template bingo

If you are seeing a different template, I'm playing around again so bear with me. I have always enjoyed the ability to change around the template on Susan*Jayne and this latest website has many good Blogger options.

New Widgets

Wanna see what they're working on in Blogger? Log in under http://draft.blogger.com. If you have the new Blogger you'll have more widgets to play around with on your template. That's where I found the new, improved blogroll, as you can see to your right, in the sidebar.

Recent Comments

See it? Over there... on the left. I've added a new widget to the sidebar and thought some of you might be interested in it, too.

I ran across a blog called Beta Blogger For Dummies (new Blogger) and found this nice Recent Comments widget. You know it's simple to add on to your template if I can do it.

link

Got Them NavBar Blues?

Anyone using Blogger that is anoyed by the navigator bar at the top? Enough to want to make it go away? Some people would rather have it on the template and that's fine, too. But it you want, you can type in this little bit of code near the top of the template, (go to "Edit template" in the new Blogger) just above the [body] tag or right below the Blogger Template Style info and you're all set. No more navbar.


#navbar-iframe {
display: none;
}

Free Hosting @ Blogger!

From the: 'Ask And You Shall Receive' Files...

Did you know that Blogger/Google will actually host your blog for FREE now? This is for those who either have their own domain name or wish to get one and get online inexpensively.

I just read about it on Blogger.com and will be making the change soon myself. All you have to do is decide on a domain name, buy the domain name and Blogger will walk you through the rest. Go to Go Daddy (I've used it for 4 years now) or some other registrar and get a website name.

For my domain name, easybakecoven.net, I pay $8.95 a year to GoDaddy. Then you had to find a HOST, (until this news from Blogger,) to make the website come together. I'm currently using your-site.com, which costs $60 a year. That's $60 I don't have to be spending if Blogger will do it for FREE.

This is the deal of the day. And then some. Pick out a domain name, register it, and let Blogger take it from there.

link

**I've just been discussing this in the last post with Shirl.

New Blogger

I finally switched to the new Blogger. And I don't see any major differences to my template at all. This or the other one. All that worrying for nothing.

It is indicative of my attitude towards change. The way I've been drug kicking and screaming into the 21st century speaks volumes about me so I'm not surprised I took so long to accept the "change" to new Blogger.

I do have to integrate the new labels and archiving features. But as of now, it all looks fine.

Happy Sunday, friends.

testing - screwy blogger, )(*#&%^%

well, this one works, but EBC isn't publishing... arghhh

I've spent a good 8-hour day (well, off and on) trying to get my EBC site to work. I cannot get anything to publish since Friday night! Talk about frustrating. I swear I'm going to go to Wordpress or somewhere else. I have had it with blogger. They are great for a blogspot blog, but not for one hosted someplace else. My brand loyalty ends here today. Now I need to find another system. I've tried to do Wordpress 2 different times but I couldn't understand it. A-D-D problems. I can figure out how to "do A and then do B, and then C". Anymore than that and I am so lost. Anything with more than a few steps and I wig out.

So does anybody love me enough to move me over to Wordpress? Maybe they have something where I can pay them. Or does anyone know of another place to go?

I'm so frustrated. You can't even imagine. I've wasted one whole day and part of the weekend fussing with Blogger.

Blessings to you all...!

Whenever I upload an image through blogger, I never know what size I'll end up with. This little string doll is "Cupid" and is handmade in Thailand from one string. They're keychains. I thought they were sweet.

link

Damn. Blogger lost my post. That happens about once a year to me. And since Blogger is featuring their wonderful, stupendous, new feature... post recover, I thought, no problem. But it's not there today! I saw it yesterday. Yesterday it was slowing my editing page down so much that it was freezing up. I was so annoyed that I wrote to Blogger and sounded off only to get the form letter reply to which I then responded, Please don't insult me by asking if I checked this and this. Of course I did. Writing to Blogger problems was my last resort.

Hope I can recall what all I wrote. Oh, about work. With lightening speed, the others told me who was to be trusted and who not to trust. How did they know they could trust me? Ha! Maybe had something to do with the first day I was there, I shoved a paper into the BIG boss's hand and said, "Take care of this for me, willya?" To which he replied, "Sure thing," and was off to take care of said paperwork. I didn't know who he was. I had seen him hanging around with the other associates laughing it up like a regular joe. Looking back on it, the others that were standing around in the hall did look somewhat stunned. And if I had it to do over again, I'd have handled that differently. At least I would have added a "please" to my demand! Take care of this willya? Geesh. We're still laughing about it. Someday I'll tell Bossman about it, but I'm too embarassed for now.

Lovely Skyler is parading around in her new bikini. She just came in from sunbathing on the back deck for about an hour. It's just now 63�. She slathered on some baby oil and iodine -- (do people in other parts of the country use that to sunbathe sometimes?) and I told her when it was time to turn. Her iPod and cell phone, the basic essentials to tanning, I suppose. What a different world. Oh, she has cut off her mohawk and is left with just inch long hair all over now. Not one of her best looks, but she wears it like she's queen of the universe. So bold and full of self assurance. Always the life of the party. And I'm so proud of her. It's a real privilege to be her Mom.

Awwggrrhhhhhh!!! My darn server is down again. Yes, again. I know it was down at midnight last night and still out now. Blogger is up and running more than Your-Site and it's FREE, for pete's sake. (I don't think I've ever said 'pete's sake' before--ya know I keep this website clean; the relatives are watching) Okay, getting a late start today. Let's go read the news, check the email and get some blogging done. kisses...

What's Quick Edit in Blogger, you may ask? I now have a tiny pencil graphic beside my "posted by Susan @ whatever 0'Clock". I guess it's just visible to the website owner. It's what I now click on to edit my post from the website instead of going into the guts to do it. Cool beans. Now, I'll see if I can set it up in EBC. Two for two? Hey, it can happen.

Then I can go see what some of youse guys are up to this evening.

**Edited to Add @ 10:03 am - Trying out the Edit feature. It says the tiny pencil is invisible to everyone else. I was able to add it to Easy Bake Coven, too. It's so simple to do. Cool. I like it. I had never noticed this option before. Just saw it yesterday roaming around in my Settings.

Oh, Blogger, why did you jackpot me once again? Sometimes I just don't think you respect me anymore and you take me for granted. Yesterday you disappeared and took 95% of my template with you, leaving me to scrape and fend for myself. No note. No nothing. Nada.

Blogger, you're a fickle little dude. But as usual, I'll forgive you and take you back after you remind me of your free service, easy push-button publishing, recent upgrades and promises of "It'll never happen again. Honest".

I go to my room to sulk and soon begin thinking about the new guys in town. Classy Word Press just moved in down the street. He's got possibilities. And there's the sleek and polished Typepad. Everyone thinks he's mighty fine. So lookout, Blogger. There may soon be a new pair of boots under my Blog bed.

Who's John Kerry going to choose for his Vice Presidential running mate? I really wish it would be John Edwards, but I don't think it will be. Will it be someone that no one's even talking about? Maybe. Dick Gephardt is also a top runner, but sure lacks pizazz.

He's made up his mind, but has yet to announce it. I heard he's going to tell all his internet supporters first. I take that to mean all the people on his email list. Stay tuned.....!

For commenting on these Blogger comments, I think you have to be signed up with Blogger. You don't have to have an actual active Blogger account, I don't think. Just sign up with them. Or you may still have the option to post anonymous. If so, just type your name at the bottom of your comment. Sorry it's so much of a hassle. I may end up switching back to HaloScan. Happy Monday!

The Background Music Of My Life...
Was something I said yesterday online and I find it's a recurring theme. Trying to find some online radio to listen to this morning and I tried Ampcast radio. Nah. WNCW, WCQS, KPFA Berkeley? That ain't it either. I dug into my hard drive for something to play and, surprise, surprise, found some oldies. I know. I'm stuck so far in the Sixties, I'll never see the new millenium properly. I try. I really try. But I'm always carried back to Eric Burdon and Eric Clapton. Neil Young, Rickie Lee, Jimi, Dylan, Stones and Santana. Black Magic Woman just began playing. How can I turn away from the classics? So I try to incorporate some of the new with the old and only end up 80% old, 20% new. I'm a sucker for guitar solos and I don't hear that many new solos that slay me. Or maybe I don't know where they're hiding. And last night, Silvio and I picked out Things Have Changed by Dylan, me on acoustic; he on electric and flipping out those little riffs on the chorus was so right on. A new-ish song by Dylan. My head isn't totally up Sixites' ass. Not so much that I can't pull it out for a breath of the fresh new stuff. It's that the good old stuff injects my spirit with much needed aural affirmations. From the spirit of 1967 and 1968 and onward thru the fog.

I've not always waxed so nostalgic about long ago. It's just been recently. More so since the war was just an idea in the Bush admin. When things started going to shit. Past the point of No Return. It brings me back to a more hopeful time. A time when I really thought that we were going to change the world. I have a short supply of hope now where the country is concerned. Just my way of coping. (Led Zep's Ramble On should be my background music right now.) Okay, I'm done. Thanks for listening, friends.

Oh, I'm trying out the new Blogger comments. Uh, we'll see. Not having whole lot of luck at the moment. Leave a comment on the tagboard if this isn't working.

Tish of Fatshadow has been recognized by the SFWeekly as Best Blogger. Her eloquent voice speaks for so many people; I'm so glad she got this honor. Link

I've set up an RSS feed for this site. Blogger makes it easy by going to "Settings", then "site feed" and following the instructions for 'Atom'. I've listed two feed URLS for s u s a n * j a y n e. http://susanjayne.blogspot.com/rss/susanjayne.xml. Many people prefer to read weblogs through an aggregator, and I've been trying out Bloglines. It makes for much quicker blog reading, I must say, although you sometimes lose the pictures and other nuances of the site if you're depending solely on it for your viewing.

Why Keep A Weblog?

I first looked for a way to connect to people after 9-11. As corny as it sounds, I was looking for some way to connect with people around the country and world. Just for the purpose of spreading love and peace. (I told you it would be corny.) I started a very successful group on AOL and we introduced ourselves and touched base with each other and it was enlightening. I had been keeping a daily website on Geocities. There was little else in 1996-97. When I learned of Blogger in 2001, I started my daily writings in private at first. Blogger made it so easy to keep a journal. I soon turned over my AOL group and went public with my Blogger site and put my foot into the www water of general feedback and communication with other people.

I had thought it was something that I was giving to others. Making online friends and giving support and speading kindness. It was some time later I saw how it helped me come out of my shell. Although I've always been pretty bold, I never dipped below the surface to speak of real emotions. I lost a best friend; my father passed and life was more precious than ever. My son is estranged from me; my daughter is now a teen with a life of her own and my husband is ill, so I found myself with more time on my hands in this stage of my life.

Keeping a daily weblog gives me a place to keep my thoughts for all time. When I'm long gone, my family can read it when they choose. My sister and I help each other with our journals when she's able. It's fun for my in-laws and my out of state friends to see what my family and I are up to. Old classmates have found me online; from high school and college, and we've renewed our friendships with emails and occasional visits. My teen daughter stops by to see what's on my mind while she's in computer class. And my son, even though we no longer are in touch now, also reads my website, I'm told.

I'm not sure who this weblog/website is for. It doesn't have to "be" for anyone. I'm real glad it just "is".

*Notice*

I'm probably going to change this site back to http://susanjayne.blogspot.com. Since I think my computer is trying to quit on me, and my renewal for my Easybakecoven.net site is up in few weeks, I may not keep the easybakecoven.net site if my pc goes out. I really don't know what I'm going to do yet. But I do know I can always count on Blogger, so I may use the susanjayne.blogspot.com address soon. If you can't access this site thru the usual easybakecoven.net/sj/, then you know where it'll be!

What a slovenly blogger I've been with this site lately. What can I say, I've just not been online as much as I used to be. Skyler, my daughter, is at a football game with her boyfriend, Chris. My husband took them. The team is 13-0 and playing in the State quarter-finals tonight at home. Does she realize this is some of the best times of her life? High school ballgames were so much fun when I was a teen. ...drifting ........back ....in ...time ....

Who's Who?

Thinking about you guys even when I'm not able to visit as often as I'd like. It sorta seems weird to like folks I've never even seen before, but some of you are very special to me. When I visit you I picture where you live, your environment, your home/apt. Who else may live there, your pets, if any, where you sit when you're online. And, of course, what you look like. If I've never seen your picture, I already have one in my mind of you from descriptions I've read before.

::One of you reminds me of one of my best friends of 30+ years and I find it incredibly easy to talk to you. I have to temper my words and phrases occasionally because I really start to take off and talk to this blogging friend the same way I talk to Dena in real life. If we ever got together, we'd probably have so much fun that our families would try to reel us in. And probably for our own good.

::One of you is like my favorite cousin, Randall, who's one year older and the darling of the family clan. He's very charming and talented in everything he touches. Although my cousin is a high school principal with a lovely wife and 3 beautiful kids---this part is not at all similar to this favorite blogging friend. I respect them both immeasureably.

::One of you reminds me of a friend that always went to concerts with me. We'd travel sometimes every weekend someplace to see Led Zeppelin or the Stones or someone perform. Her Dad had bought her a new car and gave her a gas card and we were gone......! Laura is very pretty, and quiet, all the boys love her, and she always laughs at everything I say. This blogger friend is also very cool and pretty, too. And very organized. Much younger than my real life friend, but still reminds me a great deal of her.

::One blogging favorite reminds me of a combination of two childhood friends, Janet and Donna. The salt of the earth, the nurturer, the one you always share your ups and downs and secrets with. The "Go-To" person. And cares for me unconditionally, just like I suspect this blogging buddy would. The Yin to my Yang, you both keep me grounded, and never judge me. Or ever have anything bad to say about anyone and I know I could always depend on her for anything, at anytime.

::One of your reminds me of a high school friend of my sister's and mine. She made us laugh hysterically all the time. I can just think of her and laugh. This blogging friend probably thinks I'm silly when I leave comments, but she makes me laugh, just like Kathy did in real life. A very carefree, joyful person. Life of the party.

Any of this look familiar to anyone?