Yeah. It was a weird week.
I spent most of the week playing with software. I’m testing different plugins and themes for a sub-site of Ten Two Studios that will let me teach online classes. I’m not sure I have the patience to set this up on my own, rather than going through a third-party service like Ning, but that’s why I have a test box set up—to play, and see. Doing this sort of work requires me to jump back and forth between the very logical left side of my brain, doing very exacting alterations to code, and the artsy right side, complaining that what I’ve done, while correct, is not aesthetically pleasing. It’s a tedious, exhausting, time-sucking sort of work. One night, I sat down to play at 9PM, and the next time I looked at the clock, it was past 3:30.
Wednesday, we had our annual tornado festival—and by festival, I mean every television station broadcasting vicious looking heat maps of storms marching steadily across maps of Texas, and frantic weather persons pointing at nasty red areas situated directly over my house. Although we get ugly weather regularly at this time of year, this wasn’t just a turn off the computer and watch the skies sort of thing. This was start moving water, flashlights, pillows, my backup hard drive, and the dog into the front bathroom, and listening to golf ball sized hail hammering the roof. In case you’re wondering, that last thing sounds roughly like someone tossing bowling balls at the house. I don’t recommend the experience, even if the storm blows right through without the expected tornado touching down.
Thursday, roofers descended on our neighborhood like a swarm of hungry locusts. It’s traditional in this area that after a major storm, everyone who has any damage at all, caused by the storm or not, gets a new roof courtesy of their insurance company. Roofing signs popped up in neighbor’s yards like weeds, which I thought was odd, because, having gone through this process two years ago, I know that the insurance company has to send an inspector out, and forms have to be filed before roofers can be hired. The mystery was solved yesterday when roofers started knocking on my door, asking if they can put signs in my front yard. So, the signs that are popping up aren’t because any work is being done—they’re just ads from companies hoping folks get the thumbs up from the insurance company, look outside, and decide it’s a good idea to hire from a sign in a neighbor’s yard.
Meanwhile, there’s been a little progress on my book for The Sketchbook Project that I flashed at you last week. I have the page block done, and the cover ready to decorate, and am just trying to figure out how to put the two together without adding any more bulk. I might have some progress next week.
(If any of you signed up for the project, and want to follow me there, my page is here.)
I also played with some of the new toys connected to YouTube this week, because I’m thinking about doing more short videos. This morning, I put together a simple slideshow video using One True Media in about fifteen minutes—and here it is:
Nothing fancy, but it was very simple to do. Next time, I’ll try weaving some video clips together, which is something that is currently not very much fun, because Windows Movie Maker hates me.
That’s it for this week. A veggie pizza is calling my name…