Yes, I know it is only February, but see, I made up my mind the day after Christmas what I want next Christmas for the kids. I want a Wii. And not just a Wii. I want extra Wii games, and cool wii accessories. I’ve already been warned about using the straps to keep the controllers in little hands, but other than that, do you have any advice? What game or accessory rawks your sawks? And is it ok to use super glue instead of velcro straps for the little ones?

Ok, having tried to start this post three four times, and backspaced over it, I guess I am just going to jump right in. I watched a video today that was promoted as funny. Now, it didn’t cause me to laugh, but I did feel compelled to search out a second video in the series and watch it, too, so I guess it was effective.

The videos feature “The Sproutwells” who are, apparently, fruits and vegetables living in a human neighborhood. The videos are short, just one minute and forty seven seconds. Here is the first one:

Now, i think if I had to be one of the sproutwells, I would be a tomato, or maybe a round squash. Emphasis on round. Next year, though, I am aiming to be a zucchini.

Make sure that you check out the sponsor’s site after you watch the vids. I was surprised to find out who it was, because it’s totally not who I expected it to be from the vids. I’m not spoiling the surprise for those who are amused by the quirkiness of the human mind, but you’ll find the link at the end of the vid.

You know, I used to doubt that Google was out to take over the world, but I’m beginning to wonder. I have long turned to Wikipedia and About.com when I needed encyclopedic information but Google is getting into the online encyclopedia act, too.

They are doing it differently, though. Whereas wikis are editable by the community, each knol author decides how much “help” they want from others. There is another difference, too. You can find lots of info on knitting at wikipedia, but there is no knitting knol. Yet. You can, however, get a grand theft auto 4 walkthrough if you are the sort of person who plays video games instead of knitting.

//*cough* now I know what Dan was doing while Trevor was making everyone chuckle over the fact that I was knitting during a conference//

Actually, all kidding aside, I think it’s a great thing. Between wiki, knol and about, there is no need to remain ignorant on any subject. Not only is there someone somewhere who knows the answer to your question, but they’ve most likely put it right at the end of you searching fingertips. It’s a marvelous age….if you can form the question, you can find the answer in seconds. I’ve learned so much in he past few years just surfing the internet reading whatever piqued my curiosity. The other day, I was able to find and apply a coding fix for an issue I was having on one of my blogs, and I just felt so smart! Not that I found it on any of those sites, but, umm, I don’t often get to feel like a screaming genius, so I wanted to mention it.

P.S. I’m wearing something I knit at this year’s conference. What’s Dan got to show for all that video game playing?

P.P.S. Is anyone current listening to Cast-On? Did Brenda ever get that knitting wiki off the ground?

Isn’t that just gorgeous? Ang. showed it to me a few days ago, and I just downloaded it from TopWPThemes. I may end up putting that theme on one of my projects. I just love the bright colors! It looks like yarn, only not. Which is ok, becasue I knit. Only not, since I have all that food and dirt to deal with. They have several nifty wordpress themes there on the site. The lead post contains a theme based on a clock. It seemed particularly appropriate after my last entry!

They have more than themes though, and I learned a few things from this article called, appropriately enough, Understanding Web Hosting. I guess I lucked out when I selected my current host, because I didn’t know most of this stuff when I picked them, and I have had a pretty good experience so far. Mostly.

You know, there are days when I wish I could do something, that I had a certain skill set. Not always the same set, mind you, but different things. Like one day, I might wish I could draw. Or quill. Or ride a motorcycle. Motorcycle? Motorcycle! I know how to ride on one as a passenger, but not how to work the controls. But today, I wish I could, because today, I found out about EagleRider and their Motorcycle Tours.

EagleRider sells bikes, don’t get me wring, but they also rent them so that you can take yourself on guided or self-driven tours. And ya’ll, I just about wigged out when I saw that they have locations in Europe and the British Isles. And Australia. And not just for motorcycles! They offer ATVs, snowmobiles and watercraft.

See, here’s the deal. My dad, he can drive a motorcycle. My mom hates the bike, it scares her. My husband can’t drive a motorcycle because he has a VP shunt. Do you think they would mind if I asked them to keep the kiddos while Daddy and I went to Ireland for my birthday? Yeah, I didn’t think so either, but it was a nice 90 second fantasy, ykwim? They do, however, have a store in Myrtle Beach, and that’s not quite as far a stretch.

In between reading mags, teaching school, and blowing off steam at Wal-mart (remember–Wal-mart Warranties SUCK!), I was checking out websites. Yeah, I know. I couldn’t post, but I could surf. There’s just something about doing your thing at your own machine, ykwim? Even if it IS rigged up to an external monitor, because Walmart Warranties Suck!

Anyway, let’s talk about Izzy Prints! Izzy Prints is the go-to place for birth announcements and party invitations. Not that I need the former, but Diva has begun the birthday count down, and today she reminded me that it is JUST!! Sixteen!!! Days!!!!!!!!!!! until her birthday. Yesterday, it was seventeen. I think maybe she has the math thing down, don’t you? *snort* I think this princess invitation would suit her, but only because I can’t find any that say “Queen of the World” and “Bow Minion”. Yeah, turning 13 is a real experience, I tell you. Pretty soon, I’ll know as much as she does. Maybe.

The price is good for custom printing, just 1.35 for this one, although I am a little too late to order any. After all, I only have practically 15 days, since it’s night time and all. Maybe that’s why I have to be the minion and she gets to be the queen.

late and tired. I do mean to post in the mornings, but this morning, dh had some things he wanted me to accomplish, so I jumped right in to the day, and weel, this is what happened. I have an arm long list of stuff I have been meaning to post about, and I am committing to one more post after this one, at least! I’ve got Huggies, I’ve got books, I’ve got mags. I’ve got a desk that is collapsing under the weight of stuff you need to know about! Or I need to tell you about. Or something. Before I started typing this post, though, I spent a few minutes checking out a design blog. Don’t worry, I am not planning to change the theme here—I totally got the message in the emails I received the last time I tried that – but I did enjoy the article on the Top Three Web Design Basics. Interestingly, the first one of the three is contrast, and I had a hard time focusing because the font was too light against the background for these eyes. Aside from that little problem, the article has some good information, and the part on he Rhythm of the site was something I had not thought of before.

Back when I moved this blog off xanga, I went with a hosting company owned by internet friends. The price was good, and it felt good to deal with friends. When my mom got a blog, I set her up with that same company. When I got ready to start my second blog, I contacted them about hosting it, and discovered that I was about to exceed my account limits and needed to make different arrangements ASAP. The next tier of service was more than I felt like I could afford, so I changed companies entirely. Some of you long term readers may remember all that. I still thank Xial silently for packing, moving and unpacking this blog into it’s current digs. I doubt he will ever know the tears he saved me! I selected Dreamhost because another friend could provide a coupon for it, the space was vast, the bandwidth was ample and I needed to get out NOW before my site went down.

If I were moving today, however, I would probably take advantage of the Web Hosting Blue Book. They have gathered the information a person needs to select a host that will meet their needs now and tomorrow. They don’t have all the hosts listed, of course, because….well, because, how could you? New hosting providers pop up all the time, but they have a plethora of info for the top ten hosts. Just check out this web review of Host Monster for example. I like the rating feature, because that lets me know what other site owners think of the hosts in question, and I am noting with some dismay that my own host didn’t make the top 10 list at all.

I was totally going to use this space to talk about the wedding gowns I just looked at on the WeddingChannel.com site. Like most females, I enjoy looking at wedding gowns. I think it’s genetic, yk? Comes with that girl chromosome. But I can’t do that because WeddingChannel.com, the site that wants you to rely on them for all your Wedding Ideas wants me to register before I can see a single gown. That really makes me angry. I can buy wedding favors, I can shop for registry items and I can even look at invitations without registering. Consider this my formal complaint!

Dear WeddingChannel.com
Please let me in. By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I want to see that dress that looked like it was spun with icing! Please!
Sincerely,
Cass

Ryan of Ryan’s Reviews graciously offered to review some blogs last night, and I jumped at the chance. One of the issues with designing a blog, is that your eyes get tired. You work and work and work on it, and then you just stop seeing it. And so do your visitors to a certain extent. I was pretty sure Ryan had never been here before, l so I was especially interested in how the site looked to a first time visitor.

He was much politer than this, but his reaction to the site layout was basically, “Holy crap, that’s a lot of busy-ness in your sidebars and footers.” Thankfully, his reaction to my content was much better, LOL! So, I spent a good but of time today working on the layout. I hope it looks better, and shortens the load time. All the information is still here, you just have to click on the plus signs to find it.

I looked at the W3C validator, but I really don’t understand how to fix those errors. Perhaps in time, I can study it, and begin to fix them. For now, I’m pleased with the cleaner look. I still want to get the pages in a collapse, but I’m having a bit of trouble getting the page call to function without generating a second h2 “pages”.

Thank you again, Ryan, for your helpful review!