tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37297502011-04-21T18:19:50.402-04:00...when one foot just won't do.Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.comBlogger1181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1128618481206513932005-10-06T12:47:00.000-04:002005-10-06T14:22:47.723-04:00

I brought up the blog yesterday and discovered that I had I couldn't access any of my graphics, which I store at Photobucket. Well, I figured that maybe Photobucket was down--it's happened before--and that it would get back online the next day. Today, I discovered that I couldn't access any of the blog's graphics. Something was wrong. As it turns out I, as a Road Runner subscriber, am being

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1128019381024350552005-09-29T14:41:00.000-04:002005-09-29T14:43:01.026-04:00

...use the Force. At least, that's what it looks like the Red Sox are doing.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1128018960658300792005-09-29T14:02:00.000-04:002005-09-29T14:36:45.310-04:00

I almost deactivated my City of Heroes account on Monday. Almost. I've been playing the game for just over a year now and while I've met some interesting people in the game, I felt played out. My main character (whose hero name, the "Health Fairy", was originally just a joke) had done the two most interesting things that a hero can do in the city: rescue Statesman, and participate in a

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1127798661232264692005-09-27T00:44:00.000-04:002005-09-27T01:24:21.240-04:00

A couple of things I found to divert your attention while I figure out what to do in this year's NaNoWriMo: Apparently, the Philadelphia Flyers have discovered a time machine in the bowels of the Wachovia Center, and they're using it to...observe and participate in world events. Whatever you may feel about the Flyers' motives for these actions, I am forced to agree with Keith Primeau in the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1125206411332481272005-08-28T01:12:00.000-04:002005-08-28T01:20:11.336-04:00

I think I'm a little late to the party since I'm seeing this now when it seemed to spread virally in April or thereabouts, but old-school console gamers will definitely want to check out this performance by the University of Wisconsin a capella group Redefined. See how many tunes you recognize...

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1124442127183114022005-08-19T04:56:00.000-04:002005-08-19T05:02:07.183-04:00

I've finally gotten bored with the Rounded template, so I've given this one (which was the basis for Monochrome) a try. It's a darker yet more mellow look, and there are hints of what I want to do with the blog in the future. There are going to be tweaks coming along, so if there's anything you want to suggest, do it now while I can safely consider it.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1117343198950952042005-05-29T01:00:00.000-04:002005-05-29T01:06:38.953-04:00

Just a quick post this time, but I had to pass along this comic I found while surfing around. It might require knowledge of the two artists that are being spoofed (you can start here and here), though I think the regulars here will have enough of an idea of at least one of them to get the joke.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1116480334649977372005-05-19T01:09:00.000-04:002005-05-19T01:25:34.660-04:00

While surfing the web today I discovered that the American Film Institute is hosting a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in September honoring "100 Years of Film Scores". The program hasn't been determined yet; the AFI sent out ballots to over 500 people asking them to select a number of scores (the site didn't say how many per ballot). The top 25 vote-getters will be performed in the concert in

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1114280619050753802005-04-23T13:50:00.000-04:002005-04-23T14:25:54.490-04:00

Normally, I'd be laughing about the Lake Effect Snow™ in Michigan. But it's forced the cancellation of the Twins-Tigers game, so I guess the joke's on me. It's on to other things, then. When I wrote up the previous post I figured that, at the very least, I would learn something about this website and something about writing. So what did I learn? On both counts, not a whole lot. The post

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1114146131734542922005-04-22T00:56:00.000-04:002005-04-22T04:23:46.700-04:00

Twins 10, Royals 9, 10 Innings. The Minnesota Twins huddled around the bat rack in the Metrodome before today's game, where Justin Morneau was holding court. Torii Hunter, standing next to the good doctor, nodded his approval at the lumber he held in his hands. "So, Mr. Hunter, did I find the right ones?" "Yeah, Curly. Yeah. These are the ones. Where did you find them?" Hunter swung the bat

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1113579947594765872005-04-15T11:37:00.000-04:002005-04-15T13:13:12.963-04:00

So today, I jump over to Yahoo for a brief moment and what do I see in the news section--on the front page--but this apparently important little nugget. First of all, I've seen the movie and I found it somewhat amusing, but nothing I would fall over myself to see again. So I can't fathom why they are turning it into a musical. On Broadway. Second, what kind of slow news day does it have to be if

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1113460410090667032005-04-14T02:29:00.000-04:002005-04-14T02:33:30.090-04:00

It had slipped my notice that Blogger has revamped their comment system, making them more user friendly. It allows people to put in their name and website without requiring a Blogger account. So I switched from the hacks I was using and got more streamlined. Feel free to test it out and let me know what you think...

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1113366946259978872005-04-13T00:31:00.000-04:002005-04-13T00:35:46.260-04:00

Maybe it's because I'm Catholic that I find this picture utterly hysterical. Or maybe it's the geek in me. Or maybe it's both...

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1113366504256699752005-04-13T00:20:00.000-04:002005-04-13T00:28:24.256-04:00

Tonight, I was following along the Tigers-Twins game as well as participating in the daily game-day thread graciously provided by Batgirl. It was a tight game, and things were going smoothly until the top of the ninth inning. Somehow, MLB.com's Gameday application froze as Juan Rincon was pitching to Brandon Inge with one out. And, as my luck would have it, my shift at work was about to end.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1111220922935599752005-03-19T02:50:00.000-05:002005-03-19T03:29:03.610-05:00

Some quick things while I attempt to picture a Catamount without thinking of a Persian longhair on a horse... To be filed under the "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" folder: I am now sick, and I can trace it back to the events of the previous post. It wasn't the dog that was the problem. It was that I was outside in near-freezing temperatures for close to an hour with the dog that's causing

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1110871294891508242005-03-15T01:24:00.000-05:002005-03-15T02:21:34.903-05:00

Tonight, there was a puppy roaming around the parking lot at work. I found out about the dog because it trotted across the parking lot to greet me as I was about to hop in my car to go home. The dog was a beagle, female, and probably about six months old. She was a beautiful dog and didn't seem to be hurt, thank goodness, and seemed to be well fed and pretty healthy. Just a little scared and a

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1107027248775712452005-01-29T14:11:00.000-05:002005-01-29T14:34:08.776-05:00

Most of you reading this should already know that I play City of Heroes. A lot. Now, one of the features of the game is that you can participate in a supergroup (and form one once you get to level 10). Right now, since there aren't bases for them in-game, supergroups are glorified friends lists with color-coordinated costumes. I've also noticed that there have been a number of supergroups

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1106116307434892832005-01-19T01:13:00.000-05:002005-01-19T01:31:47.436-05:00

My car has a gauge that measures the outside temperature while the engine is running, and one thing I like to do on cold nights like tonight is sneak glances at the temperature on my half-hour drive home. I had heard that it was supposed to get into the teens tonight and wanted to see for myself (knowing that the numbers would be skewed somewhat by windchill). Starting my car in the parking lot

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1105984028975978692005-01-17T13:26:00.000-05:002005-01-17T12:47:08.976-05:00

I feel dirty. You see, after months (and I mean months) of hemming and hawing, of poo-pooing and denigrating, after a lot of soul-searching and holding back, and with superior competition swirling around, I decided to do the impossible. I upgraded my desktop to XP. Although the siren's lure of ClearType was strong, I only upgraded for one reason that I'm almost ashamed to admit: games. As

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1105464843638047912005-01-11T13:28:00.000-05:002005-01-11T12:34:23.870-05:00

The Pinnacle forum on the City of Heroes website has got to be the most amusing forum I've seen in a long while. Some genuinely funny and good-natured folks live and post there. Don't believe me? See what happens when the server goes down...

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1105300758253277172005-01-09T14:50:00.000-05:002005-01-09T14:59:18.253-05:00

Today, I can safely say that I am completely moved in to my townhouse. No boxes to be moved, no obligations from my old apartment, no family to host for many, many weeks to come. No irrational worrying about whether the mortgage company or the seller would back out in the final moments. No more procrastinating until the last minute to get the apartment packed up and ready to move. No more speed

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1100623904849163062004-11-16T11:43:00.000-05:002004-11-16T11:51:44.850-05:00

Well, it's official. As of right now, I will be...preparing for next year's NaNoWriMo. I am not conceding for lack of ideas; in fact, I've got a number of different ideas rolling around in my head waiting to be used in some fashion. No, it was simply the rigors of buying a house (or a townhouse, in my case) that has sucked away all of my time this month. Do I feel bad about stopping my NaNo

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1100538922731625562004-11-15T13:08:00.000-05:002004-11-15T12:15:22.730-05:00

I've finally gone ahead and implemented a comment hack for Blogger that was brought to my attention over at BlogSkins. It's a loose implementation and it hasn't been completely tied in to the rest of the blog yet, but it's a far sight better than the system Blogger has currently. Give it a try and see what you think! Also, there is a "recent comments" hack on the same site that I am also

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1100535408674477542004-11-15T10:48:00.000-05:002004-11-15T11:16:48.676-05:00

I was checking my referrers today (as I do from time to time—it's not as damaging to the brain as certain people's referrers lists) and discovered a visit from BlogShares with my blog's address on it. So I surfed on over and discovered that my blog has been listed on the service, and I wasn't even aware of it! Well, I quickly registered to see if I could buy some stocks in my own weblog, but

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1098294936792697752004-10-20T13:48:00.000-04:002004-10-20T13:55:36.793-04:00

It's already difficult enough for me to do NaNoWriMo in a normal year. But I've just added to the degree of difficulty. How? Well, I've decided to buy a townhouse and, if all goes well (knocking on wood as I type, which is no mean feat), I'll be closing on a sweet little place I found in Knightdale on November 22nd. This doesn't mean that I won't do NaNo this year, but it dramatically

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1097045027031732922004-10-06T02:08:00.000-04:002004-10-06T02:43:47.030-04:00

The Agony and the Ecstasy, as told by Batgirl. The title of that recap of Game 1 of the Twins-Yankees series neatly summed up my feelings about the game because as I was at work and couldn't watch the game. As it turned out I couldn't listen to the game either as the company I work for recently installed filters on their proxy servers, thus blocking out the Gameday Audio to which I am

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1096528147790661702004-09-30T02:49:00.000-04:002004-09-30T03:22:18.250-04:00

I had written a rambling and badly-written bit about the Montreal Expos' upcoming move to Washington, D.C., but I squelched it. Partly, it was because of how poorly it was written. Mostly though it was due to this wrenching feeling that, if the circumstances were slightly different, it could have been my favorite team, who were the Expos' partners in "contraction" during the winter of 2000-01.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1095141284066782702004-09-14T01:36:00.000-04:002004-09-14T01:54:44.066-04:00

This evening, I was working while listening to my local public radio station when "As It Happens", a Canadian news digest, came on with an interview with a Canadian journalist that had been freed just a couple of days ago. After talking in exquisite (if not graphic) detail about his time spent as a hostage, including talk of the excruciating torture he went through, the journalist was finally

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1093325213375433522004-08-24T01:20:00.000-04:002004-08-24T01:26:53.376-04:00

Well, the inevitable finally happened over the weekend: my place at work has finally switched over from the old company's (and current customer's) network to the new company's network. This means that I will have no Internet access from my workstation. So no reading up on the webcomics I read, checking on the Twins and chuckling at what Batgirl has to say about them, no checking my email, no

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1092781989001217072004-08-17T18:25:00.000-04:002004-08-17T18:33:09.000-04:00

I discovered on the last post that Blogger has decided to stop putting ads on its hosted blogs. In its place (as you can see above) is what they call the NavBar. Among other things, it's got a search field that can supposedly search this site for documents. I don't know why you would, and it's not working for me right now anyway, but it's there. So when I can get it to work, you can search my

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1092781181848176932004-08-17T16:27:00.000-04:002004-08-17T18:19:41.850-04:00

I spotted a Calvin sticker while driving to work today. Usually I don't pay them any mind; they seem to be everywhere here in North Carolina, with Calvin pissing on any number of corporate or NASCAR logos. It's in spectacularly bad taste, but they don't elicit much more than a groan from me. The sticker I saw today was different. It features Calvin kneeling and praying before a cross. If you

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1092271994669762912004-08-11T20:50:00.000-04:002004-08-11T20:53:14.670-04:00

I normally don't consider myself to be a superstitious person, but since the world of baseball is notorious for its...ahem...habits I've been starting to wonder if this might Mean Something. You see, when I went up to Minnesota back in May, I was able to get this wonderful interior shot of the Metrodome during the one Twins game that I went to (this was Brad Radke's excellent outing against the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1091133539100992832004-07-29T16:27:00.000-04:002004-07-29T16:40:17.300-04:00

Before I forget again, I want you (one and all) to stop what you are doing and check out this post covering what you didn't see during the Twins' win over the rival White Sox Tuesday night. Even if you aren't a Twins fan. Even if you aren't a baseball fan in general. Maybe not if you're a White Sox fan though; it might hurt your feelings. And it's all true...

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1090478700140709072004-07-22T02:26:00.000-04:002004-07-22T02:45:00.140-04:00

Okay, I have a stupid question for those of you that play City of Heroes. But first, a little bit of setup so those that don't play can follow along: In the game you play in a metropolis (ahem) called Paragon City, which is divided into several different zones by large energy barriers. They're probably there to fortify the designers' collective sanity, but they have an interesting in-game

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1090091474870026312004-07-17T14:30:00.000-04:002004-07-17T15:11:14.870-04:00

I've got a conundrum on my hands. As most of my readers know, I occasionally whip up a blog design that I really don't want or need. So I send it over to BlogSkins for other people to use for free. No problems there, as far as that goes, and the templates have been moderately successful. The issue comes when I'm done submitting the skin (Not to mention adding the notices both here and in the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1089946073435061702004-07-15T22:34:00.000-04:002004-07-15T23:13:27.393-04:00

I've released the first template to BlogSkins in over two months, and I've called it Monochrome. Okay, so it's not really monochrome. In fact, my first name for it was Seminole, but I was pretty sure that the reference would have fallen on deaf ears. So I chose Monochrome to reflect how simple the skin is. When I posted it, I said that Monochrome was the first in a series of failed attempts to

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1089669641711334062004-07-12T17:43:00.000-04:002004-07-12T18:00:41.710-04:00

Yes, there's been a slight gap in the programming here. I can easily blame it on City of Heroes but to be realistic, there hasn't been much to talk about. Unless you really wanted me to talk about my marginal exploits in CoH. No? Okay, then. Hopefully this is a sign that I'm coming up for air (I don't even know sometimes), so you'll be hearing more from me in this space. There are a couple

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1088136216127875802004-06-24T23:58:00.000-04:002004-06-25T00:03:36.126-04:00

Two more reasons why I like to listen to the BBC World News via my local public radio station on the drive home from work: The sports reporter referring to the Vancouver Canucks (hockey team for those few that don't know) as the Kuh-NOOKS. This off hand remark after the reporter finished reading an item where Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond were going to sing a duet at an upcoming

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1088017395924484892004-06-23T15:03:00.000-04:002004-06-23T15:03:15.923-04:00

City of Heroes is a horribly addictive game. How do you ask? Here's a case in point: a friend of mine set up a loaner computer for me to take home and play, after dealing with network issues (I discovered that the loaner box didn't like my DSL modem, and I had to get some additional parts—keyboard, cables for an old 14" monitor I had lying in the closet, that sort of thing—to build a makeshift

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1086629442648163602004-06-07T13:15:00.000-04:002004-06-07T13:30:42.646-04:00

I started getting serious about scoping out townhouses yesterday, and it was a joyous then frustrating then educational experience. I visited four places with my mom (who enjoys doing this sort of thing and besides, I could use the help of someone who's been there before), and the first one I visited was by far the best of the lot. It was a gorgeous 3/2.5 unit with a postage-stamp-small yard in

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1086217499899517052004-06-02T18:19:00.000-04:002004-06-02T19:06:09.046-04:00

I got myself stuck by a case of bad DVD package design. Let me start with a tiny bit of background first. I like to watch anime but I have to go out of my way to see it (this is normal for all my television/film viewing, so don't think I'm singling out anime). As a result, what anime I do see is normally force-fed by friends. This was the case when I was loaned "Outlaw Star" when I got back

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1085709409754473372004-05-27T21:36:00.000-04:002004-05-28T03:12:38.676-04:00

I've given in. After weeks of ignoring the standing invitation for all Blogger users, I've decided to give Gmail a try. I like the thought of having one gigabyte of space available to me, and I love the thought of not seeing acres upon acres of spam clogging my inbox (at least, for now). I'll have to play around with the system some more before I can give a yea or nay about whether I like it,

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1085638503873084702004-05-27T01:52:00.000-04:002004-05-27T02:18:38.206-04:00

Some of you may have noticed that I've been eerily quiet (as opposed to strangely...er...let me stop that now) for the past several days. That's because I've been out of town, out of state and away from my internet connection with no inkling of wanting to reconnect until I came back. So where did I go? For those of you that didn't know before, here's a hint: That's right, I made a trip

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1085101169839980192004-05-20T20:59:00.000-04:002004-05-20T21:01:16.236-04:00

I'm blaming Tsaiko for this quiz, but I just couldn't help trying to figure out what I "taste" like. The answer? Cor blimey, I taste like Tea. I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. What Flavour Are You? Bleagh. I don't even like tea. As if

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1085004227028299322004-05-19T18:03:00.000-04:002004-05-19T18:03:47.026-04:00

I've found a mirror to WEBoggle, which I mentioned briefly a couple of weeks ago, as the old page got overloaded (not the fault of this site, I'm sure). For those who are wondering what I'm talking about, this is a free JavaScript version of Boggle, which is a puzzle game where you try to find as many words in a 4x4 grid of letters as you can in 3 minutes. The site has a more comprehensive

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1084743698912799912004-05-16T17:38:00.000-04:002004-05-16T17:41:38.913-04:00

The tweaks that I made are done. I didn't do as much to "clean" the code as I had planned; I guess I was just being lazy. I did format the template to differentiate between the main page and the individual posts (I already had an archive page, so I left that alone, though I really need to fix the headline banner). I also did the tweaks to the comments section that I had promised. It looks

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1084401757416475402004-05-12T18:31:00.000-04:002004-05-12T18:42:37.416-04:00

I've started a bottom-up reworking of the code for this site in order to make it more compatible with all the new stuff that Blogger has to offer. I might make a couple of tweaks to the design, but they will likely either be minor or be invisible to the regular reader. The major difference will likely be to the style of the comments, as it looks a little too duct-taped together to work over the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1084165911984073792004-05-10T00:51:00.000-04:002004-05-10T03:35:54.236-04:00

Some of you may remember a grumpy post from February about certain issues with Blogger, and that I emailed about them. What I didn't tell anyone was that I got a reply later that day saying to just hold tight, and that my patience would be rewarded. This morning I went to Blogger's site and not only saw the new design, but also saw the link directing me to this page describing what had happened

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1083876744002277892004-05-06T16:52:00.000-04:002004-05-10T03:28:20.393-04:00

As you can probably tell, I've done some tweaking to the CSS of this blog. You'll notice two things that I did. One, I switched from a serifed font (Georgia) to a sans-serifed font (Verdana) within the posts. I did this because I found that old common wisdom to be true: sans-serif fonts are the more readable fonts on the screen, and I finally decided to do something about it. I still like the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1083830259234132562004-05-06T03:57:00.000-04:002004-05-10T03:29:12.436-04:00

Okay, it's late and I'm not going to go on for very long. But I've finally seen the Florida quarter. For those of you just joining in from outside the U.S. (and I know you're out there...somewhere) the national mint for the past five-plus years has been issuing quarters with images representing a particular state on it's reverse. The coins have been released in the order that the states joined

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1083801743495952252004-05-05T20:02:00.000-04:002004-05-05T20:06:42.436-04:00

I'd write something long and maybe marginally interesting, but I'm playing WEBoggle right now, so it'll have to wait.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1083629681242895112004-05-03T20:14:00.000-04:002004-05-03T20:18:40.106-04:00

I just finished off and submitted to BlogSkins the design I had shown to a couple of you this weekend. Appropriately enough (given what today is to me), it's titled Aged. I had toyed with the idea of calling it Classique, but stuck with Aged because that was where the original germ of the idea came from. I had originally wanted to do something that looked aged, with grunged up fonts and the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1083613203291783052004-05-03T15:40:00.000-04:002004-05-03T15:45:29.700-04:00

A funny red bumper sticker that a friend and I saw on two different cars yesterday while in Chapel Hill: If this bumper sticker is blue, then you're driving too fast.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1082845621998699872004-04-24T18:27:00.000-04:002004-04-24T18:32:46.763-04:00

Most of you probably didn't know this, but I've been puppy-sitting for my parents (as they live on the other side of town) this weekend. It's only Saturday evening, and I'm at work, but my sanity is already in mortal peril. You see, when they were picked up, they were "crate trained." Housebroken? Not so much. It doesn't help that all the times that I've been over to see the puppies before

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1082427729247348552004-04-19T22:22:00.000-04:002004-04-19T22:26:07.000-04:00

For the past several months, I've noticed that the average spam message that gets through the filters tends to have a subject containing several random words. The past couple of days I've noticed that this trend has begun to spill over to the sender's name field. It's probably some simple algorithm to produce {random word | random initial | random word} and format it as if it were an actual

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1081987166808750822004-04-14T19:59:00.000-04:002004-04-14T20:03:17.200-04:00

Ow, my head hurts. First of all, let me mention that I've submitted "Flechette" to BlogSkins. It's a very orange skin, done partially in response to a slightly tongue-in-cheek proclamation that orange is the new black. So I decided to see if that was right. It's not a bright orange, so you won't go blind by looking at the page...honest! Actually, I felt the need to do something simple after

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1081821015203412642004-04-12T21:50:00.000-04:002004-04-12T21:56:20.030-04:00

I wanted to think of something deep and witty to put together here to try and get to posting every day here. However, since I've decided to help my parents out and puppysit for an hour or two before I go to work over the next couple weeks, I've not only had to adjust my schedule but also have an hour or two a day to get completely worn out by the two puppies. In other words, I'm pooped.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1081728103908455212004-04-11T20:01:00.000-04:002004-04-11T20:05:31.123-04:00

There's nothing like a gratuitous picture of adorable puppies to get people to visit! Okay, maybe it's not so gratuitous (I'll stand by the adorable statement, though). Yesterday, my parents went and picked up two Miniature Schnauzers. They're seven weeks old, from the same litter (naturally), and have been named Sassy and Heidi. Sassy is the one looking at the camera. First off you may

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1081219774622172422004-04-05T22:49:00.000-04:002004-04-05T22:53:50.293-04:00

My entire body is sore right now, but I survived the annual personal Hell that is Mulch Weekend. What is Mulch Weekend, you ask? Well, every year around this time, my parents buy a large amount of mulch to refresh or tweak the landscaping around their house. Every year, the amount of mulch they get grows larger. And every year, since I only live on the other side of town, I end up helping out

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1080606028435719232004-03-29T19:20:00.000-05:002004-03-29T19:23:58.200-05:00

Ever had a week, an entire week, where you felt unable to do anything besides eat, sleep, and a minimal amount of work? I can almost see a good number of you nodding. A show of hands? Good, so I'm not alone. This last week was that kind of week for me. After Monday (when I ran a couple of errands before heading to work—like getting one of my rear tires fixed after it had a run-in with a nail

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1080190711162268722004-03-24T23:58:00.000-05:002004-03-25T00:07:24.750-05:00

I talked with my brother earlier this evening, during which he decided to pass the phone to his daughter. After a minute or so of listening to her say "Mikey" over and over, much to my chagrin, I decided it was time to talk to my brother again. Which led to to this exchange: Me: "Okay honey, give the phone back to your daddy." Her: "Why?" I know that at least one reader has gone on

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1080083278480074272004-03-23T18:07:00.000-05:002004-03-23T18:50:50.373-05:00

Well, I'm back from New York the State, but not without some nasty bug that I picked up while I was up there. So I'm sitting here feeling awful but knowing that I can't get to sleep yet, no matter how much I may want to (and I'm apparently sick enough to hit send when I didn't want to either, hence the horribly broken page for anyone trying to hit the page as I'm finishing writing this...).

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1079666434565054952004-03-18T22:20:00.000-05:002004-03-18T22:23:52.653-05:00

Every so often, maybe every few months or so, I go through a short period of time where I feel drained, both creatively and energetically. I'm going through one of those times now. If I subscribed to the concept of biorhythms better I'd have a better explanation for what I'm feeling, but "low tide" seems to sum it up nicely. Now, it is said that the best way to get rid of this kind of doldrum

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1078990719963083152004-03-11T02:38:00.000-05:002004-03-11T02:41:44.826-05:00

It's getting close to that time of year again. In less than one week's time, thousands of people will be wearing green and get themselves stinking drunk in an effort to pretend that they are Irish. That's right; ye olde Feastday of St. Patrick. I'm nowhere near full-blooded Irish (I probably have most of Western Europe flowing through my veins; ah, that crazy metling pot called America!) but I

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1078792227149843842004-03-08T19:30:00.000-05:002004-03-08T19:33:29.216-05:00

Ah, to sleep a weekend away! Okay, so I didn't sleep off the entire weekend, but it felt like it. Of course, since my sinuses are doing a not-so-little timpani dance on my brain pan I still feel like sleeping, but that's another point entirely. So, what did I do with my weekend besides sleeping? I'm glad you asked... I was able to drag myself out of bed at around 9:30 Saturday morning, as my

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1078443867676801512004-03-04T18:44:00.000-05:002004-03-09T15:34:24.340-05:00

I'm having too much fun watching the site statistics from NedStats roll in. The latest? Yesterday, OM,I had a hit logged in from Croatia. Croatia?! What would people in Croatia want with this little site? Not that I'm upset by this; I'm just curious. I'm also getting a decent amount of hits from Spanish-speaking countries, but I can tell that the majority of that is coming from

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077929411226225862004-02-27T19:50:00.000-05:002004-03-09T15:33:58.373-05:00

I figured it wouldn't happen, but work was cancelled for today. I have to work this weekend but since I had to anyway on account that my building works a normal schedule during every end of month, that's no big deal. I just won't get the overtime pay for Saturday (which will cover the remainder of my regular 40 hours). So this afternoon I decided to trek outside my apartment with my digital

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077846750359123362004-02-26T20:52:00.000-05:002004-02-26T20:57:12.233-05:00

The weather wasn't as bad as I figured it was going to be, but I took a half-day's vacation anyway just to make sure that a) my sanity stayed as intact as normal, and b) that I don't get stranded at work. So I said my good-byes, grabbed myself some Chinese food and trundled on home. I was pleasantly surprised over how clear the roads were. Granted I live off of a major artery in and out of

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077829121680751902004-02-26T15:58:00.000-05:002004-02-26T16:01:28.500-05:00

You just knew this post was coming, didn't you? It is still snowing outside as I type this, though it doesn't feel as bad as the previous wintry storms that we've had in North Carolina this winter. The difference? As I had put it in a LiveJournal response just a few minutes earlier, no sleet, freezing rain or icy death has fallen. Just snow. Monstrous, wet flakes of the stuff that's melting

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077668002776607642004-02-24T19:13:00.000-05:002004-02-24T19:19:38.623-05:00

These days I tead to read blogs of web designers that are more experienced, better educated and—quite simply—more professional than myself (the ATC Project, which is ancient, inert, all but broken and badly in need of a consitent design, is proof of my amateur status). I figure that if I wanted to learn about web design at this stage I could do far worse than by watching what the professionals

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077300162990289612004-02-20T13:02:00.000-05:002004-02-20T13:05:23.246-05:00

Sometimes even I surf to places I've never been before. Okay, that's probably like saying that a fish sometimes swims to places that it's never been before just because the water was there. Anyway, while surfing, I came across an interview with Vincent Connare. For those of you that don't know of him (and I suspect that's most of you), he's a type designer whose two best known fonts are

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077148314478217192004-02-18T18:51:00.000-05:002004-02-23T01:21:47.936-05:00

I've gotten a decent number of referrals from Google looking for the penguin-and-yeti games I had talked about two days ago. Well, getting 7 referrals on a page where 30 hits a day is still a big deal is a decent number. Anyway, the link in that post is pointing to someone's home page. So in the interest of keeping his/her bandwidth costs down, I've searched and discovered (which wasn't hard,

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1077041053755040932004-02-17T13:04:00.000-05:002004-02-17T13:14:54.936-05:00

The ability for your average human being to transform into a cliff-jumping lemming never ceases to amaze me. For those of you who haven't been following along, or are new to the site, here's the situation. Yesterday, I took the old design I made for this blog, dressed it up for use as a template, called it OMI Ripped (I should have gone for a better name, but it's too late now) and sent it off

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076977688029016102004-02-16T19:28:00.000-05:002004-02-16T19:36:58.763-05:00

It looks like there's a sequel to the yeti-and-penguin Flash game that I mentioned in an earlier post. No batting practice this time; now you hurl snowballs at penguins that are flipped in the air by a killer whale, hoping to knock it into a target like in darts. Where you throw the ball and where it hits the penguin while it's spinning in the air determines the direction it goes. As you can

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076977198268172362004-02-16T19:19:00.000-05:002004-02-16T19:22:32.590-05:00

As promised earlier, the blog's old design has been cleaned up and released as a BlogSkins template. I decided to go with the name for the file name on my hard drive, OMI Ripped, as I really had no other name springing to mind. As I noted earlier, I'm still quite fond of it and its workmanlike feel, and I hope it becomes at least as popular as Snow and Ice.

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076879071405967422004-02-15T16:04:00.000-05:002004-02-15T16:07:04.436-05:00

The last time I played in the snow, and I mean really played and not chuckled knowingly as other grown people frolicked in the first snow of their lives, making snow angels and throwing snowballs and such, was way back in high school. Over Christmas break, to be exact. My family had driven from Florida, where we were living at the time, up to Minnesota. Most people tend to consider their

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076719152952742032004-02-13T19:39:00.000-05:002004-02-13T19:41:43.186-05:00

I couldn't help myself. I really couldn't. Earlier this week, I was working on a sepia-toned design to add to my list of BlogSkins templates, but was hitting a wall and couldn't put together anything that interested me. So, a couple of days ago I added some dark red to the mix. Bam! Next thing I know this design came together. I was going to call it OMI Rounded after the rounded corners and

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076382318203443172004-02-09T22:05:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:42:05.733-05:00

The folks over in Mozilla-land have released a new version of their next-generation browser. The major difference this time around is in the name; it was called Firebird (after beginning life as Phoenix), but is now called Firefox. According to reports, the Firebird name had been trademarked by a different open-source group for a completely different program, so Mozilla decided to rename the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1076022619909814492004-02-05T18:10:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:42:39.140-05:00

If you look on the right-hand sidebar, you'll notice that I've finally caved in and gotten myself a LiveJournal account. I'm aiming to use that account to comment on other people's journals, particularly certain LiveJournals that don't allow anonymous posting. I have a question before I commit to that plan, though. You see, I've seen at least one other blog use an LJ account mainly to house

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1075767931478167752004-02-02T19:25:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:43:44.106-05:00

Okay, did anyone reading this ever really think for a moment that the oft-mentioned Super Bowl halftime gaffe wasn't planned? Anyone? No? Good. It's too bad, too; the game was exhilirating to watch, and this is all people can talk about. Anyway, I have another new template on BlogSkins. This one is a remix entitled "That Tears It", and it's very...watery. And it has images, too!

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1075529404360343002004-01-31T01:10:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:45:27.950-05:00

Some random things that happened or I thought about this past week... » The first day off due to the snow and ice in the area was fun, and I was able to get all sorts of things done (see the point immediately below). The second day was torture as I was bored, had no reason to step outside, and utterly nothing to do inside. I haven't been as glad to go to work in a long time as I was on

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1075166502596105392004-01-26T20:21:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:46:09.496-05:00

This evening I am enjoying an unplanned day off because of the general inability of the eastern half of North Carolina to deal with snow. Yesterday, the area was inundated with somewhere between 2 and 4 inches of a combination of snow and sleet. Even though I think most of the area would have shut down anyway if it were simply snow, the added sleet convinced the Powers That Be in this area to

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1074808421117903792004-01-22T16:53:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:46:43.530-05:00

I've added a new design to my BlogSkins.com profile. It's called "Dusky" due to the darker colors dominating the scheme. I discovered something interesting in the process: the W3C's validation service doesn't like the raw Blogger tags. It makes sense now that I think about it, but it was strange at the time to send something that I thought was valid XHTML and have the validator cough up a lung

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1074560051844383982004-01-19T19:54:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:47:51.310-05:00

It was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday today, and I stopped by a gas station this afternoon on my way to work to pick up a sandwich and a soda to munch on while I settled into the day's tedium. To my surprise&#8212given that the convenience store part of the station is usually a pretty sleepy place when I normally stop by— the place was packed. The clientele was different as well; in

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1074037583899121462004-01-13T18:46:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:48:51.030-05:00

I'll admit it, my weekend was a waste. I could blame it on football; there were many interesting games going on despite a distinct lack of Purple in the teams playing (Mel, Mike Martz is a wuss. Discuss.) this weekend. I must lay blame, however, on rampaging man-eating monsters from outer space. Seriously. You see, I picked up the Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set, and have been working my

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1073447264504679202004-01-06T22:47:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:49:41.576-05:00

It's only six days into the new year, and I'm horribly tempted to add another resolution to my list: never put anything perishable in my refridgerator ever again. It's probably doomed to failure, which is why I won't put it on my list of resolutions. But I am tempted. And those of you who are smart enough to read the title of the post, notice the word "refridgerator" three sentences back and

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1073088843515428052004-01-02T19:14:00.000-05:002004-02-13T03:51:50.936-05:00

I'm generally not one to make New Year's resolutions. At least not publicly. I have a nasty tendency to ignore or let fizzle things or projects that I publicly announce, even if I only tell one person. Does anyone remember my NaNo 2002 story? No? Exactly my point. So, making statements about what I'm going to attempt to do this new year usually means doom to the resolutions I make rather

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1072832447683984322003-12-30T20:00:00.000-05:002003-12-30T20:02:18.840-05:00

You can tell when you're tired when you look at a post that you were going to write about how little sleep that you got and find that it's completely incoherent--or at least more incoherent than the other posts on this blog. Oh, am I projecting my problems onto you, my vic--er--gentle reader? I'm sorry. On a happier note, I did fix the archives link, which now actually get you to the

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1072578552599188902003-12-27T21:29:00.000-05:002003-12-28T00:15:57.903-05:00

Okay, I'm going nuts with the whole design meme. As you can probably tell, I've once again updated the design for the main page. I'm not done, either; I'm thinking of putting a pic of the month spot on the main page (which will necessitate a pic of the month archive, but that's another project). Given the rate in which I take pictures, a POTM should be just about right. The only issue here

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1072309139089925222003-12-24T18:38:00.000-05:002003-12-24T18:40:21.890-05:00

I uploaded another template onto BlogSkins. This one's called Something Green and it should be entertaining to and possibly even controversial. Why do I think it's controversial? First of all, I designed it with Mozilla in mind (as it is my opinion that it is the best browser available) and then backfilled toward Explorer. I've noticed that most of the kiddies that frequent the site not

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1072156171221559112003-12-23T00:09:00.000-05:002003-12-23T00:13:21.576-05:00

Okay, maybe I didn't donate my body to Science! Those mad Scientists probably couldn't find a good use for it anyway. What I did do, however, was sign up to BlogSkins.com and upload a cleaned-up version of this very design. It's been up for maybe two hours now, and it already has a rating of 3.5 (out of 5) with 2 comments. Apparently the only major complaint is that it's too plain. I can

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1071960007428281482003-12-20T17:40:00.000-05:002003-12-20T17:41:24.936-05:00

For someone who has a pressing need to lose around 50 pounds, it's amazing that sometimes I can simply forget to eat. Today was one such occasion. I had woken up late and had to get to work by 1 o'clock, so I hastily got myself showered and together and out the door without even once thinking about food. I got to work in one piece, started the work day smoothly and was humming along until

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1071791053293546712003-12-18T18:44:00.000-05:002003-12-18T18:45:28.000-05:00

Here's an amusing and interesting obervation I made while working of the redesign: take a look at the top of the page. Unless you use a browser that severely limits them, there's an ad on the top of the page. And chances are it's one of those "Ads by Google" ads. Now, while I like the fact that occasionally it'll have what I call the "Blank Space Ad", I find it amusing that it will try to

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1071697178101423962003-12-17T16:39:00.000-05:002003-12-17T16:40:51.436-05:00

As you can probably tell (all two or three of you that read this), I've gone and redesigned the main page here. I've also tweaked the archives a bit so they are displayed monthly instead of by every couple of weeks--given as often as I normally update, that just makes sense--though I have yet to change the archive template to mesh with the main template. Finally, I've added the ability to make

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1071542992094913932003-12-15T21:49:00.000-05:002003-12-15T21:51:03.090-05:00

Remember in my last post where I was wondering why anyone would have a wedding in December in Chicago? Now I know. It's the snow. The wedding mass had just ended and everyone was filing out as the first flurries began to fall. By the time the reception got underway a couple of hours later, an inch of snow had accumulated. Everything was white, which went well with the white and ice-blue

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1071194568696868642003-12-11T21:02:00.000-05:002003-12-11T21:03:54.856-05:00

After dealing with my car these past couple of weeks, I am more than ready for a vacation of any sort. So I'm thankful that I just happen to have a trip to Chicago planned for this weekend, starting tomorrow. It's another family wedding--this time for my cousin Shawn. If I wasn't so ready to go, I'd question the logic in having a wedding in December in the Chicagoland area. Ah well, I'll just

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1070577884058991932003-12-04T17:44:00.000-05:002003-12-04T17:45:42.560-05:00

So, I get to the shop to lay down my ducats and get my car back, complete with a new ignition coil and set of fan belts, and I'm driving to work directly from the shop (I dropped my dad's car off there so he can pick it up on the way home...). And guess what happens? That's right, the check engine light pops back on, as I'm motoring down 440! I would have turned the car right back around and

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1070508232320975812003-12-03T22:23:00.000-05:002003-12-03T22:24:47.780-05:00

It isn't enough that my car's been in the shop for the past couple of days, or that to get it tomorrow, I'm going to have to deal with what central North Carolina considers to be winter weather (a.k.a., a flurry or two) and all the crappy driving that'll result. Not to mention spending $600 to get it out. Now the creative part of my brain has decided that it would be a good idea to convert

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1070136837749190892003-11-29T15:13:00.000-05:002003-11-29T15:14:47.700-05:00

This entry was written and should have been posted this past Wednesday, but my connection was goofy and I forgot about it afterwards. Anyway, enjoy... This past weekend I made it to my personal goal for my NaNoWriMo story, 10,000 words. Though I'm still not done with the story (and I get the feeling looking at what still needs to be written that 50k wouldn't have been enough anyway), I can

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3729750.post-1069214824649037292003-11-18T23:07:00.000-05:002003-11-18T23:08:38.640-05:00

I'm already waay behind on my story for NaNoWriMo, but I felt the creative urge to do a design for the oft mentioned but never gotten to nakaithus.net. After browsing the css Zen Garden, I came away with all sorts of fun nonsense that could eventually make its way here, if it works well enough. At any rate, I pushed and pulled and hammered out a design (which owes much to the Garden entry

Midnight Puggernoreply@blogger.com0