Everyday Randomness

Didn’t Curiousity Kill It?

Permalink | Shared On: 26 Sep 07 | Filed As: Meme

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Curious As A Cat Week 84

These are some rather tough questions this week, but I’m going to answer them as best as I can. I’m definitely having to think!

1) When was the best time, or what was the best experience, you’ve had with a sibling?

That’s really hard to say because I can’t pin point it down to just one experience. My sister and I have so many happy memories together, as well as a few bad ones. I would definitely consider having her standing by me as my maid of honor on my wedding day as one of the best experiences we’ve had together so far.

2) When do you feel the loneliest?

I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, so I would have to say I feel the loneliest when I’m having an attack and no one else is home to help me through it.

3) If a one-year period of your diary were to be published with your name attached, what year would you prefer?

I would probably choose the year my parents split. My dad walked out 2 weeks before my 18th birthday and sent my world spinning out of control. I’ve gone back and read a few things I wrote during that time, and I have say I really learned quite a few lessons through my writing then.

4) What has been the biggest accomplishment of your life (so far)?

Just getting out and making it on my own without having to constantly turn to others for help.

5) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.

Those shelves are more organized than mine will ever be!

Why Google Notebook Is Great For The Mobile Blogger

Permalink | Shared On: 25 Sep 07 | Filed As: Blogging, Everything Else

By mobile I don’t mean you’ve got your one laptop that you carry with you everywhere. I’m talking about the blogger like myself who doesn’t always post from the same computer. What is Google Notebook and why is it great for bloggers like me?

To start with I thought Google Notebook was going to be a nice little bookmarking tool that would make a great addition to my ever growing list of blogging tools. After I spent a little time playing around with the program I realized it is so much more. Clip, Note, and Publish really does say it all. Let’s start with the bookmarking aspect. As a blogger I have a habit of bookmarking tidbits of information, stories I want to write about, and things that catch my interest. Unfortunately this means my Firefox bookmarks list is a mile long. Things often get jumbled and lost in the disorganized mess because I forget to specify a folder when I save the bookmark.

The other scenario involves me actually placing my bookmarks in the right folders and remembering to return to that site. So often I return to the site I bookmarked in a hurry, but I can’t remember for the life of me exactly what I found on that page that I wanted to discuss on my blog.

Google Notebook essentially solves both of these problems with one handy tool. Organizing bookmarks is easy with the option to separate different subjects into different categories or “notebooks”. I also like the fact that I can add notes about each website I bookmark, or I can even “clip” full sections and photos of websites to save for later. I’ll never have to worry about forgetting exactly what caught my attention on the page again.

As for note taking, I’m finding this program very handy. Normally if an idea pops into my head I’ll write it in my notebook I carry with me. Other times I’ll open a notepad document to jot down ideas. This is great unless I’m away from my everyday computer. Using a laptop when I’m on vacation means I have ideas spread across 2 different computers. I don’t always remember to take my notebook with me. With Google Notebook I can save my notes and bookmarks to one location that can be accessed from any computer.

Sharing your notebooks is easy as well. Maybe you’ve set up a notebook full of your favorite recipes or quotes that you want to share with your friends and family. You can send that specific notebook via email, or you can even choose to publish your notebooks to a website. I think the publishing feature is great, and I’ve set up an example for you to check out! I’m thinking of using it to set up an “upcoming posts” section with information linking to the topics I want to discuss with my readers.

It’s easy to get Google Notebook. All you need is a free Google account. You access your notebooks via the Google Notebook website, or you can also download the extension to add a small pop-up window to your browser so you never have to leave the window you’re working in. Currently the extension works in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

It’s easy to see why Google Notebook is a great tool for a blogger who doesn’t always post from the same computer. I will definitely be using this handy tool more often. Why don’t you take the tour to see if Google Notebook is right for you?

Updating On The House

Permalink | Shared On: 24 Sep 07 | Filed As: Family & Friends

I got a nice little reminder from Lisa that I forgot to give you an update on the housing situation.  So are we buying this one or moving elsewhere?  I was going to have the talk with both of my grandparents, but my little cousin is having some medical problems, so my grandma tagged along with him for the doctor’s visit.  When I showed up with breakfast my grandpa was super happy.  I found him in the kitchen wondering what to cook because he was out of his favorite frozen biscuits…you know the ones you take out of the bag and pop in the toaster oven.  That’s about all he will cook for himself.

I took care of breakfast, made him some coffee, and had a little chat with him about the house.  He didn’t tell me exactly what I wanted to hear, but I have to admit he’s trying to get my grandma to work with us.  He knows she holds onto too much stuff because of sentimental value.  He also said because he gave each of his 3 daughters a plot of land (he owns 267 total acres afterwards), he’s trying to convince my grandma to let him do the same for the 4 grandchildren.  All but one of us are adults now, so he thought it was the right time.  He told me to give him a little more time to talk to “nag” my grandma about it.  Yes, he actually said nag.  He’s so cute lol.  But, he wants a little more time to convince my grandma to agree with him, and if she does he will give us the option (because I’m the oldest and only married grandkid) of taking the house and the acre that it sits on or the two acres of land that I’ve always thought were the perfect spot for a house.  I seriously need to buy my grandpa one of those “World’s Greatest Grandpa” trophies.

That’s a really tough decision because the 2 acres sit on top of a hill that used to be pasture, and they overlook a creek and clearing below.  Not only would we get more land, but we’d be able to build exactly what we want and have a beautiful view to go with it.  On the other hand, I love where this house sits as well, and I love how close it is to my grandparents’ house.  We’re far enough away for plenty of privacy, but we’re close enough that they could literally yell to get my attention.

We’ll have to see what my grandma thinks, and then I’ll have to discuss it with hubby, but I’m definitely leaning more towards the 2 acres.  If we went that route, we would still be able to live here until our house was finished.  We’d basically be about a half mile from the other location and able to work on the house anytime we wanted considering hubby the carpenter, me, my dad, and his dad would be building it in our spare time.

As for the situation now, my grandpa gave me the go ahead to repaint everything I want to paint, take down the peeling wallpaper in the bathroom, and to add wayne’s coating to a couple of rooms.  We also wanted to tile the floor around the wood stove, and he agreed it’s a good idea.  Basically he said do it, just don’t tell your grandma!   She never actually comes into my house because we’re always next door at hers, so we agreed what she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt.  By the time she finds out, it will already look beautiful!

7 Blog Must Haves

Permalink | Shared On: 23 Sep 07 | Filed As: Blogging

I think the Sunday Seven question this week is an interesting one. Patrick asks what are the seven “must haves” for your ideal blog design. I’ve given some thought to this question, and here’s what I’ve decided upon. These are in no particular order.

• Easy to read layout- This isn’t something that I want just because I want my blog to look nice. If my content can’t be read easily, readers won’t stick around.

• Widgets- Of course with Wordpress most of us prefer widgets.

• Sidebar layout- It’s a personal preference to how many columns you want in your layout, but I don’t want my sidebar to look “crowded”. I want my sidebar to have any easy to read layout of it’s own, or I want more columns so I can spread my content out.

• Easy to navigate archives- There’s nothing worse than visiting a blog I like, deciding to explore it further, and finding that the archives are a mess. I’ve also found a few free layouts before that were beautiful, but the archive layout looked like utter crap. I like the way my archives are with this particular layout. Instead of seeing the entire post, you get an easy to scroll through title listing.

• Ad integration- Almost everyone monetizes their blog in some form these days, and it’s essential to be able to integrate those ads seamlessly.
• Pages- Are the pages easy to find? Did your layout leave them out? Yet again I have ditched layouts in the past because I hated the positioning of the links for other pages.

• Correct rendering in all browsers- I can’t stand when I find the perfect layout, but then I discover it looks completely wrong in Internet Explorer. I use Firefox, but over 65% of my readers use Internet Explorer.

What are your seven must haves for great blog design?