking good care of me & have been uncharacteristically negative....Usually I'm fairly bubbling (& babbling) & bursting with optimism. So to get myself back to a semblance of my normal self, I'm going to list some favorite things for this fall.....In the spirit of give & take here, if anyone happens to read this post, why don't you list some of YOUR favorite things in the comments - I'd love to read about them!
1. Lovin' chocolate brown & sky blue - together, these two colors sing!
2. Trying to figure out exactly where 'Lost' is going with this season's plotline...there tends to be one TV show each year that I let myself get hooked on & though I was fairly hooked last season, by June I was getting a little impatient with it; but darn it, they've caught me again :>)
3. Target's dollar bins...they've found my weak spot - little $1 treasures, something new almost every week. This week's bounty - soft, soft yarn in yummy colors & Halloween tricks & treats.
I want to use the fluffy grey & the fluffy orange yarn to make 3-d kitten collages with the grandgirlies.
4. Mmmm...flan....& if you're in So. Calif., El Pollo Loco (fast semi-healthy fast food chain here) is selling little containers of it now! The working woman's creme brulee! They also have chicken tortilla soup, too. Mmmm.
5. While I'm thinking about food....I must be getting hungry...it's the time of year for apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese melted on it (though my hubby prefers his ala mode). My Papa used to always say a little rhyme when we'd have apple pie, "Apple pie without cheese, is like a kiss without a squeeze!" He also used to tell me (this may be apocryphal) that it was illegal in the state of Wisconsin for a restaurant to serve apple pie without cheese! Don't know about that!
But he was a cook, so it may have been true, like back in the days of the Depression.
6. I love men who cook, especially my hubby! Both my Papa (that would be grandpa for most people) & my uncle were professional cooks. My hubby learned to cook in his very first job at a Griswold's restaurant, & though it's not his profession any more, it's still his avocation. He is actually a much better cook than I am & he can cook for me anytime! I LOVE YOU, HONEY!!
7. Drawing & doodling in my journal...when I was at the dentist, waiting, the dental workers kept trying to sneak peaks at what I was working on...I didn't mind really, it was just kind of funny watching how they were trying to see, without being seen seeing, if you know what I mean!
8. Blog surfing still - especially Violette's Folk Art (love her painted shoes & purses); Crafty Chica (she has some cool Day of the Dead ideas) (ooo & she's podcasting now, too); Rock Paper Scissors (vicariously enjoying Halloween birthday party preparations); paulabecker, watching her work out some illo sketches; allsorts (has a really, really cute idea - you dress up her cyberdoll character in Halloween costumes, by clicking on them - my grandgirls love it!), to name just a few (actually there are LOTS - please don't feel bad if I left you out - I just have brainrot right now & can't get my bookmarks to come up for some reason).
9. Listening to late night radio on Coast To Coast am - it's a great time of year to listen to this different kind of talk radio - think X-files meets Star Trek & makes friends with the Twilight Zone & Nova. I know, very strange. But as they used to say on Laugh-In, "very strange... but interesting."
10. Reading! Finished "The Mermaid Chair;" I enjoyed it. Now I'm casting about for something new to get lost in; it was the only fiction I checked out from the library. Aack! Must go to library TOMORROW and get a new fiction fix!!!
So what do you love right now?
1. Lovin' chocolate brown & sky blue - together, these two colors sing!
2. Trying to figure out exactly where 'Lost' is going with this season's plotline...there tends to be one TV show each year that I let myself get hooked on & though I was fairly hooked last season, by June I was getting a little impatient with it; but darn it, they've caught me again :>)
3. Target's dollar bins...they've found my weak spot - little $1 treasures, something new almost every week. This week's bounty - soft, soft yarn in yummy colors & Halloween tricks & treats.
I want to use the fluffy grey & the fluffy orange yarn to make 3-d kitten collages with the grandgirlies.
4. Mmmm...flan....& if you're in So. Calif., El Pollo Loco (fast semi-healthy fast food chain here) is selling little containers of it now! The working woman's creme brulee! They also have chicken tortilla soup, too. Mmmm.
5. While I'm thinking about food....I must be getting hungry...it's the time of year for apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese melted on it (though my hubby prefers his ala mode). My Papa used to always say a little rhyme when we'd have apple pie, "Apple pie without cheese, is like a kiss without a squeeze!" He also used to tell me (this may be apocryphal) that it was illegal in the state of Wisconsin for a restaurant to serve apple pie without cheese! Don't know about that!
But he was a cook, so it may have been true, like back in the days of the Depression.
6. I love men who cook, especially my hubby! Both my Papa (that would be grandpa for most people) & my uncle were professional cooks. My hubby learned to cook in his very first job at a Griswold's restaurant, & though it's not his profession any more, it's still his avocation. He is actually a much better cook than I am & he can cook for me anytime! I LOVE YOU, HONEY!!
7. Drawing & doodling in my journal...when I was at the dentist, waiting, the dental workers kept trying to sneak peaks at what I was working on...I didn't mind really, it was just kind of funny watching how they were trying to see, without being seen seeing, if you know what I mean!
8. Blog surfing still - especially Violette's Folk Art (love her painted shoes & purses); Crafty Chica (she has some cool Day of the Dead ideas) (ooo & she's podcasting now, too); Rock Paper Scissors (vicariously enjoying Halloween birthday party preparations); paulabecker, watching her work out some illo sketches; allsorts (has a really, really cute idea - you dress up her cyberdoll character in Halloween costumes, by clicking on them - my grandgirls love it!), to name just a few (actually there are LOTS - please don't feel bad if I left you out - I just have brainrot right now & can't get my bookmarks to come up for some reason).
9. Listening to late night radio on Coast To Coast am - it's a great time of year to listen to this different kind of talk radio - think X-files meets Star Trek & makes friends with the Twilight Zone & Nova. I know, very strange. But as they used to say on Laugh-In, "very strange... but interesting."
10. Reading! Finished "The Mermaid Chair;" I enjoyed it. Now I'm casting about for something new to get lost in; it was the only fiction I checked out from the library. Aack! Must go to library TOMORROW and get a new fiction fix!!!
So what do you love right now?
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
I have spent the entire day in a state of suspended animation... Waiting in waiting room after waiting room: First you wait in the lobby to check into the clinic; then you go down a hallway to another waiting room where you put your paperwork thru a little slot in the door, & sit down to wait; finally you're called back & after the nurse takes your blood pressure & temperature (& the dreaded stand on the scale), she asks you to stay seated on a little chair in the nurse's station while you wait for an exam room; then you finally make it to the exam room & still, you wait, for the doctor to come in! Then back to the nurse's station to wait while the doctor finishes writing out your prescription. Then it's on to the pharmacy, where you wait. Finally you get the prescription - but you're not free from the waiting room of Hell yet! Oh, no! Apparently you have deep-rooted masochistic tendencies that are just now surfacing, because you have also scheduled a dental appointment, which now follows immediately afterward because you had no idea you would be waiting this many hours; no time to eat - you must rush to the other side of the valley, run into the dental office & hurriedly sign in, so that now you can sit down & wait SOME MORE! And finally they call your name to go back to the dental chair, but GUESS WHAT! You're still not done waiting....OK; I know you know that we're just going to keep on with the tease & wait with all the various dental clinic personnel; so I won't keep you waiting for the end of this tale, because I cannot wait to get off my tail end!
Oh, wait - wait up just a minute! I forgot to tell you something....oh well, I guess it can wait till tomorrow.
Oh, wait - wait up just a minute! I forgot to tell you something....oh well, I guess it can wait till tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
The Write Stuff
I'm getting revved up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)....I've experienced the following emotions about it since signing up on Sunday: Excited; inspired; enthusiastic; nervous; anxious; scared; panicked; nauseated; terrified; "deer in the headlights" fatally calm......and that was just in the first hour! Now repeat this cycle, nearly every waking hour for 3 days....Normally I wouldn't even have time to give the whole thing a second thought - well, maybe fleetingly - but I've been sick & off work the last couple of days, which gives me entirely too much time to obsess on next month's race to the finish line (or is that finished lines?...of 50,000 words).
So now I'm trying to calm down about this and be sensible (ha! what fun is that?)...No one ever has to see this novel if I deem it unworthy to see the light of day! Not to mention, the whole reason I signed up for this little intellectual marathon was to HAVE FUN!! And the next thing I know, I'm thinking I'm Virginia Woolfe or a Bronte sister! Even my words of encouragement to myself are sounding so melodramatic, "The only person I'm really racing against is myself...can I go the distance? Do I have the write stuff?" See what I mean? I can't even make one of my corny puns to myself without attempting to be just a little higher brow than thou (even if puns are the lowest form of humor!) If that's what novel writing is going to do to me, then - Phhhhtttt!!! (That was just me blowing a raspberry at myself - oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get your screen all wet...)
If it takes me throwing darts at the magnetic poetry words on my fridge, I'm just going to have fun with this gig!
Hey, that's not a bad idea!
Or I could consult the Scrabble board! See if I can make an intelligible sentence using the words "bright, bilge, leaf, party" or something equally impossibly challenging!
Or I could just sit down & start typing the first damn thing that comes into my head; which is sort of how I write this blog (couldn't you at least pretend to be a little surprised by that!)
Ok, I'm back to having fun now; sorry to put you through all that....c'mon back tomorrow, for the whine & cheese & watch me go crackers! (careful, don't get any crumbs in your keyboard).
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
What Weird Miscellaneous Thing Are You?
| What weird misc. thing are you? Wallama You're a little backwards and a little annoying, but deep down, we all love you. |
| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
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