So of course the first thing I’m posting is a pic of my nephew getting his second ever haircut. He’s such a cutie head.
This is a website I’ve been working on for a friend:
I’m insanely happy with it, and I hope she is too (I’m still waiting for feedback). I started with the Florance theme by Jinsona Designs, mostly for the rounded corners, which I hate creating myself. I had to hack the rest of it quite a bit, but I kept the slideshow (so far) and the boxy style on the post meta info (comments, tags, etc.). Of course, the hacking was the fun part.
I’m not terribly good at fading with Photoshop, so if the screen is too wide, you can see the outside edge on the left side of the background image. I’ve gotta hit up my designer friends to see if anyone can help me fix that. I think that’s the only thing I don’t like, though. The colors ended up coming together really well, which isn’t usually the case when I make a stab at designing (not really my forte).
So yes, a new theme, because I am an idiot and overwrote my old theme’s customized index file, thinking I was in a completely different window for a completely different site. And I don’t have a backup.
Let this be a lesson to y’all! Backup your files!
Now I am thinking bad thoughts about a certain plumber, who is late. I cannot get lunch until he gets here, dammit. Hungry!
Categories
Pimp My Balcony! Please?
My balcony is a woefully neglected place. I love it, but I live three blocks from the construction nightmare that is the 405 freeway, so keeping up with the dirt and dust is a full-time job that is usually too much for me to deal with.
However, this past Saturday was a gorgeous day that demanded to be enjoyed, so I pulled out the vacuum cleaner (after a failed attempt at sweeping) and tackled the thick layers of ick. Of course, the job was still pretty big, so I skimped a bit in the corners, but I took care of the area around the bistro table set, including the bistro table set, and even wiped down the poor gas grill that used to have a cover until it blew away in a windstorm about a year ago. As much as I hate cleaning, there’s something really satisfying when you see a black area turn light gray with just a swipe of the vacuum brush. It’s a shame it’s such a bitch on the back muscles.
But I got the important stuff done, and I rewarded myself with lunch on the balcony, and kitties on the balcony, and web surfing on the balcony, and even just staring at the clouds from the balcony. It was a great afternoon appreciating the glorious day, and I didn’t even care that the kitties of course crawled around the dirty corners that I couldn’t be bothered with.
I look forward to more spring days spent thusly, but the balcony could definitely use some beautifying, and not just in the more-cleaning kind of way. My wishlist includes sparkly lights, and pvc pipes for curtains, and maybe even something on the floor more comfy than cement. I’d love to add plants, but I know I’d just kill them. I wish there was room for a comfy chaise. And the extra microwave cart in the corner definitely has to go.
Just more things on the to do list that will never get done.
My three day weekends are often filled with a lot of TV, napping, ‘net surfing, and generally sitting around. And yes, while this weekend wasn’t too different, it did have a few bright points, particularly Friday, ’cause this time, Friday was all about the FLYING FATALITY CLASS! (aka archery lesson) Jane and I had a Living Social coupon for Field Time Sports and Guns–kind of a creepy place, to be honest, if you’re anti-hunting like me. But the class was a million kinds of awesome.
Our instructor, Christopher, was exactly what you want when you’re being taught how to use a deadly weapon–friendly, funny, and patient, but most of all, skilled and enthusiastic about his sport. Plus he had great stories of previous students of the Katniss-fanatics variety. It was a small class of four–me, Jane, and a youngish couple (Kim and her bf/hubby/so whose name I never caught)–which meant plenty of personal attention. Plus there were two archery enthusiasts already on the range who frequently offered encouragement and the occasional joke.
We learned how to use a compound bow–lots of moving parts, but easier to control and to aim than a recurve bow. We shot at standard targets for awhile, practicing keeping our arrows in close groupings, then moved on to paper cups balanced on balloons. And yes, I totally nailed that cup with my first shot. And my third and fourth shots. (Second shot was to kill the balloon.) (My fifth shot went way wide for some reason, which is still bothering me.) We shot at a swinging plastic ball, which sadly I was only able to nick a few times before it inevitably got silenced by Kim’s partner. And we got to shoot zombies (which was one of the main reasons for taking this class in the first place–zombie apocalypse, anyone?), or at least, big portrait drawings of zombies. With ten seconds to make a kill shot, I totally got one of those bastards right in the eye. Woo!
I really loved this class. It took only a few shots for it to start to feel natural and right. Maintaining the proper stance, breathing into the shot, taking aim and holding it–it required a lot of focus, and I found the experience very calming and centering. I can’t wait to do it again, which is why we’ve already bought a voucher for another half-price class. (I even checked out compound bows on Amazon, but wow, those suckers are NOT cheap.)
Oh, and possibly one of the best parts? One hour of archery equaled SIX Weight Watchers activity points–score!