Well, I guess that I definitely needed a blogging break! I am so sorry it’s been forever since I posted - a few of you have been wondering where I am, but I really haven’t gone anywhere, I’ve just been busy!

Not too long after I stopped posting I started to hang out with a co-worker of mine a lot, and now we’re dating :-). His name is AJ, and he’s a really awesome guy. VERY different from anyone I’ve ever been interested in in the past, but it works somehow. We’ve been actually dating for about a week shy of 2 months now.

On top of that, I’ve also been hanging out with other new friends from work. It think I just needed a break from online life to adjust to my new life that is emerging here. Life in Winston-Salem is very different when you’re not encased in the little Wake Forest bubble, so I’m kind of discovering the city for the first time.

I did hear back from Florida State University about grad school - it was very frustrating because they said they’d get back to me in a week and a half to two weeks, and it actually took about SEVEN weeks, so by the time I got that email I almost didn’t care about what the answer was, I just wanted an answer at all! Which, unfortunately, was no. So that’s another thing I’ve been doing the past month or so . . . reevaluating where I want to go and what I want to do. At the moment I am intending to spend another year here in North Carolina. They got back to me so late about the theatre management program that it was too late for me to apply for any other graduate programs, so this coming year I will be taking another year off. But honestly, I don’t think it’s such a bad thing. I think a little more time to think things through would be good.

As far as jobs go, I LOVE working for Starbucks. It really is the awesome company to work for that everyone says it is. I thought that it had to be hype, but it’s not. I love this job - just had my 4 month anniversary with the company! And things have been going VERY WELL with working for E. Webscapes . . . I’ve just passed my 3 months with them! E. Webscapes is full of such awesome designers and staff members, they’ve really made me feel right at home!

I’ve traveled a little bit since I last posted - I went home at the beginning of April to join the Episcopal Church (#5 on my 101), and then I took AJ home with me in May to go to the TPC golf tournament. And this past weekend I went to Georgia to visit my mother’s mom (who is REALLY not doing well, so prayers that she finds comfort would be appreciated).

Also, I turned 23 this past Thursday (June 7), so I’m getting old, LOL!

A few little administrative things - I never marked of #46 on my 101, but I completed subscribing to and reading a newspaper, I closed down my Doodlebug website, so #74 is no longer an issue, and I forced AJ to sit down with me and watch all six episodes of Star Wars in a row, starting with Episode I. If you’re into Star Wars and haven’t done this, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a full day’s commitment, but my view of all the movies has changed, and I like the prequels more now. I think watching them like this allows you to see them the way that Lucas intended them to fit together. So yeah, nerdy moment over, #81 is completed.

What all have I missed with all of you? Hopefully I will be back to posting regularly now. I didn’t mean to leave everyone hanging high and dry! I’ve missed blogging!!! Please comment and let me know how all of you have been doing!

Please tell me I’m not the only person who finds this wierd . . .

Thirteen Things about LINDSEY

A bit of an intro here, LOL! So many people responded to my Firefox Extentions post and my Why I Love Blogging post about technical ineptitude that I decided to make up this post about helpful blogging tech-y things. Please note that this only barely scratches the surface (mostly because I am very novice at all this)! If you want clarification on these things, ask! If I don’t have a clue about what you are curious about, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction ;-)!

1. Get the right blogging platform. Robin over at PENSIEVE writes “I’m technically deficient, but I wanna pursue learning more about that side of blogging…any suggestions where to begin? (You said “ask away” in your profile page, so I’m a askin’ ).” The beginning seems like a good place to start, LOL! And in my opinion, the first technical thing you need to get straight is your blogging platform.

I personally prefer WordPress. I started off using Blogger, but I felt too restricted - the upload time is aweful, the spam is horrendous, and there are so few things you can do with the layout. I wanted a blog that was an expression of me, not me confined within someone else’s restrictions.

WordPress also has a VERY easy importing tool, so if you’re using Blogger, Textpattern, Dotclear, Movable Type, or LiveJournal, you can have your entire blog transferred in a few short steps. Importing from other platforms may be a little trickier, but it can be done. You can also import from an RSS feed very easily (more on that in a minute).

2. Find an affordable host. A lot of people are using Blogger because it is free. I understand - as a graduate student with no income, money’s pretty tight around here too! However, switching to WordPress doesn’t need to be difficult OR expensive! The actual WordPress install is free - you can go download it right now if you want. But without somewhere to host it, that’s not much help. There are lots of great, affordable hosts out there. But I have to put in a glowing recommendation for LDM Hosting. I have been hosted by LDM Hosting for almost 2 years, and I’ve sent several friends over there as well. The prices are ridiculously low, yet the support and customer service is impeccable. There are many great hosting packages that would allow you to host multiple websites off of one package (I host six on mine!), but the golden ticket is the blogger’s package. This package gives you 50MB of space, 1 GIG of bandwidth, 10 email accounts @ your domain (which they’ll help you set up if you need help), and one-click WordPress install - PERFECT for the blogger. How much does this little ray of sunshine cost? $2 per month, for a grand total of $24 per year. Would you pay $24 a YEAR to get rid of all frusterations of Blogger and gain the freedom of WordPress? That’s what I thought ;-)! If you want more info, let me know - or go visit LDM Hosting’s website.

3. Pick a theme you love! Now that you’ve got your blog with all your posts, you want it to look good. After all, the default theme that comes with WordPress is kind of . . . boring. You can try to build your own, but this gets difficult and confusing very quickly, especially if you are knew to blog design. You’ve got 2 options - either find a free theme for download, or have someone design a theme for you! There are hundreds of free themes online (check here for starters), and this is a great way to go, especially if you’re just starting out. However, some people really want their blog to be an expression of their personalities and interests. If this sounds like you, and you can’t find the perfect thing for free, then go to the professionals. I HIGHLY recommend E. Webscapes. They’ve made three awesome themes for me (see the theme switcher in my sidebar), and they’re working on a fourth for me right now! They have extremely talented designers, and they’re used to working with newbies!

4. Make your email address available, but safe. OK, you’ve got a great looking blog with your posts. What about all the mumbo jumbo in the side? First things first - people want to be able to get in touch with you. But you don’t want to just put your email address on there for all the spambots to take, do you? I’ll let you in on a secret - click on my sidebar where it says “Contact Me.” It opened up an email addressed to me, right? However, I don’t actually have my email address on my website. I’ve used a really neat program called ECloaker to encode my email address! That sounds really complicated, but I promise you it’s not. You download the program, and all you have to do is open it up, input your email address and what you want the text to be (in my case, “Contact Me”), and click “Make Code.” The code it creates will look like a bunch of gobbeldy gook - letters and numbers and #s. You take this, copy and paste it where you want your email address on your blog, and BAM! It looks just like it does on my blog. Pretty sweet, huh?

5. What the heck is an RSS feed? This was the question I heard the most last week, LOL! It took me a while to catch on too, but now that I’ve got this little gem figured out, I’m ADDICTED. You know how lots of websites and blogs have a way for you to subscribe to updates via email? An RSS feed is sort of like this. Here’s the Wikipedia explaination. This is how I understand RSS (and keep in mind - this is MY understanding, not the true technical definition). Every time that I publish a post, the post is sent to my RSS feed for my site. The address for my RSS feed is: http://www.mysuspensionofdisbelief.com/?feed=rss2 If you click on this link, you’ll see all the post info from my site, but it isn’t very visually pleasing. That’s just fine. People don’t read RSS feeds in this format. Instead, they read them in a feed reader.

There are many different types of feed readers. Different web browsers have them integrated - there are extensions for Firefox and for the new Internet Explorer 7. There are web based feed readers such as NewsGator and Feedster. And there are programs you can download to your computer, such as FeedReader (the one I use) and Pluck.

A feed reader works like an email program. For example, let’s say that I want to know when Suspension of Disbelief updates. I could either check the site every day to see if there is an update, or I could subscribe to the feed, and every time that a new post is made, my feed reader gets the new feed . . . like you’d get an email update. I can read the post in my feed reader, or I can click the link to read it on the web. The key is that I don’t have to go check the site every day. This can be VERY helpful if you have lots of blogs that you like to read. I have different folders in my feed reader for blogs of my friends, business blogs, tech blogs, etc. I can read so much more because I don’t have to keep checking the sites!

6. RSS sounds neat! How can I make one for my blog? If you have WordPress, you’re in luck! All WordPress blogs have an RSS feed! Just make sure that you put a link or a button or something on your blog so that people can have the link!

If you’re on a blogging platform that doesn’t have an RSS feed already, then you need to make one. I’m sure there are several services, but the one I am familiar with is FeedBurner. If you go to their website, they’ll talk you through setting up a feed for your blog and how to display it on your site. Reeeeally user-friendly!

And why should you do this? You WILL increase your readership. There are some people (like myself) who find blogs they really like, but they know that they don’t have time to go and check them out all the time! If the site has an RSS feed, then I get the link, add it to my feed reader, and the blog has a new reader. If I can’t find an RSS feed, then I feel sad that I won’t be able to keep up with the blog, and I hope that I stumble back there in the future (and that they’ll have gotten an RSS feed by then).

7. You mentioned that there is a Firefox extention for RSS feeds. What exactly is
? This was the second most addressed issue of last week! Probably because I posted my thirteen favorite Firefox extensions! Firefox is . . . amazing. It’s a web browser, like Internet Explorer, yet soooooooooo much better. You can customize it to your little heart’s desire. There are different themes to change the look of the browser, and you can download extensions, which work as little add-ons for your browser. It’s really easy to switch over from Internet Explorer (when you download it, it asks if you want to do that).

Aside from customization, why should you switch? Firefox is a safer browser - your chances of becoming the victim of malware and spyware are SIGNIFICANTLY decreased. Pop-ups are a thing of the past. It’s very easy to use, and it’s a standards-compliant browser!!!

8. What does standards-compliant mean? What is “valid XHTML”?

From Wikipedia:

“The Extensible HyperText Markup Language, or XHTML, is a markup language that has the same expressive possibilities as HTML, but a stricter syntax.”

Huh? Basically XHTML is code for building websites that is more standardized than HTML. While right now this is just a good practice and it creates a “universal language” for websites, in the future sites that don’t use valid XHTML may not work. At the moment, you’ll notice websites that aren’t in standard might look wierd - look at some of the sites you like in Internet Explorer, then look at them in Firefox. Or, better yet, look at your own site. It might not look as cool as you thought . . . Sites that are XHTML complaint should look great in all browsers (though there’s always a chance that they might not).

The good news? WordPress is valid, and many of the themes that you can find for download are compliant as well. And if you get a theme made for you, request that the designer make it compliant - they usually do that anyways!

9. Whoa, how did you make that little box with the quote from Wikipedia?! I don’t know about other blogging platforms, but in WordPress, you just add a little bit of code! If I wanted to make a box with the word “Blogging” in it, I would write this: and it will show up like this:

Blogging

10. What is the little checker thing under your posts? What’s del.icio.us? del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site. Basically you open an account, and then, instead of adding sites you like to your browser bookmarks, you can add them to your del.icio.us account. When you add them, you can tag them so that you can search through them easier. Also, you can view other peoples’ bookmarks, to see other things you might like. And best of all, since it’s web-based, you can view your bookmarks from any computer. So click on that little checkered thing, it’ll add that post to your del.icio.us account! If you want to add this feature to your WordPress blog, let me know, I’ll tell you what to do!

11. Why does everyone “tag” their blogs? Tags are really helpful when you use a tool called Technorati. Most all the blogs in the blogosphere are logged on here (if you haven’t claimed your blog, go do it)! You can search for blogs, you can search for subjects, you can look up statistics about blogs, all sorts of goodies! Again, if you want to add this feature to your WordPress blog, let me know, I’ll tell you what to do!

12. What’s the deal with the Rent My Blog thing? One more great blog networking tool is to link link link! And what better way to do it than to feature a different blog every week? Rent My Blog is run by BlogExplosion, and it’s basically a “blog of the week” type feature. Run over and check it out for details!

13. Where do you find out all this stuff? I read a lot of technical blogs and websites, LOL! Many of them are listed in my sidebar, so go take a look! You can also receive RSS feeds from newspapers and news sites, so I subscribe to CNN Technology and New York Times Technology Section. You can find out anything on the internet! I also learn a lot from reading other peoples blogs and asking questions ;-)!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Leave me a comment and I’ll give you a shout out!

Thirteen Things about LINDSEY!

1. I’m going insane lately - life is so incredibly busy that I haven’t had any time to post here on my blog, and that makes me sad at myself :(. But, I’m gonna do my Thirteen this week! I apologize for not doing it last week!

2. One reason I’m super psycho busy is because of the show, which is going FABULOUSLY. It is in intense crazy hard amount of work, but we’re loving every single minute of it. If you’re within a three hour radius of Winston-Salem, NC, I HIGHLY recommend you consider coming to see the show. We were just published on the cover of ArtView Magazine, and we have 2 more magazine covers coming out in the next week or so! Tickets can be bought at our website.

3. The other main reason that I’m going crazy is because my work from the classes that I took incompletes in last semester is due on Monday, and I have a ton left. I have a make up exam on Friday, so I’m nervous about that. The rest is due by email on Monday . . . lots of prayers are what I need.

4. This weekend we’re going to Charleston, SC to see a magic show. It’s by some 18 year old kid, and while it’s not similar in concept to what we’re doing (we’re taking “magic show” a step further and creating theatre from it), we are curious to see what someone else relatively close to us in age is doing. So, that should be interesting - especially since I’ve never been to Charleston! I’m excited :).

5. Also, my best friend Stephanie came to visit this past weekend. Technically she was here for a recruiting visit for Teach for America, but she stayed at my apartment, so we got to visit some. Not as much as we wanted to, because we were both incredibly busy, but it was the first time I’d seen her since August, so that was really awesome. I miss her tons.

6. A few friends and I started a NASCAR Fantasy League on the NASCAR website. We’re so ridiculous (especially since about half of us have no clue what we’re doing, and the other half are RIDICULOUSLY intense about the whole thing . . . they REALLY know what they’re doing). It makes us smile, and that’s what’s important ;).

7. I’m not having a hard time with getting ideas for posts and things at Reading Red Letters . . . I just have NO TIME to post there. I’m barely posting here, and when I am posting, it’s little quizzes and things. I want to spend my time writing those posts, and that’s something that I haven’t had time for. If you’ve been checking over there, please don’t get discouraged - as soon as this show is over on the 26th and my midterms are over on the 27th, I’m going to start some hardcore blogging over there. Watch out ;).

8. Does anyone have any fun new recipes to share? I have a few recipes that I use over and over again because they’re quick, and I realized that I’d like some variety if anyone would like to offer me some, haha! If you send me your recipes, I’ll post them on here with a link to your site!

9. I enjoyed answering your questions before, so send me more! What do you want to know about me? What do you want to hear me talk about?

10. I auditioned for a show yesterday and got called back! It’s a great Woody Allen play called Old Saybrook. Callbacks were today, and I think they went well, so fingers crossed! The cast list is supposed to be posted by Friday night!

11. We found out our lighting designer (an off-Broadway lighting designer, so a big deal!) will be coming in half a week earlier than we thought he would. YAY!!!

12. We’re going to be the morning segment in the news in a week and a half for the local Fox News affiliate. We’re going to be doing some smaller sleight of hand tricks as well as one of our grand illusions. So watch for us if you’re local!

13. Matt and Ben almost got ticketed for hanging up flyers tonight . . . hehehehe. A cop saw them putting them up and said they were hanging them against the ordinance, but he was just going to give them a warning. Check out our blog, Ben said he was gonna post about it.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
1. Nicole

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants