There goes another four-day weekend. As usual, I have very little to show for it.
As I threatened earlier, I did start trying to poke around and figure out a new design for the ol’ blog. I’m pretty much drawing blanks, however, and the few actual ideas I’ve had are just basic things I’d either like or like to avoid. (Though I may sound down on certain sites I link, I actually think all the sites I point at look damn good; their look, however, just may not be my look.)
I Like:
Simplicity. I’m not the type who maintains a three column layout that brims with links. A second column of stuff—be it “briefs” or links or whatever—is probably too much for me.
Image Rotation. I first really noticed this at Anime Blog Muyo! (which sadly seems to have fallen silent), and I think it works wonderfully. Keeps things fresh even when they’re a bit stale, etc. A catch is that spaces that are either too vertical or too horizontal are difficult to fill (I’d say my current sidebar is somewhat approaching the “too vertical” limit), yet the general shape of a web browser window is such that a more-reasonable block takes up a lot of space that might be used for actual content.
I’d prefer to avoid:
Centered layouts. It’s not that I don’t like them (though that may be hard for you to swallow, given the proximity to the title of this section), but they just seem to be all over the place these days. And though they all look different, I can’t help but notice how they all look the same. I’ve never been one of those people who had to be different (those who know me personally should be choking on that understatement), but too much of anything gets old. Even for me.
That said, if I could figure out a way to really differentiate my layout… I might be persuaded into a centered design, despite my reservations.
And that’s pretty much the sum-total of my thoughts. (I wasn’t kidding when I said “few.”) Another option I have would be to work on modifying this design more, rather than scrapping it altogether; I am partial to this setup, but that may well be due to the fact that it’s the first somewhat-modern layout I created.
…
In other news, I hear that Canon has finally made a camera for me. You may be aware of the fact that I have an essential tremor (and if you were not—you are now) that adds just enough shake to my hands to be annoying. Given that fact, you might surmise (correctly!) that I have difficulty shooting a decent picture. I typically need extremely good lighting, total darkness save for the flash, or an insane amount of luck to take a photo that has any sort of focus.
Image stabilization has long been a feature of video cameras. But I hadn’t heard of such technology in a standard camera—until now. This is the camera for me… or, rather, it will be once it either drops in price or my current camera explodes in a ball of flame.
Okay, I realize it is silly to ask this question here, but I wanted to ask both Brent and Brian and whoever else in in Corvallis and it’s really important. I need to know as soon as humanly possible.
What is the speed limit on 9th street just north of Van Buren?
I realize this might seem like a stupid question. But I have a vey good reason. The moring I got married, Tyler’s dad got in a car accident that resulted from both parties thinking they had a green light. There was one whitness at the time who said that my father-in-law had the green, but he was disqualified as a whitness for some strange reason. The driver of the other car decided to sue my dad-in-law and two and a half years later the lawsuit is still going on. Now they are trying to say that my father-in-law was speeding and use that against him so he wants to know the speed limit. He needs to know this very very soon.
So if any of you Corvallis people read this, email me or something so I can get my father-in-law off my back. Sorry to spam your comment section, Brent.
I want to say 25, but I know that it’s 30 just a bit north of the spot you’re talking about. Or is it 35? It just keeps ramping up through that area.
Brent, I’ll find this out tomorrow and call Tiffany. Unless I hear from you that you’ve already done it.
What I do know is that it hasn’t changed, at least I really doubt it. So whatever it is now is likely what it was a couple years ago.
Sorry, I’ve been neglecting my blog the last few days… At Ninth and Van Buren, the speed limit is 25 MPH.
To be gratuitously detailed: If you are headed south on Ninth, the speed drops from 35 to 25 about a half-block before Van Buren. If you are headed north on Ninth, the speed doesn’t (officially) rise to 35 until a block and a half after Van Buren. (Yes, that means there’s a tiny stretch where the road is asymmetrically marked.)
As for spamming my comments–meh. Occasional Drama-Rama* that isn’t Brent-related is OK; I do note, however, that both Brian and I have email addresses. =P
[*My spleen bleeds as I type that; damn you, Marmalade Boy manga!]
Brent, that’s so seven-hours-ago of you. I already called Tiffany this morning. I was leaving a poorly-considered message when I was interrupted by a frantic “it’s me it’s me don’t hang up!” or something to that effect. Ha.
As for Tiffany spamming your blog, I think it’s OK. Mostly because it’s not my blog. But also because it’s like, B//B is like, like a community, man. A special place where I can go to help my friends, engage in a pathetic attempt at one-upmanship, and wonder if anyone else besides Tiffany and me will ever post anything.
It’s not my fault. I would have emailed you, but I wanted to cover as many Corvallis people as I could in case you weren’t around. And since Brian has blocked me from all emails being sent to him sent he refuses to tell me his email address, well then there goes that idea. And I figured you had a lot of friends over there who might read this and maybe feel they could post if they happend to know off the top of their head what the speed limit was. Thank you both though for finding that out for me. I really appreciate it. As does Tyler’s dad!
Um, losing my email address isn’t the same thing as me refusing to give it to you. What’s this we have here? Why, it’s an email from Tiffany, sent to me in July, at the email address I still use. Nyeah.
Anyway, you’re welcome. Glad to help. =D
Also, regarding what Brent has revealed about the speed limits around that part of town: it’s… it’s all true, every word. Run for your lives!