Old Beginnings

I switched back to my first love, my first (of many) domain name on blogspot.

Absence

OK, so I haven't posted in months. I think October was my last know post date. Nothing much has been happening. I didn't disappear to travel the world or discover whatever.

Uncertainty and indecision has preoccupied me for the better part of those months. Yea, OK that's pretty much it. See nothing much...

New Address

Blogger Beta

Not sure how I feel about it. So far the dashboard seems off. It's showing it in old school html.

Maybe it was a mistake to switch. I have no idea what I'm doing. For example, for me to get a label list showing it seems like I have to upgrade my template, which I not completely sure that it won't wipe out my current settings.

Edit: I switched to IE, and the layout seems fine. Maybe it was something in Firefox.

Edit 12-2-06: It seems to work fine in Firefox now. Suppose it was just the early bugs being worked out of the system.

Getting back

I think this new change might allow me to get back into blogging or at least spending all my time in front of the computer reading and catching up on blogs.

I don't know. Something about getting to start anew. A chance to evolve differently. I'm going to take this challenge and try to follow through. (This is my biggest weakness: follow through).

I want to really love doing this. To be good at something. Maintaining a blog might give me a chance to discover what that is. It's a chance to purge anonymously.

Things are very boring

I'm realizing that blogging isn't what it used to be 2 or 3 years ago when I first discovered it. It was like a brand new baby that everyone hadn't yet catched on. It was fresh, exciting. Now I'm bored. I don't know what to do with my blog. I don't want to totally give up on it because at times it can be fun for me, but I lack focus. I don't know what to DO with it. I'm bored with the layout, with the content. Sometimes I just don't want to write expository essays about my life. I'm still trying to figure out where to go, and it's hard to do that publicly on a blog. It's a whole lot easier to just read other people’s blog and marvel at their lives.

2-Year Blog Anniversary

In December, I celebrate my 2-year blog anniversary. Not much to say other than it's fun to see my blog growth these past two years. You can easily see this in the different design choices I've made.

Writing and content wise, I think I was more enthusiastic early on. Now it's an either hit or miss. I struggle to sometimes write something meaningful to me.

I've let go of that "I want my blog to be famous" youthful vigor that I craved when I started out. Internet/blog celebrity-dom enticed me so. But now that I want to explore my inner psyche more, I've become fearful of anyone figuring out who I am even though I hardly write any incriminating details about myself. It’s hard to want to write about my life when I don't want to reveal anything. That’s the problem I have to deal with.

I'm grateful for this blog. It helps me work through my idiosyncratic fears and worries. The fear of people and the world, mostly. The world's just too big for a scared little girl like me.

Firefox Add-ons? Yes, please!

Since I've upgraded to the 1.5v of Firefox, I've been going a little Add-on mad. I can't get enough of all the extras available for download. So far, I've added:

• Sage: I use Sage the least mainly because I use Kinja, I guess. But I have wanted to try out an RSS reader. Wizz RSS Newsreader is another one that I have read positive reviews about.
  
• Tabbrower Preferences: I used to have an old version with my pre 1.5v of Firefox, and loved it, so when I transitioned into the new 1.5v, I wanted to upgrade. Tab Mixer Plus is also excellent. I did download it and try it out. But I think familiarity wins here.
• Gmail Manager: I don't give people my gmail account often because it's so new, and I'm trying to limit my emailing activity to one main account, so I don't lose track of emails. But I think I might just have to break the rule on the one-email-account-only because the manager is so addicting. Nothing like waiting to see if you have mail.
• del.icio.us: I'm loving the del.icio.us extension. It beats going into my bookmarks every time I want to tag something. I have an icon on my menu bar that allows me to simply tag any web page I come across. Plus, there's even an icon that takes me directly to my del.icio.us page. Perfect.
• Answers: I've never heard of this search engine before. But their ALT-CLICK on a word to find the meaning is a revelation, and it will do wonders for my vocabulary. Usually, when I come across a word on the web I don't understand, I just ignore it, or maybe I'll be tempted to type it in my search bar and select dictionary.com to look up its meaning. But no more! Alt-Click is all that it takes.
• SearchPluginHacks: Finally, I found something to get rid of unwanted search engines. I took out Creative Commons because I don't think I'll be using it much. I did take out Answers before I knew what it was, but I think dictionary.com and Wikipedia will suffice as references. Plus, having Amazon and Ebay as search engines does little to limit the useless hours I spend surfing their sites looking for bargains and useless junk.

Unkymoods is gone

Aww. Just found out unkymoods.com is defunct. I loved that site. Used to have a mood featured in earlier incarnations of my blog. Now when I finally think I might want one again, the website's disappeared. Too bad.

Redesign

I redesigned. It's a combination of my old style with a new background/base. It's a synthesis of two blogger design templates. I think those familiar with blogger templates can guess the two.

I'm quite happy with it. It was a couple of hours of frustrating huhs and gods, but I'm glad I did it. I used to resign regularly, and that kept me verse in the design language. I'm no expert in HTML/CSS at all. I can't code from scratch, but I can change a few things here and there in the blogger templates, and that's the extent of my expertise.

I wish I were more verse in web design. I bet I could create a kick ass design. Alas, it's not to be. I bet if I really concentrated and read through a bunch of HTML/CSS related info, of which there is an abundance on the web, I would learn leaps and bounds. That's got to go on some Do To List.

bored of my blog

So I'm bored again. A couple of months ago, I was all gung-ho about rededication to my blog. But now I'm finding less and less energy to devote to writing, editing, and cultivating it. We'll see how it goes.

i'm back in, folks.

I have put myself back up on the ‘add your blog to our listings.’ I’m not ashamed of my blog any more. At least for now. Anyways, this is a new start. I’ve changed my template. I’m showing blogger love by picking one of theirs. Well, ok. I might not add myself to the listing just yet. Not until I figure out how to proof read properly. I always find mistakes seconds after I publish, and it bugs the crap out of me.

I’m going to rededicate myself to my blog again. Instead of waiting to publish posts of substance, I’m just going for it. No more trying to come up with something fanciful to say because when I have, I rarely post at all. So I’m just going for it. I’ll write whatever I feel like and post whenever I feel like. I think I lost my purpose for a while there. I lost sight of why I'd blog. I was trying to be like everyone else (hence copy them), and I failed miserably. So I'm just going to do my own thing. (Let’s us how far this ingenious idea of mind lasts, ok.)

No comments, either. I just don’t know enough people on the web to start having a tête-à-tête. If you have a burning desire to say something, then use the email link. But I don’t check the email regularly either. Well, let me be honest, nobody sends me mail about my blog, so I’m not eagerly anticipating them. But, if you must, go ahead. Please, no hate mail or whatever. I just can’t take it. Really, I don’t expect any because I’m not advertising my blog. So basically this whole paragraph is for nothing.

I can’t believe I’m lasted for a year bloggin by informing the world of crap.

blog background

I need a cool background for my blog. How do I turn a small square pattern into a full blown blog background?

i'm so glad i don't have a xanga, and i'm not 13 anymore. so i won't feel compelled to

ugh

i still can't access my blog homepage with the direct url while using firefox.

EDIT: I lied. I can now.

EDIT. EDIT: I hate my layout. The colors suck.

i take that back. i don't just suck. so does blogger

Why is it that when I click on a direct link to my blog, blogger redirects me to my control panel instead? I can access everything else. Heck, I'm typing up this post, but I cannot get to my blog homepage with a direct URL. Just the homepage. The posts in the archives I can see.

WHY, FRIGGIN’ WHY?

And why do I bother? I can't even see this post. I’m going to bed. And this problem better be gone by the time I wake up tomorrow.

hooray for blogger

They finally changed their commenting system and did away with that annony extra step. And hooray for me for figuring out how to implement the new commenting system. Acutally, make that two hoorays for me, please.

Hooray search on google.

Neglect

I haven't been paying attention to this blog for a long time. It happened the same time I found how addicting buzznet/photoblogging could be. So most times, or all the time, I'm hanging out there and checking out people's photos. I used to be addicted to the written word, so blogging had its appeal. Now I'm addicted to photography, and buzznet/photoblogging feeds that thirst.

This used to be my baby. But I have a new one now. PHT is going to have to play second fiddle to my photoblog for some time. Until I find my drive to post something more substantial in the future.

Update: Maybe this should be my New Year's resolution: Pay more attention to my blog. Write more. Write substantially. Write therapeutically.

1 Year Blog Anniversary

As 2004 nears its end, and 2005 is creeping up, it’s time for a short look back…

It's been a whole year since I discovered blogger.com and the world of bloggoing. My site has evolved as I have learned more about blog writing and blog design. I am indebted. Truly. I haven't always been honest with myself, and keeping a blog, in some small way, has allowed me to explore all the things I hated about myself, all the reasons why I act the way that I do, and all the missed chances I let slip away. But beneath it all, I found that I really liked my life and me.

I know my archive goes as far back as January 2004, but my blogging introduction does not begin there. There were a couple of weeks and a couple of site experimentation that I have not, at that time, chosen to include. I wanted to start out on the New Year. New beginnings after the failed attempts at first bloggin'.

Along the way, I've learned more about my actions and characteristics, and I’ve reason them out, most of them. Some I have chosen not to publish but saved as drafts instead --just to serve as reminders. I know that I have a long way to go before I'm comfortable being me. I’m still unsure of where I stand. I’m not even sure I’m really standing! I spend way too much time floating idly. I’m still to scared to go after my passions, but at least I am aware that I do it. Regularly. However, I have pin pointed some of my scary passions. And I’ve learnt to hope a little. Not be so hard on myself. To see the bright side before I forecast clouds of doom. I’m still learning and discovering.

After a year, I have chosen the following statement to encapsulate my blog for 2004: A COLLECTION OF THE MUNDANE.

Misspellings

I like to check out sitemeter to find out how people come about my blog, and a good number of them find their way here via google or yahoo or other search engines. Occasionally, I've noticed that the words people type in on the search engine that brings them to my blog are misspelled. Let me list some of the misspelled words:

*old Poloroids
*tree-huger
*Presidental Debate
*Koteoy
*Sping 2005

This discovery is totally disorienting and most of all, EMBARRASSING. It goes to show how much I spell check everything. I thought I did a pretty decent job, but when a couple of mistakes show through it doesn't make up for all the perfect prose I've written. (A perfect prose being a joke.) And it bothers me a great deal. I feel like a fool because I don't discover it until someone searches for a misspelled word. And you know what, the list just keeps growing.