Friday, May 28, 2004

About face

Here’s a question for the manic-obsessive of you:
How many of you noticed that the type I’ve used in my blog entries has fluctuated??

At first, it was Trebuchet.
Then, Verdana.
Now it’s back to Trebuchet.

Oh, yeah: it’s life-changing information.
Couldn’t sleep tonight lest I had shared that with you.
Now, to catch some very well-deserved Z’s.

 

I sent a mail to my blog today...

Blog-by-mail is so very convenient.
Whoever thought of that deserves a Nobel Prize!!
...Or not. But it’s very convenient, still.

Being able to post by just sending a mail to your blog is really a godsend for those of us who are internet-challenged. And by being ‘internet challenged’ I mean I have a dial-up connection. Every second I’m online is money out of my pocket. And talk about slow! I even had to change the preferences on my browser so that it would stop loading pictures.
So now I surf in a totally image-free environment. Absolutely surreal, like using Microsoft Word to navigate in the net.

But, I digress. Going back to email-blogging, the thing that thrills me the most is that I can write whatever I like offline and just connect to send it in.

Also, I can apply formatting to the text a lot easier than before.
You see, since I surf on a Mac, a lot of the scripts that serve to turn plain text into bold and italic text don’t work.
 
Imagine. Every time I wanted any kind of formatting, I had to apply all the tags by hand. Talk about harsh!!
Now that’s a piece of cake, ‘cause I can use my mail client’s HTML formatting tools.
With those, the sky is the limit!!
Isn’t this the most exciting thing ever??


Hey, are you awake??

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Now in TECHNICOLOR®!!!

And so, my beloved readers, we come to the last of the very popular series of blog tests. This one, as promised, will deal with color.

And what can color do for a blog entry?, you may ask.
Well, here to tell us about the benefits multicolored text, Worth1000’s very own... ARSI!!!

Arsi: What... the f*** am I doing here??
KZ: Arsi, you’re here to discuss the benefits of using color in blog entries.
Arsi: BLOG ENTRIES?? Is that why you’ve brought me here??
KZ: Yes, you have a wonderful blog of your own, so we’ve invited you here to discuss how using color would help a blog post become more interesting.
Arsi: Invited? Pfft! You’re just lucky I don’t have my hammer with me, you bastard. If I did, you’d be SO DEAD.
KZ: Why the hostility?
Arsi: You kidnapped me off the street, drugged me and tied me to this chair. Whaddaya expect??
KZ: Well, you weren’t answering my mails, or taking my calls. What other choice did I have??
Arsi: YOU’RE A TOTAL NUT CASE!! LEMME GO, YOU FREAK!!!
HB, MMM, IQ...!!
...IF ANYBODY IS READING THIS, GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!!
KZ: Oh, I’m sorry, we’ve seen to run out of time.   

Oh well, my beloved fans. Sometimes things don’t work out as expected. I really thought Arsi would be able to help us, but it seems he had to take yet another little nap. Maybe when he wakes up, we’ll finally be able to provide you with a clearer view of the use of color in a blog. Thank you so much for your attention.

Good night for now.

Sunday, May 23, 2004

This is a test, too

Ok, so our previous test was a success: no more undesired line breaks to interrupt the visual delight for my readers.
But then, I noticed something else: the size of the text was BIGGER than it used to be. So this motivated me to perform a new experiment... but now, with text sizes!
For those of you already on the edge of your seat, here’s the test:

This is the biggest type available.
This is the second largest size.
This is the default size.
This is the next-to-last size. (This is the one I’m using for now)
This is the smallest type available.

Also,... Wait, lemme just change back the type size.
Oh, this is so much better!!! Ok, the first phase of the Type Size Test is complete. And the blog world will never be the same again.

Stay tooned for the next phase, in which I will attempt to use COLOR in my blogging!!!

This is a test

Ok, so I've been using the ‘post by mail’ feature with my blog. Very convenient, but... There’s a catch.

So far, every post I’ve made this way has come out with weird line breaks, which can be annoying as heck when reading. So, has meant I’ve had to log into Blogger to edit a lot of entries, which defeats the purpose of ‘blog by mail’ altogether. I have to find out what’s causing the line breaks.

So far, I have no idea. My guess is that it’s due to the fact that I’ve posted without using the HTML option in my mails. Could this fact be the culprit?? In this blog entry we shall find out!!!

Friday, May 21, 2004

It's not always my fault

It's true: sometimes I am not totally diligent when it comes to blogging.

Days may go by without a single update. This leaves my loyal fans, always so eager to learn of my adventures and dastardly deeds, gasping for air. This is mostly due to a severe lack of discipline, which explains the disorderly fashion in which I post.

But every once in a while, forces beyond my control are responsible of thwarting my attempts at blogging.

Like now. Technology has turned on me and bitten my anatomy right where the sun don't shine. No matter what I do, my Internet connection keeps breaking up every five seconds. So I have to wait until it evens out.

I just hope I'm able to post this before one of my anxious readers passes out from all the excitement.

PEOPLE ARE READING THIS!!

This blog's ratings are totally off the charts! There's been like a 300% increase in the readership. That means that, yep, FOUR PEOPLE are letting their pupils be delighted by the mad scribblings found here.

Ok, three if you count me out.

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

The day the music died

I just realized something.

About 12 posts ago (Ooops, make that 14), I promised I'd be posting whatever song I was listening to at the moment of the post.

But, guess what?? I forgot to do it. Then, two entries later, I remembered.
Then I forgot again.

Listen. My mind is already way working overtime dealing with important stuff like:

-thinking of stuff to write on my blog
-editing the posts
-re-editing
-re-re-editing
-checking my blog to see if anybody has written any comments (which i wouldn't need to do if I was using Blogger's comment system, as Galoot recommended).

If I were to do all that AND still try to remember to post the current song on my iTunes, I'd probably blow a fuse.

To the millions of fans out there who were just dying to find out what song charms my ears while I post: SORRY. You will have to find a way to live out your lives without having such crucial information at your disposal.

It'll be hard, I know.

But you must.

Nobody said personalizing was gonna be easy

Still haven't really done much progress on the whole 'personalizing my blog'area. I've focused on adding features to my blog, switching from HaloScan's comments feature to Blogger's.

My first attempt was a total mess. I ended up with TWO different comment links. Eventually, that could turn out to be quite a helpful feature, since this blog is so widely read. If one comments server went down due to the massive responses, there would always be a backup.

But as useful as that may be, I think it'd be confusing as heck. So everything is going back as it used to be.

Three hours were lost in this very non-transcendental exercise. So much for adding features to my blog.

The grass is always greener on the other blog

Galoot is amazing!! He's set up his blog to look like one of those ancient word processors, circa 1990. I like what arsi has done with his, too.

Meanwhile, 97.9% of my blog's looks come from the original Blogger template.

That is not cool, for two reasons:
1. Other blogs look like mine.
Iz's for example.

Which wouldn't bother me, except

2. I'm a FREAKING DESIGNER, for cryin' out loud.

So I GOT to personalize my blog, PRONTO.

Monday, May 17, 2004

This just keeps on getting better and better!!!

Now I can post entries in my blog using a mail program!!
HOW COOL IS THAT????
Just as easy as sending an email!!

That is, if I've set up everything correctly.

Knowing myself, that's a big IF.

Saturday, May 15, 2004

Happy... SOMETHING!!

I've just realized that it's been a week since I started this blog, and the world has started to recover from the sociological, spiritual and monetary impact it caused.

So I was thinking what to call this joyous occasion.

A birthday?? It's not a person! And even if that isn't taken into account, it still seems a bit premature.

An anniversary?? Same deal with "birthday". It still hasn't been 365 days. Monthiversary is out, too, since it still hasn't been four weeks.

Ok, then: what about WEEKIVERSARY??? Now THAT seems proper. So weekiversary it is.

I think I'll take my blog out for drinks and a night on the town. It's been a grand seven days.

Hurray!!! My first comment!!

Well, whaddaya know!!! Just as I was starting to think the whole comments engine was out of order.

Thanks a lot, XXXXXPP! (I am never sure if I've written you're name right)

Ok, so this means people are actually READING THIS.
Whoa. What a concept.

Guess now that I have an audience I'll have to think up interesting stuff to write about. Oh, I almost can feel the ideas bubbling up inside of me!!

No, wait. That was just gas. Sorry.

Call me Mr. Constancy

Ok, so I've neglected my blog a bit.

But that is about to change, for this post will have you gasping for air at the end of each sentence.

Or maybe not.


Thursday, May 13, 2004

Hasn't it happened to you???

You're in the middle of a blog posting, you've FINALLY managed to write it perfectly... and just then, the whole system goes down!!

I wasn't even able to save the post! Perennial words of wisdom which explained the mystery of life itself... gone forever. So sad.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

So tired

The consecuences of last night's interrupted sleep have begun to show. All I want to do now is get myself into bed and snooze away. But my gf is waiting for me at the gym, so I have to go. I so totally don't want to, but I already promised her I would. Besides, as she so often points out, "You already paid for the whole year, can't let your money got to waste!".

BUT I DON'T WANNA GOOOO...!!!

When being hot ain't cool

I forgot leaving the fan on last night before I went to sleep.

BIG MISTAKE.

I awoke at about 3:30 AM feeling as if I were in the inside of a furnace. It seems that my room has thermic qualities that trap heat within all day long, only to release it at nighttime. Lovely.

Of course, I couldn't get any Z's after that. So I got up, turned the computer on, surfed a little and finally decided to post in here.

Haven't decided if I'll be blogging every day, or every other day. Still have to get the routines down.

One thing about the blogging experience: it helps you take a better grip on life. You have to pay more attention to your thoughts and experiences if you want to be able to have something to write about.

Now, if I could make it all interesting, I'd be set!

Monday, May 10, 2004

Whoa!!

I neglected to mention it in my previous post, but Blogger did some major changes all around. Read the whole story here.

I am delighted at the new edit feature. This means I no longer have to stress out so much that what I write will be carved in stone forever and ever. I can write whatever I feel like, conforted by the knowledge that I can go in and change stuff at a later date.

Hopefully, this will also mean that the level of suckiness of my posts shall be kept at a minimum. I've already rewritten some stuff which orignally thought very, very clever, but later found extremely lame.
As I get better at posting, I hope my writings need less and less editing.

I hope.

Another weekend come and gone

Well, I've had my blog for about, eh... close to 48 hours by now. And it's a weird feeling. A part of me wants EVERYBODY to see this. But another part of me wishes nobody ever sees it.

What can I say? I'm complex.

----

Heck, it's nearly Monday again. Isn't that the suckiest???

Saturday and Sunday go by so fast...sometimes i'm not really sure if they are 24-hour days anymore. Feels like each day is about 10 hours long. Twelve hours, tops.

Tomorrow (today, actually) is Mother's Day in Kzanderallia, and I'll be giving my usual array of flowers and choklits. It's worked superbly in previous occasions.

This year, however, I ran into some trouble of my own doing. On Sunday I finished the cocoa-shopping early. Everything was fine and good... Then I did the dumbest thing: I left all the chocolate boxes inside the car while I was having lunch with my gf.

At noon.

Forty minutes under the sun was more than enough time to turn some of the bombons into a chocolately, gooey mess. Some of the boxes were totally ruined. The others look fine, but that doesn't mean that the chocolate inside was spared. The only way to know for sure will be when they are opened. But by then, it will be too late.

Damn, damn, DAMN.

Luckily, I have some back-up candy available, which will come in handy to sop up some of the crisis.

But it may still be tricky.

----

I know I promised to mention any song I listen to while I write, but I've forgotten to, as usual.

This is the one that's playing right now on the iTunes:

Wild, Wild West - Will Smith

That Prince of Bel Air writes some catchy tunes.

Saturday, May 08, 2004

A brand new day

I wish I had gone to bed when I said I would last night. Instead, I messed around the computer a couple of hours more, and ended up crashing at about 4:00 AM. So now, I only have about five hours of sleep under the belt. I still haven't felt the symptoms of sleep deprivation, but I will in a short while, maybe an hour or two. Can't wait.

While my state of relative lucidity lasts, I am trying to make the most of my day. I went shopping with my gf to one of these ultra-mega-hyper-marts that are popping up everywhere these days. It's weird when I go there. I get overcome with this materialistic desire to buy EVERYTHING. Definitely, those supermarket guys know what they're doing. Don't you just love consumism?

That's it for now

It's been fun bloggin' and all, but I better go to sleep now.
I just KNOW I'll be zombie-like tomorrow, but it's been worth it.

Ok, so not really. This is still half-done (as pretty much everything in my life): I still have to add links and improve the look of the blog. Of course, I'll be adding pictures, and spiffing the place up. But not now. I'm dead tired. At least I got the gist of blogging down pat. Also, you may notice that a post ago I started putting titles on my blog entries. Try to contain your excitement.

I got the comments engine running, so now anybody who sees this can now tell me what they think.
Dear God, what have I done?

Still fiddlin'

Damn it, people have worked hard to make blogging easy, yet it still doesn't seem easy 'nuff for me.
But I am trailing along, hoping for the best... and really trying not to erase everything I've done so far.

Doesn't look so bad, does it???

Ranting is good and all, but I think I should start worrying about quality content now.

That'll be hard.
Ok, I figured it out...
Dumb thing, actually.

I was fiddling with the 'POST OPTIONS', and I thought I was setting the hour right (time zones and everything), but instead I screwed up my first post's publish time.

So it got published later AFTER my second post.

Gonna see if I can fix that.

As I give in to trends faster than you can say "trend in-giver", I too will be posting whatever music I am listening to at the time of my blogging. So here goes:

Give me one good reason - Tracy Chapman
Something is wrong.

I've published my first blong... BLOG entry and it doesn't appear anywhere... Did I do something incorrectly??? Working on this. The world NEEDS to know what I think at 1:29 AM on a Saturday!!!
I've known about bongs (Sorry, BLOGS) for quite a while, I just never been interested in having one...until now.

Why? Because EVERYBODY's doing it!!
What's a better reason that THAT??

Now, do I have something even mildly important or interesting to say?

Not really... but here it is anyway. :D