Cheers

practice...art...design...steps

Bloggin'

Doh. RTF format of Text Edit on Mac

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Finally got around to using permalinks for WP and came across a stumbling block. Everytime I uploaded the custom .htaccess file (with code copied & pasted directly from WP) I got an internal 500 server error. Phoned the delightful support team at Media Temple, and found out that TextEdit for Mac is by default saving as Rich Text Format, so not good. Changed to Plain Text under preferences, and presto. Permalinks.

They also recommended fraise as a text editor. I miss BBEdit, but will try that.

Learned: Call tech support, rather than attempting over and over to fix something that’s not working; even when you end up looking like a dope. It’s ok. That’s their job, to tell you something is proverbially unplugged.

Also learned, permalinks by default label the url by the lowest numbered category (which is the Uncategorized, here General) so don’t check the General . Only use if you forget to check the category you want.

Thesis testing

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For now, this blog will simply be for me to test out Thesis, and WP 3.0 without worrying about corrupting a client’s site, or something more vital than this hodgepodge of knitting, bookclubs and what not thoughts.  If you stumble across this site, that’s about all she wrote for now. Nothing exciting, no tips, no optimization nadda:)

Theming and returning to this blog

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Looks like my spring cleaning project from a year ago went precisely no where. Oy vey. Now that it’s spring again, the Olympics (part 1) came and went, I bought Thesis, the developer version finally!! Am now testing.

Day 21: spamorama – u display:none

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I think my Word of the Year should be whatever the precise opposite of procastinate is.

I decided to upgrade (enfin) the version of wordpress I was using, and when I did I noticed a whole heap of spam links hidden in the code. Using the display:none tag, they inserted spamorama in the code. Boy, did that sharpen my pencil and get me going on the upgrade.

The upgrade went smoothly (fingers crossed) and I am looking forward to taking advantage of the new features etc it has to offer. I still had to manually go through posts and delete the spammy links.  Not sure yet I’ve gotten them all.

Reading a variety of links about spam protection helped, but the key question for me is “why is spam not treated like a major vice”? It certainly is a huge hassle, and inconveniences users and receivers alike. Not sure why the fines for it aren’t in proportion with the act.

Deep breaths.

Cheers,

Edited to add: noticed weird accent and funny characters appear here and there after upgrade. More manual deletion to do.

Day 19: Guest post – Word of the Year thoughts

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I have a guest post at the de-lovely Christine Kane’s site! This means I am theoretically no longer invisible (in the blog world that is). However, something went awry with the post and my bio and links are missing. Shucks:( I sent them an email, hopefully they will switch it – but the day is over, and the sort of first rush is gone.

So it got me thinking about how to handle these little mishaps. I’ve had much worse.

Example 1) My first solo show – the curator was brand new to the job and had not written a press-release. When I asked her, she didn’t really even know what a press-release was.

Example 2) I was invited by an art magazine to publish a web art project (Flight Path [a bird in the google], and naturally was tickled pink. They let me choose a writer, and he wrote something I was happy enough with. Not ecstatic, but felt it was a good piece of writing. Well, the piece came out and they didn’t have my name right at the beginning or even featured anywhere on the page. It was only a sub-mention of his work. That really ticked me off, let me tell you.

I learned from these 2 examples, that when it comes to press,  you have to triple-check and insist on seeing a proof and any other details you care about before anything goes to press. Well before. It was a good, if painful lesson.

It also made me think there should be such a career as an agent for visual artists – they could handle these tedious details! 🙂

From this guest post situation – a much less significant oversight – it started me thinking about the word “Acceptance”. Ok – so I didn’t get the sympathetic viewers linking here to read my words of wisdom, etc etc. But, I did put my thoughts out there publicly (even with a photo!) and that will have to be good enough. I don’t think I’m going to choose Acceptance as my word of the year, too many other possibilities await, but it will sit at the back of my mind, helping me prepare for the ups and downs that relate to expectations.

Cheers,

MzD

Edited to add: They updated my post with bio/links in early Jan.

30 days of posts, less holidays: Day 1

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I was reading Steve Pavlina’s 8,600 word post about calibration, and  I’ve decided to challenge myself with the goal of posting for 30 days.  It being December, and knowing myself, and knowing that sitting in front of the box on the holidays are most definitely out, and that I will be travelling for two days,  I will permit myself to extend the 30 days to January 11th. I think I’ve done the math right on that, but what odds?

The key point is that I’ve let this pseudo-blog languish – not publishing it (by that I mean not linking it from anywhere, or telling anyone*, ) not paying attention to it, and not committing to the process. Partly this is not knowing what to write about – should it be the ups and downs of running a design business, should it be those same ups and downs being a conceptual artist with a trace of painterly remains, should it be my fascination with Dr. Who…and the list goes on.

So, inspired by this concept of calibration, I’ve made this decision  – for the next 30 days (+ the 6 extra for the holidays and travelling) I will write about whatever I want. It doesn’t matter if it’s an ephemeral thought that will not serve the archives well, or if it’s not deep, or if it’s not well written. The purpose of this exercise will be threefold.

  1. To find my voice
  2. To commit to the process of writing
  3. To set a 30 day goal and achieve it.

To begin: Split Pea Soup.

Today I am making split pea soup – the yellow kind of peas. I always use the green, so it’s an experiment. I’m a pseudo-vegetarian (ie: I eat fish – I’ve heard it called flexitarian), so ham hocks are out.

The base of the soup is a quick and dirty veggie stock, thrown together from leftovers. I had to feed the worms (worm compost) so not too much leftovers around.

  • 2 cloves organic garlic  – they are enormous, so more like 4
  • 1 withering green onion
  • 1/3 spanish onion
  • handful of drying out cilantro
  • 1 bay leaf
  • peppercorns
  • 5 green beans that have brown spots on them
  • 1″ slice ginger

and that’s it. It’s now simmering away, smelling delightful. The rest of the soup will be

  • 2 cups yellow split peas
  • above stock + bunch of water
  • 1 mushroom bouillon cube (gotta get some salt in somewhere)
  • 1 more bay leaf for good measure
  • and, if I’m energetic enough and make my way to the store, some parsnips, cut into 1-2″ pieces. These are absolutely mouthwatering in pea soup.

Cheers,

*[except for most recently when I wrote a guest post to Christine Kane’s most delicious blog. It may or may not be published, which may or may not bring some visitors]

We prorogue de wrong house…

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So today my adoration of the beautiful Michaelle Jean was slightly tainted as she agreed to the ogre’s request to prorogue parliament. I didn’t actually know what the word meant till 8am as I heard it on the radio, and made what I thought was a great joke (see headline). Funny to the .008% of the population who know that particular parang song, which has the lyric “we parang de wrong house”. Not that I was necessarily hoping for the government to fall, it seems like another election is just around the corner anyhow. But I didn’t think MJ would support the ogre. C’est la vie…

Parang, as I know it, is a type of music played in Trinidad (venezulean/spanish) origins, which is traditionally played at Christmas. When I was there a few years ago, I heard a lot of parang. A group of musicians go from house to house, playing guitar and get invited in for drinks. I can’t remember the exact lyrics, but in the “we parang de wrong house” one, the group has gone to the wrong house and doesn’t get invited in – quite the opposite! Eerily similar to the mummering tradition in Newfoundland, and one day I hope to explore that subject as an art piece. Here is slice of the music: Daisy Voisin – Sereno Sereno