Sunday, March 14, 2010

Miscellany

A couple of days ago I received an email from Cary Anderson, who will be sending me a book about The Eagle Lady soon, and he attached this gorgeous picture of an eagle in front of a beautiful crashing wave (click to enlarge). It reminded me that yesterday morning, while on a walk by the marina, I saw and heard a bunch of crows fighting over something. And in the middle of the crows, what should come by but an eagle, no more than a street's width away from us. The crows were being outmaneuvered by that eagle, who made a couple of passes and then swooped down to street level and hauled away a pigeon! At least that's what we figured it was, it was gray and had feathers.

I've been playing with the new blogger templates and trying to figure out how to stretch the banner, which I think needs to be resized. You will probably be finding lots of us trying out this and that to figure out which templates we like best. I will probably go back to one of the simpler templates, because you have more control over the size of fonts on the entire page, rather than just what shows up in the body. Several of the blogs I follow have done some amazing things with the new templates, and I am anxious to use the new "pages" feature, but that means I've got to write and organize my site first. I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. I wanted to make the sidebar fonts bigger, and this one doesn't give me that option.

I did download Google's browser, Chrome, and I must say it does work faster, so between Firefox, Safari and Chrome, I've got a whole lot of organizing to do before I get to the task of working out pages. I did get my usual Sunday post up on my other blog, but now I've got to work on this one. I notice that I feel a little constrained over here at DJan-ity and wonder where that is coming from. Surely it's some internal desire to PLEASE that is left over from my working days. Or is it?

I'm glad that not everybody posts something new every day, because I am falling behind in reading and commenting, and I so much appreciate it when others comment so I know you are out there, that I feel an obligation to let you know how much I love your posts. The cyber-coffeeklatch may exist in many time zones all over the planet, but if I get behind for a day or so, I begin to feel like I might miss out on something really important. Or fun. If it were not for Google Reader, I don't think I would follow so many people. I went through my list and could not find one I felt comfortable leaving off. So there you have it: imprisoned by the talent of my wonderful blogging buddies!

I am just finishing up a very good book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande, a doctor who writes about the power and limits of medicine in three parts: Fallibility, Mystery, and Uncertainty. I'm on the last part and frankly, I had trouble putting the book down last night. Today I'll finish it and check out some other books he's written.
:-)

16 comments:

  1. I love your new look!! I went over and took a look at the new temps. but decided I just didn't feel like changing anything. That book sounds so interesting and I really would love to hear/read more about it when you have time!

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  2. I like the new look....I think about changing the background, etc., much like rearranging the living room. However, since I almost never rearrange the furniture, I take it out on redoing my blog's look.

    Enjoy the fun of getting your blog to your satisfaction; live with it a while; then change it if and when you get the urge.

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  3. I do plan to check out the new options this week.

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  4. The new templates are going over big. I have see a lot of changes in blogs I follow already. I am going to get ideas from everyone else before I make any changes.

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  5. DJan, I'm really conflicted over this new stuff from blogger. I'm thinking about starting a 2nd blog and am seriously looking at Wordpress. Their page feature is much easier than Blogger's.

    I thought I wanted a 3 column blog but I have two problems with that, stretching the header to fit, and will Wordpress' blogroll feature work like Bloggers' in bringing to the top of the list blogs with new posts so I don't have to check the rest. I usually read blogs in my notebook from my recliner, and the 3 column, wider format doesn't work well with the notebook. It can be done but it's tedious.

    I got into a real mess last time I tried something new but I am so tired of the same old format. I need to do some more reading I think.

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  6. You are a very busy bee at the moment. I'll let you figure it all out and then I'll ask you how to do it? Is that ok (chuckling!) I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it hard to keep up with all the new posts. Like you, I don't want to miss anything...
    Blessings, Star

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  7. Don't worry about pleasing others, we blog for ourselves!

    The "pages" feature is actually really easy to use, just follow blogger-in-draft's instructions. They're basically the same as your regular blog posts except they won't change and you can chose wether to have them up as tabs or somewhere else.

    I hear you on going crazy trying to catch up with everyone and comment... I used to do that to! I've finally gotten comfortable enough that I don't always comment unless I have something to say. But I still make the mistake of going through the blogs I follow before I sit down to write my own posts and then more often than not I'm too tired of the computer to want to write my own stuff. :o( Still need to work on "putting myself first" for that kind of stuff...

    Have fun with the fiddling! ;o)

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  8. Personally? I LOVE THE NEW LOOK OF YOUR BLOG!!!! Actually, I am absolutely crazy about it...New blogger? I've missed something, of that I'm certain...May have to explore my dashboard to see what it is that I'm missing!!! Have a wonderful weekend, dear DJ!!! You've definitely brightened mine!!!

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  9. I LOVE that eagle shot by the wave...what a capture!
    I have gone to every other day blogging for now as winter does not always give me as many shots as I can take in the other months out in the woods....
    Don't worry, I know you read me and I sure appreciate it...you are a dear!

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  10. I am too intimidated by the new templates to try anything just yet. Actually, I just don't have the time. I am happy to get the chance to read the blogs I most love. It is time consuming, particularly if you follow a lot of people...We all know how much you like to make sure that everyone you read knows you are there. I appreciate it:)

    I wonder why you're feeling constrained. Are you feeling pressured to post daily? Is the weekly post of your other blog less pressure? Or are you just trying to post what you think others want to read? It's easy to fall into that trap, but remember this should be for you. Write what comes to mind. Like this post...

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  11. I hate the thought of missing something good, too! When I first started blogging, I wondered about these people that followed so many blogs... How could they possibly read them all? Now I know why they follow so many, but I still haven't a clue as to HOW!

    I'm having fun with the new templates. Wish I had time to play with them more. Maybe next week...

    BTW... Glad you met CrazyCris.

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  12. Cool looking blog setup. I really like the eagle over the beach.

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  13. It is a beautiful phoograph.

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  14. That is a great shot of the eagle and the crashing waves. I'm looking forward to hearing about the book.

    I've noticed our crows tend to stay out of the way of the female hawk that likes to hang out near our back yard.

    I removed the border from my header in HTML and can change the size easily but your template is different from mine. I would think it would be similar changes. I also change the size of the columns on occasion.

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  15. My daughter made up my blog for me, the template, the collages, the font etc. She lives in California so I am afraid to touch anything and mess it up. I prefer to spend more time writing my posts and leave the rest alone. Once I start a post I rather make it longer and then leave it on the blog for one week so that I have time to read all my friends’ blogs. I don’t know how people follow other blogs and still have time to place a post every day or other day – I am not that fast.

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  16. I wanted to comment on the feeling of being constrained. I get that too. I think it does have to do with the work thing, but it's also in our nature. Our worlds are the size of our imaginations and you and me have got gi-normous ones! So! how could a 'titled' blog have big enough borders? I enjoy the all over the place blogs and so go to it! I love your comments because you actually connect with me and what I write each and every day, but if you fall behind and miss me for a day, I know you'll be back tomorrow. So what I'm saying is don't sweat it girl! I follow too many too!

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