Itching

Don’t worry, I don’t have a medical condition… I’m itching for a new blog design/blog/format/I’m just bored with what I’ve got.  And I have to rethink why or what I am writing.  I seem to have a knack for offending the pants off of people… which in turn offends me because I don’t think people should be running around pantless.  I need to have a purpose for the blog and for writing… otherwise, I’m only contributing to the noise.

My Birthday Extension

My side of the family has started a new tradition: Monthly family dinners.  Last weekend was our second dinner and also the first time we had gotten together since my birthday.  So they used the dinner to give me my gifts and sing me Happy Birthday.

These dinners thus far have themes.  So, because it is March, it was an Irish theme.  We all wore green and ate a very tasty Irish meal.  We had Chicken and Leek (it’s like a chicken pot pie), Irish Soda Bread, potatoes and cabbage, and Guinness.  Two words: Yum! (I know that wasn’t two words… see, I have to clarify my sarcasm sometimes because people often confuse me for being dumb.)

My sister made delicious banana cupcakes with caramel filling and cream cheese frosting… and sprinkles!  I wish I took a picture of them on the table because they were really cute.  She used those long, really skinny candles too.  I had trouble blowing them out for some reason… not enough gusto on my part!

I also got some awesome gifts.  I got a small food processor (I don’t need the big fancy ones), a commercial jelly roll pan, and a really nice bird feeder.  Actually, I was given the pole for the feeder first and while I was flailing the pole around, I looked up and saw a wrapped, tube-shaped present hanging from the ceiling (the feeder)… which had been there unnoticed all through dinner.  Needless to say, it was a very entertaining night and I enjoyed the time with my family.

I have always had amazing birthdays and thank everyone for those memories.

Birthday in a Nutshell

My birthday came and went exactly how I wanted it… quietly.  As a result, I was really able to relax and enjoy some time with Stephen.  He was sweet and bought me too many gifts.  I gave him a few hints and he bought them all.  Spoiled much?  He bought me a wall sconce I had my eye on, the PC game Spore (Galactic Edition), and an electric gridle.  Nice.

Stephen and I had dinner with my sister and her husband the next day at a hibachi steakhouse.  Yum!  They gave me a cookbook about how to fix cooking mistakes (or make use of dried out meats and such).  I haven’t gotten a gift from my parents yet… that will come to me at our family dinner at the end of the month.  They did give me a card but I am not sure what to think of it.  You can see for yourself in the pictures below.

Fab Feb!

My birfday (that is- birthday) is next Wednesday (Feb. 11)  and all I want is quiet.  I love having people over and entertaining, but I am getting worn out.  I just need one weekend with Stephen at home… no one going out or coming in… unless we want to eat dinner somewhere!  I thought about having a house warming/birthday party because we have a number of friends who have not seen our home yet.  But I am more in the mood to be entertained, not be the entertainer.

The weather right now is so fantastic, it feels like spring.  I know it won’t last, but I am enjoying it.  So far this month is opposite of winter.  I am seeing Robins everywhere and today I was chased by bee.  On groundhog’s day, I saw a peacock.  Seriously, I did!  I took the dog for a walk in the neighborhood and my parents came along (I have witnesses).  I am used to seeing turkey on my walks and when I saw the peacock, I had to do a double take.  It almost felt normal for some reason, as if peacocks were native Nebraska birds.  We soon realized that it is someone’s pet.  It stayed close to the home and eventually sat down by the front door.  Ok… that is odd.  I had no idea you could domesticate a peacock.  I would have taken a picture with my phone but I was struggling to keep the puppy from charging at it.

In other news, we are still very busy during the week and trying to simplify our lives by getting organized.  We struggle with staying on the same page.  To help us out, we have been looking for online to-do lists that send us reminders.  We are testing out Remember The Milk.  Once we get our priorities straight we will be ready to start more house projects.  I can’t wait to get more paint on the walls!

A Sample

Wow… I typed this post over a week ago and am just now publishing it!

Below are a couple of design concepts I have for my Super Laurie site.  Remember, these are just concepts and the actual design may or may not include elements from the samples.  Feel free to comment about what looks good.

Things I like:

• The tabs.  The shape of them may change and they can be either horizontal or vertical.  I definitely want tabs over a box with links (pardon the lack of design lingo).
• The Super Laurie icons.  Although, they probably won’t be on every button (that’s just overkill).

Things I need or need to change:

• None of the examples are very cartoon-like.  I like very simple designs, but it needs more to feel like SL.
• A universal Super Laurie logo
• A complete icon set: I need icons for my comments, users, next/previous buttons, etc.

I will add more samples to this post as I finish and continue to discover how I want the design.  To view the samples in full scale, you need to click on the image 100 times (give or take) to zoom… and even full sized, the quality is fairly poor… I’ll fix that later.

Back to Design

No worries, this is not a Christian rant… By design I mean it is time for me to get back to graphic design.  Now that the dust has settled from our move and the holidays, I am giving my attention to the Super Laurie site.  Nothing has been added recently but I do have the first two episodes complete.  We haven’t posted them on the site yet because we were unsure how we wanted them to be viewed.  Stephen and I have gone back and forth on ideas (using other comic sites as examples) and concluded that my comic will have to be viewed in a unique way.

The template we have on the site now is nice, but I am determined to design it entirely myself.  Because I have no motivation to learn CSS or HTML (not to mention that what I have learned has escaped me already) Stephen has agreed to be my code monkey.  Niiiiice!  I will create the design in photoshop and he will translate it into HTML.  I love him!  And yes, he is right, I should learn how to do it myself… and I will… someday.

I will have a couple of previews to share at a later time.  I want to complete at least one more concept before I give examples.  At that time, I hope to get some feedback so check back soon!