Wherein Sam talks about a bunch of things that everyone else has already talked about.
I have heard it said that any weblog that is not updated every day is a failure. As such, this collection of rambling posts I've got here (which some might consider a blog of sorts) may be considered a failure many times over. I have embraced this failure.
Speaking of weblogs, I have started to become more open to the idea of using actual blogging software to keep this place afloat. I've run into more than one occasion where someone wanted my RSS feed or some other feature which I simply can't provide with manually updated static HTML. I've tinkered with most of the major packages in the past - Movable Type, WordPress, Greymatter, etc. I think I could get any of them up and running without much of a problem, but the biggest issue would be integrating them into the static HTML that composes the rest of my website. I've already had a homepage in the past where the plain HTML "home" page linked to a generic-looking weblog. I didn't like it then, and I don't want to do the same thing now. So if anyone can offer some tips for integrating any of those packages (especially WordPress, as I have the most experience with it) into static HTML pages and maintaining the appearance of the site as it exists now, I'd appreciate an email. Unfortunately, I think I may just have to find some time in my schedule to hone my web skills in general. My 1996-era Web Fu just isn't cutting it anymore.
I don't want to talk a lot about Katrina and all of the emotion that subject involves for a lot of people. Suffice it to say that my heart goes out to the victims and my scornful (but ultimately ineffectual) eye is on the myriad layers of government that failed the citizens of New Orleans. If you wish to help, do something sensible and donate to one of the many charities that are in the thick of the recovery efforts there. Ars' own Hannibal put together a list of links to some of the more reputable ones in this article.
So aside from watching a city destroy itself, the past few days have been very hectic for us. Over the weekend, we hosted our Summer 2005 LAN party. Things were hectic and we had some scheduling difficulties, but I think everyone ultimately had a good time. Running a LAN is a largely thankless job, but it's worth it. There are a few pictures from beforehand in my Coppermine gallery. We had some pictures from during the party, but the SM card in Jessi's camera mysteriously got blanked before we could upload them. It's time for a new memory card methinks, if not a new camera.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about work today, either. Comrade Mitch hasn't done anything to earn my ire since my last post, so there's no point in griping about it all over again. To summarize: things are still rocky, I'm still shopping for a new job.
Last night, Jess and I stopped by the BW3's in Fishers to visit with a few Arsians. In addition to some of the regular Indiana crew, wynk and her husband DiePilot came up from Texas (well, they were here already to visit family) and eJacqui and Clint came over from Cincinnati. It was a lot of fun, and it was good to meet a couple of people that I hadn't met before. I had a few ice cold Newcastles and some chicken tenders. Fun stuff.
Speaking of fun stuff, I want to encourage everyone who is able to catch at least one episode of HBO's latest masterpiece, Rome. Even if you don't normally enjoy historical epics, this show deserves at least one look. Its reasonably accurate portrayal of Roman politics and the culture of that ancient pre-Christian society is rather amazing. The production quality is up to HBO's typically awesome standards.
What else is going on? Not a lot, really. I'm at work this morning, recovering from a weekend containing far less sleep and far more caffeine than I am accustomed to these days. It'll probably be a couple of days before my body adjusts back to its regular schedule.
-Sam
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