Current Mood: Mischievous & Sarcastic

Updates since last blog:

• New layout! It’s called ‘Infinity’; why, I’m not sure. It kind of named itself…I wanted to type the name of the layout in the sidebar header, and ‘infinity’ suddenly popped into my head as I clicked on Photoshop’s text tool. Call it Fate, call it random inspiration, call it whim; it doesn’t matter. For some reason, the name suits, I think. Although, I noticed something curious about this layout as I was coding it today; the fifth image in the navigation menu (’writing’) doesn’t hover properly. Properly, as in, at all. It doesn’t hover at all. Even though I specified the rollover image, I’m using the proper code, I coded it in Dreamweaver like I always do, and my XHTML is now valid. How…interesting. Yesterday both the fifth and fourth hovers were not working…so I have come to believe that this not-hovering occurrence is distributed randomly amongst my six hovers each day. So, just so you don’t think I’m completely tacky and forgot the fifth hover: I didn’t, it’s being persnickety. Oh, and sorry to those who adore my Twilight layout…I love it, but seeing it every day for several months drives a design-obsessed person like myself crazy. I was in desperate need for a change, and now that I’ve made a change, I feel calmer. I’m beginning to think making layouts and validating code and customizing CSS do for me like prescription medication does for other people. And, while this revelation disturbs me slightly, I’m trying to put that feeling aside and accept my insanities, whatever they may be. Professional help? Hah! Open up Photoshop and go to town; you’ll feel better instantly, trust me!
• As I said above, I validated my XHTML. FINALLY! I’m pretty sure I got all my pages, but if someone comes across an invalid page, or an invalid bit of code, please inform me of your discovery. I’m determined to keep my site validated this time: I don’t know what happened before, but I let myself slack off, that’s for sure! Validation…ahh. It goes straight to the soul, almost like chocolate. Knowing my site is now valid is like a weight off my shoulders…I have an extreme need for organization, and I’m quite a perfectionist, if you haven’t yet figured that out. Validating is my kind of my own twisted version of ’spring cleaning’. Who cares that my room has year-old dust collecting and conspiring on all flat surfaces, my site is now dust-free (metaphorically) and my mind is at ease!
• I upgraded to Wordpress 2.5, which I am in love with. I have kicked Wordpress 2.3 to the curb, so to speak; poor thing, it never really had a chance when 2.5 showed up. With its dashing new modernly-styled (and incredibly organized,) admin panel, spiffier, more intricate, and more useful text editor, and altogether ability to pwn all other programs that dare try to compete with it, 2.5 has raised the bar on blogging systems. (People think FanUpdate is the new Wordpress? Hah! The naivety.) It even has adorable little caption-bubble-shaped comment links in the admin panel! 2.5 is the Mac of blogging systems, it has taken me to places I’ve never been before…I think it and I will be close, very close, for a long time…. (Until 2.6 is releasted, that is.) OK, I know; getting a little too obsessive with the Wordpress-devotion thing. Sorry. I’ve had several people ask me, seriously, if I’m paid to advertise for Wordpress; the answer, for those currently contemplating asking me that question or one of similar content, is not true. Wordpress is just so genuis, I feel the need to rave about it to the world.
• On the past layouts page, and the pets’ page, I added this wonderful image-viewing script I recently discovered, called Facebox. It’s simple, easily customizable, and–even better!–it works with PHP includes. It’s the first such script I’ve gotten to do so. So, hoorah for Facebox! It’s been quite a savior for me, that’s for sure; especially when I realized the previous script I was using on my pets’ page wasn’t valid code, and I had to find an alternative with which to replace it. Facebox saved me. It’s not as high on my beloved list as Wordpress is…but it still has a special place in my heart.
• I added a new page for my writing: view it here. I decided to move all my poems to Phoenix Tearz, so say your goodbyes to Moonlit Muse. The only reason I was keeping the latter was up was because of the layout I made, which I believe to be one of my best, but I was becoming annoyed with logging into two Wordpress admin panels. So, the poetry, along with some just-added short stories (with more to come!) and the articles previously found residing on the tutorials page, have all been moved to the new writing page. Enjoy!

As for other news, Script Frenzy started on the 1st, as those of you who read my blog often should remember. I have written twenty-five pages; I’m a quarter of the way through. Writing a screenplay is not as hard as I thought it would be…the formatting part, that is. (And that’s only thanks to a life-saver program called CeltX, without which I would probably not have had the guts to write a screenplay in the first place, amateur that I am!) The writing part is all condensing, making one scene flow into the next, coming up with clever, realistic dialog that doesn’t ramble, and keeping descriptions very short. I didn’t realize before how much importance a screenplay held in the movie-making business, but now I’m fully aware; the screenplay, for the most part, makes the whole movie. Or so I believe. Directors, of course, make set/location/scenery edits and such, but the dialog, who the characters are, the story itself…all is created by the screenwriter. Trying out this form of writing has made me appreciate–and respect–any movie that has smooth scene transitions, and good dialog. One such movie, which I watched recently for the first time, is Good Night, and Good Luck. It’s a masterpiece, in my mind. (And no, I’m not being biased because George Clooney co-wrote it.) The dialog is short, to-the-point, clever and incredibly fast-paced and realistic; the scenes seem to belong to one another in a way I have never seen before, and the subtle, simple story is incredibly interesting and meaningful. The topic, for those who don’t know, is about the ‘red scare’ in the 1940s/1950s in the U.S. and the ‘fun’ Senator McCarthy had accusing innocent people of being communists. Basically, if you so much as had a second cousin twice removed who had attending a meeting of a society thought to have communist beliefs, you could be accused for sharing those beliefs. It was ridiculous and incredibly scary for people at the time. The main character in the movie is Edward R. Murrow, who, through his television program, took a direct stab at the Senator, and the Senator’s actions towards communism, in several live reports. The storyline simply follows these reports, and the consequences of them, but it’s intelligently written and well worth watching, I found. The subject matter, amazingly, is appropriate for modern times, too: take a minute to think about the crap on TV nowadays and you’ll understand my meaning. (I actually find I have a lot to say on this subject–television’s demise–so, who knows, maybe I’ll write a new article on it?)

Other than screenwriting, making a new layout and completing various site updates, I’ve basically been reading, writing, preparing for my Running Start assessment, finishing a website job I’ve been working on for awhile, and performing daily human activities such as eating and sleeping. I don’t know where my time is going, but I must be scaring it somehow, because it’s running away from me very quickly. Even though I don’t have as many things to do now as I have at several other times in the not so distant past, my time has becoming increasingly more limited. How does this even work, I wonder? I won’t bother trying to figure it out: that would take more time!

So…sorry for being boring. I have a desire to write an imaginative, well-versed, witty, interest-capturing post, and despite my attempts, I don’t think I’ve achieved my goal this time. I love to blog, yet it’s becoming increasingly harder to come up with interesting, blog-worthy subjects, as of recently.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys the new layout! Please tell me what you think of it.