Bit of Ivory

So. Fiddled with the template all day. I think it’s finally working the way I want it to. I went in and adapted the default template and style sheet. I had to add a third column, change the colors, add the banner to the top (which I made all by myself in Photoshop using a letter of Jane Austen’s), create template modules so that I could include my sidebars in the archive templates, re-add in all my links to websites and other blogs (I haven’t added my writings back in yet, but I might soon), and various other things. I still haven’t figured out how to set a default font for the sidebars (CSS is still somewhat of a mystery to me), so I had to use a workaround for now. I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out, though. I even made sure that the container for the blog itself was about 800 pixels wide, so that anyone who still has an 800×600 monitor (poor souls) can view it without having to scroll. I didn’t make the design fluid rather than fixed, though. Maybe another day. This was complicated enough.

Especially considering how few people read it these days.

Long-term plans for Bit of Ivory include making it more of a homepage than a simple blog– a photo gallery, a writing portfolio, etc. It would give it much more of a reason for existence. But that will have to wait.

Am a bit miffed that my trackback entries to The Leaky Cauldron keep getting refused for “questionable content.” Hmph. Like *I* would post questionable content. Melissa, anyway you can add me to a whitelist or something?

You will notice that I now require a name and e-mail address for commenters, and that if you have a Typekey identity, you can log in with it now. Non-Typekey comments will be moderated. Part of the upgrade to MT 3.15 is these comment features, and I mean to take advantage of them. I haven’t gotten any spam since the server move, but I doubt that will last forever, so I must do what I can to protect myself. I hate coming online and finding 300 e-mails linking me to Viagra sites or whatever. I know it’s a pain for you commenters, but I figure that people who didn’t comment when it was *easy* won’t miss the convenience.

In other news, I went to the dentist today. No cavities (thank goodness), but I have to have a root canal next week. It probably could have been put off for longer, but my dental insurance runs out when I turn 25 in June, so I need to get it done sooner rather than later. Not looking forward to it particularly, but on the other hand, I’ve had so many dental procedures that I’m not particularly dreading it either. After having your gums cut, 5 teeth ground down to little stumps, and two sets of bridges/crowns, a little root canal is cake. My teeth hurt at the moment, though. I hate it when they use that ultrasonic thing.

We’ve been having gorgeous weather around here lately. It was 64 degrees today, the hottest day of the year so far, and I drove with my windows down most of the day (not on the freeway, though. That would be stupid). I love spring: the warm weather, the flowers, the blossoming trees, the allergies. . . oh. Wait. I don’t like the allergies. It’s not fair that they’ve already hit me. And the Zyrtec that worked great in the fall is doing absolutely NOTHING for me this year. *sigh* I’m willing to put up with allergies, though, for the pleasure of spring.