Month: February 2007

Let me count the ways …

Have I said how much I love WordPress so far? Well just in case I haven’t, here are a few reasons why:

• Tags – love the option to add labels to posts, eg Photo Hunts (although I keep forgetting to do it, and have to edit the post afterwards)
• Having automatic comment spam filters – no need to use word verification (although it seems to keep treating one poster as spam hmmm)
• Having email addresses and blog URL details on the comments posts sent to me via email (no having to click onto the blog entry to work out which person left the comment as there are 6 blog readers called Cathy, for example)
• Having a “create new post” at the top of your blog, without having to go into Dashboard first
• When you have more than one blog you just hover over the Dashboard link and a drop-down menu appears to choose which blog … no confusing messy Dashboard pages where you have to hunt to find what you’re looking for
• Placing your cursor over a hyperlink shows a snapshot of the actual webpage! (LOVE that!!!)
• Anyone can comment – you don’t have to open a Google account (!)
• Pages – gotta love those little tabs, rather than having to create a post and link in the sidebars
• Easily adaptable ‘widgets’ for the sidebars for adding text and photos etc
• More options for uploading photos within a post (although I still haven’t explored all that fully yet), in regard to layout etc … very very simple to use
• Simplicity of adding a graphic to personalise the header bar (on some templates only, though)
• Auto saving facility of drafts, especially the “save and continue editing” option, so you remain on the same screen after saving
• Very user-friendly interface in the Dashboard

The only downside I can think of right now is the choice of templates, and that you can’t manipulate the codings – for example, I really don’t like the font size and style of this template, but I can’t actually change it … eventually, though, I think I’ll pay for the CSS upgrade so I can manipulate the info to something that I prefer … but I’ll have to wait until I’ve got more time on my hands for that, which will be at least until after Easter, as my CA Wells pre-work will be arriving any day now. I still need to re-work my tags, though … I didn’t really plan them when I started and the list has been gradually evolving – I want to re-do the list at some stage (and, when I have nothing better to do) … one day 😉

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you’re a dreamer, but you’re not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And, finally, a Movie Meme that I pinched from Melli … (‘cos movies are my other great passion other than stitching)

(1) What’s your favourite movie genre?
I can’t decide between action and comedy as my absolute favourites … but especially love it when they’re combined, eg I adore the Lethal Weapon series for that reason.

(2) Name Ten Films you’d recommend to friends?
Crikey, I might be struggling to do this one, but here goes:

1.  Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Love Actually
3. Remember the Titans
4. 50 First Dates
5. Sleepless in Seattle
6. The Green Mile
7. Bridget Jones’ Diary (1&2)
8. Braveheart
9. Men of Honor
10. Dead Poet’s Society
     

(3) Do you ever watch a movie simply because of the actor in it? If so, who?
Yes, I’ve been known to do this – Cuba Gooding Jr, Mel Gibson, to name just a couple.

(4) If a movie you’re planning on seeing is based on a book, do you read the book? Are you generally disappointed with one or the other?
I usually prefer to read the book first, but then I’m always comparing it to the movie, and the movie always falls short – take the Power of One as an example … the mother is dead in one, and alive in the other, and there’s a love interest in the movie that sure as heck wasn’t in the first book … I hated that movie!  I would have been better off watching the movie first in that case.  I’m currently trying to decide whether to read the DaVinci Code before seeing the DVD, but not sure which to do first …

(5) If you’ve ever watched a movie based on a true story, have you ever then looked to see how closely the movie followed the actual events?
The only time I’ve been really keen to find out the ‘true’ story of history is after watching Braveheart (I was in Scotland at the time) – I was fascinated by the relationship between William Wallis and the Queen, and wondered if it was all hogs-wash … but usually I just sit back and enjoy the ride of the movie for its general entertaining qualities.

(6) Do you ever watch Indie movies or do you stick with only the main stream?
I can’t say whether I’ve seen an independent movie or not – I can’t say I take much notice, but probably main stream would be the norm for me, I guess.

(7) Do you collect the movies on DVD that you’ve really enjoyed to watch again?
You betcha!  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen some of my DVD’s – stitching and DVD’s is the world’s most perfect partnership for me!  I regularly add to my DVD collection when they’re on sale (I rarely buy them when they’re full price).

(8) What is the last film you went to see in a Theatre? Did you enjoy it or were you disappointed?
Pirates of the Caribbean 2 – I really enjoyed it … not so much as the first one, but enjoyed it just the same.  And it will definitely be added to the DVD collection once it’s been around for a while longer 😉  Before that it was probably National Treasure, which I also loved.  When Mum arrives I’m going to take her to see Night at the Museum … time will tell how much we enjoy it …

I got tagged today by Linda for a meme, which triggered my memory banks that I also got tagged by two other people before Christmas that I didn’t post about … so now I’m going to make up for it and answer them all in the order they were received.

(1)  Veronica tagged me on this one. When I got tagged I’d only fairly recently completed it when I was tagged from someone else, so thought I’d wait a bit longer before doing it, and opted to choose Christmas so I could list my fave Christmas songs … but of course then I lost my internet connection and everything went out the window!  Anyway, here goes … 

Here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre. Whether or not they have words or even if they are any good but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now! Post these instructions in your blog along with with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to (I don’t tend to tag people as some people don’t like it – I don’t mind it myself though – but if you want to do it yourself, feel free!).

1. She will be loved – Maroon 5
2. Lifestyles of the rich and famous – Good Charlotte
3. Tubthumping – Chumbawumba
4. Just the way it is – Eye TV
5. Why does love do this to me – Dance Exponents
6. Electron blue – REM
7. When you say nothing at all – Ronan Keating

(2)  Next up was my tag by Christine, also around the time my internet access went AWOL …  Once again, I’d completed this one a wee while agao, so I’ll try to think of some extra ones this time.  Here goes – Five things you likely don’t know about me:

1. I spent three years working part-time as Bar Supervisor at a local rugby (union) club in Auckland … I used to be extremely shy, but Mum reckons that job brought me out of my shell and I’ve never looked back (my vocabulary unfortunately is one of the things that changed, and I could probably make truck drivers blush!) – there are definitely many fond memories of that job being surrounded by so many burly blokes week-in week-out … it was a hard job, but someone had to do it!  A highlight was when we held the promotion party for an All Blacks video (The Good, the Bad, and the Rugby), and I got all the All Blacks there to sign a rugby ball for me (which I have since given away to an All Black-mad friend of mine).
2. I had to sneak off to England to get my ears pierced for the second time – Mum always told me there’s no way I was going to get them done again (ie two holes in each ear) as that was tacky and trampish … the first thing I did when I went on my “big O.E.” away from home was to go into a department store and get my ears pierced again … and the first thing I did when I got home 6 months later was to flash off my earlobes 😛  I still love my two earrings in each ear!
3. I’d voluntarily give up a limb for seafood … the first time I visited Australia with a work conference, I took a week’s leave afterwards and Mum flew over as well – we both adore seafood, especially king prawns.  Well, I gorged myself with that many king prawns that I ended up with big welts around my waistline on my back – my grandfather was apparently allergic to shellfish, and I was terrified I was picking up this tendency … it hasn’t stopped me, though, I still gorge out on them when I get the opportunity (which isn’t too often these days).
4. Vicki and I are the only two people from our entire group of high school friends that turned out to be ‘straight’ – every single one of our group turned out to be gay (both the guys and gals) or ‘bi’ … and to this day I’ve attracted some close personal friends that are gay and love them to death – of course now I work in the airline industry I’ve got a lot of colleagues in that boat as well.
5. At the age of 19 I was the Editor of Sphinx magazine … even though I know nothing about cars … for the Armstrong-Siddeley Car Club – Dad had a car and we all joined up (Mum, Dad and I) as members and had a blast for a few years.

(3)  Lucky last, Linda just tagged me to the 6 Weird Things About Me, which is probably very similar to (2) above, but once again I’ll try to come up with some extra ‘weird’ things about me. 
The rules: Each player of this game starts with the “6 weird things about you.” People who get tagged need to write in their blog of 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

1. I can’t eat sultanas in curries … in my mind a decent sultana has no valid reason to be hanging out in a savoury dish with spices and other delicacies – it should be reserved for things like bread and butter pudding and the like.  Years ago an ex made a special effort and cooked me dinner – curry with sultanas – I could only apologise profusely, then promptly picked every single sultana out that I could find and pushed them to the side of the plate before I could eat it.
2. My feet look like they’ve been chopped off with an axe … I have very broad feet with chubby little toes nicely in a line – because of which I have a nightmare of a job buying shoes, and regard that as a chore from hell, because I can very rarely find shoes that fit.
3. I like lists, and have lists for LOADS of things – my CD collection, DVD collection, embroidery stash … but I hardly ever refer to them, apart from updating when I buy something new … I just enjoy the fun of organising everything into their little lists 🙂
4. I can’t re-read books again once I’ve read them, but I always hated getting rid of books I’d already read, and one day vowed I’d have a spare room with a wall full of bookshelves for all my books.  Since my move to Aussie I’ve had to give that dream up, and ended up giving a lot of my books to the local library … the only books I’ve brought with me are my embroidery ones, and now I tend to listen to talking books instead so that takes up a lot less room!  Strangely enough, though, I can watch a DVD movie dozens and dozens of times and not get bored by it!
5. I’m a world-class procrastinator … I’m always leaving things until the last minute and then rushing like a mad-woman the day before trying to get things done.
6. I like to keep my DVD’s in alphabetical order (they’re not at the moment, though – but probably will be again after the next house move) … it’s so much easier finding the movie you’re looking for when they’re actually sorted into order – that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!

Phew, I think that means I’m all caught up with memes for now – and you know many many useless and weird things about me 😛