web-goddess

Right after typing the post below, I headed out for my day’s errands… and it was like the universe was trying to cheer me up. I met friendly and nice people everywhere I turned.

• I stopped for a second to peek in at the cafe below us (it’s almost done) when the owner invited me in to take a look. It turns out his name is George and he’s the one that referred the music video people to our place last week. He might even give me a job! He was really nice.
• Then I headed for the post office to send a Roald Dahl prize book. The lady at the counter remembered me from sending all the CDs and chatted with me about Dahl. She was the nicest post office lady ever.
• On my way out of the post office, this scary stoner guy held the door for me and said that he liked my Breeders T-shirt. In the eight years I’ve had it, no one has ever recognized the group.
• After I did my workout, I met Snookums at the pet store to pick out fish. Big Gay Al was there again, and he let me hold one of the lop-eared bunnies! (He breeds them for the shop.) And you all know how I am about animals. But it was so sweet and cute! Apparently they can be litter box trained, they don’t smell, and they live for years. I’m seriously thinking about getting one.

So I’m all happy again. Not all human beings are assholes. And how was your day?

My recently-married Dad moved in with his new wife three weeks ago. This past weekend, he parked his Jeep in front of the house and went in to bed. When he came out in the morning, some asshole had broken in. They tried to jimmy the lock with a screwdriver, but when that didn’t work they just busted the window. Then they proceeded to rip his stereo out of the dash. At first Dad thought that was the extent of the damage. Then he discovered that they’d stolen his garage door opener, gone around the back of the house, opened the garage, and stolen his mountain bike. And this all happened in a nice, Midwestern, “Leave it to Beaver” residential area. What kind of savages would do such a thing? What kind of an ass do you have to be to think, “I’m going to break in and forcibly remove your stuff and make it mine.”? I rant about people who think they are above the rules, but in my case that usually means people who cut in line or bitch at the check-in woman at the airport. I don’t know what I’d do if I was actually confronted with someone who had so little respect for the rest of humanity that they’d actually smash through a window and take my stuff. I feel as mad and frustrated as I did when those assholes egged us. We’re trying to have a society here, people. (TM Brigita)

Who is General Tso and why are we eating his chicken? Now we know. My college roommates and I would always wonder this when we placed our weekly order to Bai-Ju’s Noodle House in South Bend. On a similar note, did you know that Paul Simon got the song title “Mother and Child Reunion” from a chicken-and-egg dish he spotted on a Chinese restaurant’s menu? You need never be puzzled by your take-away again. (Original link courtesy of Fredo.)

My server’s clock is still horked, which is messing up the number of posts on this page as well as the recent comments box. I’ve raised the issue with Support again, so hopefully it’ll be fixed soon. Sorry about the inconvenience!

The Snook and I both got rejected by the same company today. It’s a novel experience for us. We’re overachievers. Rejection is a bit of a reality check. (Not that we’re upset or anything. The company sucked. But still.)

Jakob Nielsen has a new report on website usability for kids. Since I myself run a site geared towards children, I read it with some interest. Unfortunately it confirmed my worst fears. Kids want bells and whistles. Kids don’t like to read. Kids don’t get hierarchical navigation. All of which means my site is one big usability nightmare for them. Honestly, though, I sorta knew that would be the case when I designed it. I had to think about the adults that would visit the site too, though. I also wanted to make it clear that my site was about information, not pure entertainment. I mean, compare my site to the official one. That’s the debate right there. The official one is very flashy and whizzy and noisy, yet it’s also incredibly difficult to track down specific information about Dahl or his books. My site, on the other hand, is pretty much transparent about where everything is located. Which is better? Personally, I think challenging kids is more important than pandering to them. I’m not talking about making things deliberately difficult, but I’m not talking about making them totally simple either. Kids are gonna need to learn how to research someday. Why should I hand them everything on a silver platter? I want them to think and read and figure things out. I refuse to dumb down my site because little Johnny’s too impatient to click on the “Timeline” to find out Dahl’s birthday. This is where I think the flaw is in Nielsen’s study. Was he studying kids using websites for fun, or kids using websites for a purpose? Which type of site do you prefer?

I think I might make a survey at my site to find out what the visitors think. Not that that will make me change anything, but I might as well know if I’m pissing them off.

Stop the presses! Roger Ebert‘s website (actually the entire Chicago Sun-Times site) has a new design. I like it! Much less image-oriented, which means it doesn’t look so bad when I surf with the images off. I think the blue is nice too. I just wish they hadn’t filled in the “o” in the logo URL. That bugs me.

“There’s no doubt that many Australians experience a collective cringe over Irwin’s showman-like antics. Unlike Americans, they’re put off by his impassioned testaments to his own sincerity, the preachy tone of his “saving the world” pitch, and his hair-trigger, often comical sentimentality. ‘Australians like people who underplay,’ ventures documentary-maker Malcolm Douglas. ‘Even Paul Hogan underplayed stuff, whereas Steve Irwin comes across like a used-car salesman selling everything down the camera.’”

Here’s a great article about Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. I found the description of his childhood and early career pretty hilarious. You also get to read about how he met his wife. (“Crikey, a sheila who loves wildlife and can take a good hit on the head, that’s the woman for me!”) Interestingly, it also tackles the issue of his curious non-fame in his home country. He pretty much represents everything that makes Australians cringe about themselves. Good reading if you’re a fan (like my Dad).

In case you’re wondering, the clock on my server is all messed up, which is why so many posts are appearing on the front page. I’ve put in a support request to fix it.