Schizophrenia

Among the one million things on my to-do list is working on my website and blog and getting them to go together. So that's why you get treated to something different each time. I am at a disadvantage because technology is swiftly leaving me behind. Building a website isn't what it used to be.

There was a time when slopping together a table with brightly colored squares that complemented each other was enough. There were so many "loving-hands-at-home" websites that anyone with an ounce of good taste could at least not embarrass themselves. In those days I used Netscape and Netscapte composer to produce simple websites that were not fancy (no flash, but I mastered the roll-over) but not unattractive and easy to use. Catherine the Great. Narcissa Whitman. The story of a roman wedding. Some are still up while others took a dive when Ancient Sites, my old stomping grounds, bit the dust. Others may still be out there in the ether. But now? Now you have to be a geek of the first order or open your wallet reeeeaaaallllll wide to have something up on the net that really pops.

I wanted my daughter to do my site. She has a design degree from UC Davis and gave herself a hip, together site so I figured, hey, hire her, pay her well, and she'll have pocket money for Australia where she currently is. But alas. $$$$ and working for mom wasn't enough to get her to sit down at the computer. Also, much to her chagrin, I didn't buy Dreamweaver, a program she knows, but GoLive, a program she doesn't. I get the I-don't-wanna-work-for-mom bit. I can do this myself.

I tried using a template...six templates. STinkY! So I've tried to learn GoLive, but there just aren't enough hours in the day to master that program. The tutorial doesn't even have matching icons! I need matching icons to follow what the heck is going on. I can't even master the creation of a GoLive "family tree" for the site, so I barreled ahead to just do a page. Nope. It ain't happening. I bought the book from amazon written by the Adobe staff for a whopping 40 bucks, but haven't had time to use it. I've been reduced to ...

TEMPLATES again!!! My website is built on the simplest, most-editible template that earthlink offers and I've spent days with photoshop trying backgrounds (oh, that awful cottonball on blue) and different customized pix for the few things I could do. Blue backgrounds, brown backgrounds, eggplant. Schizophrenia!!!

It's not great but at least today I've decided to give it a rest for a while. I settled for the usual ME look. Black and gray with a touch of red. At least it reflects my taste in clothes! Besides I have a book to write.

Now all I have to do is duplicate that here. There has to be a black/gray/red template I can use???

We'll see.

Okay So I Haven't Been Around

You wanna make something of it? Of course I'm assuming someone out there is reading this which, except for my sister Jane, is probably not happening. I'm embarrassed that I've neglected this spot, but I'm giving no excuses. It is what it is. Sooo....

Here's a life update.

My son has settled in to clerking for a judge in the sixth circuit. I think it's the sixth circuit, Ohio? And of course, I can't remember the judge's name . But I'm the mom and my focus has been to get him (Nick not the judge) to change his address so I can stop forwarding mail...from the Republican Party. He's got a nice apartment, he tells me, and no furniture, but he's looking for a bed.

I remember those first days of really being out on one's own. I lived in Garden Grove with a roommate while I attended Long Beach State and worked on my masters. She was at Sawyer, a secretarial school, in Anaheim. Garden Grove was in between. (Speaking of republicans, back there in 1971 I still wore jeans and love beads. My hair hit the middle of my back. I couldn't go into the post office without generating stares of disgust and fear).

We lived in one of those old 60s-70s garden apartments, a series of buildings surrounding a swath of grass. Balconies running the length of each building, stairs on both ends. Palm trees. Lawn chairs. I don't think we had a pool, but I can't really remember. Luckily for me I was close enough to home that I could use some furniture my folks had in the garage, a maple living room set, sofa, chairs, that my mom and I stripped and stained a dark mahogony and she reupholstered in a brown and orange plaid. It was actually quite attractive. My old bedroom set (also maple) I antiqued in yellow/brown. Antiquing was decorating trend so my apartment, with the help of my mother, was charming.

Unfortunately, Nick's two thousand miles away so I'm not helping him much. Just forwarding mail. Maybe I shouldn't have him change his address? Otherwise he might not blog about me thirty-five years from now.

My daughter is in Australia, currently at the Great Barrier Reef. She says its totally beautiful and the nightlife is good. At her age, that IS the primary consideration. She's been down under since September 2 and having a great time. Next will be New Zealand, then once she gets back, she's off to Mammoth for her second season on the mountain. She's gonna be a darn good snowboarder by the time she's done.

Tim's busy at work. I won't say much about him or me now because....

I need to quit blogging and hit the garage to write. I've set a deadline of December 15 for my revision. The kids seem to be functioning quite well without me and Tim's tucked away at work, so what excuses do I have? Oh, did I mention the remodeling?