MadMup.com

The bad part about these entries being timed and dated is that you can see just exactly how lazy I’ve been.

I’m mulling over a few topics, but if you’d like to suggest a specific topic in the comments section, I’ll consider them as well.

In the meantime, join the crowd and order yourself a MadMup.com T-shirt or mug from the store. You’ll find the link in the left-hand column. I didn’t raise the prices on the Cafepress-suggested prices, so I don’t receive a dime of any sales there. My main motivation for setting up a store is so I could order a T-shirt for myself. I figured I’d put it out here in case anyone else wanted to order one, too. So, there you go with that.

You might also notice the “Donate” button on the left there. If you’ve been dying to give me money but didn’t know the best way to do it, now’s your chance. Go nuts. I promise anyone who donates any amount of money (and leaves an email address) will get a hand-typed letter of thanks from me.

Princeton the cat is coming back to stay for a week or so starting tomorrow. Some of you might remember his earlier visit. Dala and Nutmeg have no inkling, of course, but it should be fun. I’m looking forward to the excitement.

I am also feeding two other cats for a week or so. Everybody I know is leaving town, so I get to be Cat Guy. They’re not coming to stay here, though. They are beautiful and nice kitties, but they are quite shy, and five cats is too many in this small space.

Movie count so far for the year: 63.

Whenever I cut my fingernails, a few hours later I get this strange feeling in my third fingers on each hand. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like an ache or a throbbing or something. Those words don’t really describe the feeling all that well. This has happened to me for years, and I hate it. There are only a few methods I’ve found to combat it. If I cut them right before bed, the feeling happens at some point in the night and I’m unaware of it. I tired the other method tonight, that of cutting my nails right before washing dishes. The dishwater softens them up and seems to make a difference…except for tonight. Grrr. They’re really bugging me right now, and I want to chew my fingers off.

We had pictures taken of our improv group last night for possible publication in next Friday’s local newspaper. Not everyone was in every picture, so we don’t know who’ll be published. It’s kind of exciting, though, even if it is just our local paper.

I did not go to work today, as I was not feeling well. I slept a lot, and as a result, I’m going to have a hard time going to sleep tonight.

Argh! My fingers! Enough typing!

Tonight, while cutting a roll at dinner, I cut my finger with the steak knife.

It seems foolish to talk about a site re-design since

a) You’re looking at it
b) If you weren’t here before the change, you won’t care

I still wanted to mention it, though, because the site finally looks like I’ve been wanting it to look for over a year now. The last change gave me the colors I wanted, this change gives me the layout. There are likely to be a few small changes yet, but this is basically it.

List of changes, for the curious:

1. Color scheme now reflects my current favorite color pair: green and grey.
2. Three-column layout lets me split things up better: left column for internal stuff, middle column for entries, right column for external links (mostly – the hot chocolate counter and webcam are there because they fit better there).
3. Webcam picture can be clicked for a larger version.
4. Email link is now separated from the other links. It’s been bad and needs to be taught a lesson.
5. Text size is now smaller. I always hated that gargantuan type.
6. Text in middle column is justified which, strangely, gives it a more professional look.
7. Addition of a “Favorite Posts” section in the left column. These should not be construed as my most popular posts – they are simply my favorite posts of mine.
8. 23% fewer calories per post.

Things yet to come:

1. A MadMup store. Really. Mostly for fun, and because I want to buy a MadMup.com T-shirt myself.
2. A PayPal link. Because every blog needs to have an easy way for people to donate money, right?
3. A webcam archive page, mostly so you can see that the hairstyle never changes.

So there you go. Many thanks again go to Brian A. for all of his work on this. I presented my ideas for the design, he would design it and show it to me, and I would say, “That’s good! I like that! Can we change this one thing?” He’d change it and we’d repeat the process. I think maybe he might have slapped me around if we’d been working on it in the same room instead of in Indiana and New Mexico. But he was patient and I love the design.

Now if only I would have more worthwhile content…