Rethinking the Layout

I’m not sure exactly when I changed the blog to the current layout. It's been a couple of years ago, at least. I like it. I tend to prefer the lighter text on a darker background approach to websites as it tends to be less stressful on my eyes. Then again, it’s nice to change things up now and again, too.

Color scheme aside, there are other things to consider as well, like font face and size, which widgets to include (if any), do I want said widgets on the left or right side of the page, blah, blah, blah.

I think what it really comes down to is, I’m a bit bored on a Sunday morning and don’t really have anything nagging at me that I feel a need to write about here, so it’s got me thinking about screwing around with the layout instead.

~ JC

I’d Rather Be Writing

Somewhere around ten plus years ago, I started writing a fantasy novel. To date, not a single chapter is complete. I also starting writing a vampire story. Again, not a single chapter is complete. Over the years I’ve used this blog as a poultice on the wound that is my lack of creativity for writing fiction.

I think it’s safe to say that my desire to write fiction, particularly fantasy, stems from when I was in Jr. High and started playing Dungeons & Dragons. There was always that thought that whatever adventure we were playing would make a great novel. And, they might have, except for the fact that most D&D games I’ve run were based on published materials and were only slightly modified to fit our campaign.

No, I don’t fancy I’ll ever manage to write a bestseller that will net me speaking engagements at various cons or get turned into an HBO series. But, at least I have my little blog to keep me occupied on Sundays.

~ JC

Time to Become a Little More Antisocial

Antisocial:1

1: averse to the society of others : unsociable

2: hostile or harmful to organized society; especially : being or marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm

Ok, so maybe I don’t fit the Webster’s Dictionary of antisocial.  I’m certainly not hostile toward organized society nor am I averse to the society of others. I do have friends. I do go out (sometimes). But, I certainly do feel the need to clean up my social networking pages.

I currently follow 159 people or services on Twitter and have 182 friends on Facebook (not counting Subscriptions and Likes). I came across an article on LifeHacker a few months ago called “Clean Up Your Mess of Social Networks This Weekend”2. The article references browser plug ins and tools, but the gist of the whole thing is that most folks’ social networking pages are cluttered with items they don’t really care about and “friends” they aren’t really friends with.

So, that’s my plan. Beginning today and probably continuing over the next few days, I will be going through Facebook, Twitter and probably even LinkedIn to trim some things. Some will be subscribed/liked pages, like, for example, The Kidd Chris Show which has moved to Cincinnati with the shutting down of Project 9-6-1 here in Atlanta. But there will undoubtedly be people that get at least un-subscribed to if not unfriended.

For a while now I’ve put off doing this to avoid hurt feelings. But the truth is, some of the folks I’m friends with on Facebook are from too far in my past and our points of view have become different enough that I find their posts anywhere from annoying to infuriating at times, as I’m sure they find mine.

Perhaps I should have started this process before even writing this blog and subsequently posting a link to it on Facebook and Twitter so that those I will be unfriending would not have even noticed. But, it’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it? So, if you find yourself suddenly unable to view my Facebook page, I’m sorry; I promise you, it’s not personal.

~ JC

------
1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Online  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antisocial - accessed 15 September 2012

2. Whitson, Gordon, “Clean Up Your Mess of Social Networks This Weekend”,  30 March 2012, Online http://lifehacker.com/5897950/clean-up-your-mess-of-social-networks-this-weekend?tag=weekendhacker - last accessed 15 September 2012

Bachelor Pad

As of around an hour ago, I’m a bachelor again... well, for a week anyway. Roxanne has headed to North Carolina to visit her Mom and go with her to a couple of doctor appointments for which she needs someone to be with her to drive her home afterwards. Nothing horribly major, but the meds will make Mom kind of loopy for a few days, and with Roxanne’s brother being away at college and her Dad being a truck driver and out on the road right now, Roxanne was really the only one available to help.

So, that leaves me home alone for a week. I get the whole bed to myself. I can make whatever I want for supper (including pizza rolls). I can hang out in my underwear (or less) if I want. Then again, I could kind of already do all that even if Roxanne was here.

Truth is, I miss her already. It’s funny how one starts to think how cool it will be to have the house to one’s self for an entire week, but in rather short order one realizes that it actually kind of sucks.

At any rate, it’s only around 9:15 AM and I’m already thinking about having pizza rolls for breakfast while watching last night’s episode of “Doctor Who” on the DVR. Why? Because I can. :-P

~ JC

Sunday Ramblings

Ah, Sunday. That day of the week when I have no errands since I’ve done them all on Saturday and the only chore I really have to do is laundry, which isn’t really a chore considering that a pair of machines do all the actual work. Granted, I hate the folding and putting away part, but mostly doing laundry involves loading the washer, starting it, and waiting 30 or 40 minutes followed by transference of the the clothes to the dryer, starting it and waiting about an hour. But I digress as I’m not blogging about laundry. In fact, I’m not blogging about anything in particular today. It’s a random, run-by, blogging sort of day.

Since I began this quest back in January to actually post something every Sunday, there have been weeks that I’ve struggled to think of anything to write about. Today is one of those days. It’s also the Sunday before Labor Day here in the United States, so tomorrow is a paid day off for me and many others. That actually makes it a bit more difficult to think of anything to write because I think my brain thinks it’s still Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday so it doesn’t believe it’s supposed to be coming up with a blog topic.

Speaking of Labor Day, haven't you ever found it odd that folks take the day off on a day called “Labor” day? So, I Googled Labor Day, because, let’s be honest, most Americans happily celebrate holidays without knowing exactly what the fuck they are for. Wikipedia has this to say about Labor Day:

Labor Day is an American federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 3 in 2012) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events 1

So, we celebrate the contributions of workers by not working. Ok. Well, banks and various professional offices don’t work. The people who actual labor probably still have to work, ironically enough. I know when I worked retail, holidays like Labor Day meant jack shit in terms of time off because retail stores only (begrudgingly) close two days a year (Christmas and Thanksgiving).

My “plans” for Labor Day weekend involve the aforementioned laundry (already in progress), grocery shopping (completed on Saturday), trying to finish reading Catching Fire and working on building/painting Warhammer 40k models. Sound exciting, eh? Oh, and sleeping. Sleeping is always a fun activity on any weekend, especially after a week of going into the office at 6:00 AM everyday when I normally don’t go in until 7:30 AM.

Roxanne also DVR'd the entire BBC America replay of the last Doctor Who season yesterday. There’s a book festival in Decatur today. We missed (are missing) Dragon*Con this year due to budgetary reasons (and lack of prior planning on my part).

For now, though, I’m just going to go pour another cup of coffee and wait for the dryer to buzz.

~ JC

----
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day - accessed September 1, 2012