It's Not Winter Any More!

So I FINALLY got around to updating the overall look of my blog. For the last (At least) 6 months I've had a winter theme going on, and I've been meaning to change that, but with school and all, it just wasn't one of my top priorities. I finally updated the look, and I chose a much more green look to go with the current season.

Now that school is out, I'm hoping to be able to put a little more effort into my blog. I have posts planned about all the different projects I did in school last semester. I took pictures of most projects that  I did, and a great deal of my projects were graphic design projects, so I will share most of the files for those. Some were just generic assignments, so they really aren't worth looking at.

I should have a post up tomorrow, I first need to go through my files and organize them. I wasn't very organized at the beginning of the semester. I had just gotten my Mac, and was still getting used to it, so most of my files are just scattered all over.

Well, that's all for now, I'm off to do some digital clean-up, and then I need to do some actual clean-up. My desk and room got pretty messy over the last semester...

Facebook Friends #1

As you may notice I have completely updated the look of my blog again to reflect the change of season. I also wanted to change the font. I discovered the Calibri font when I did my first facebook friends post and I decided to make a permanent change to all of my blog, not just for the facebook friends posts. I really like it a lot better than Ariel. But you may not have even noticed. Here’s a comparison so you can see what I mean.

Old text. Blugh. Boring.
New text! Not Boring!

Now, to the main reason for today’s post…
After I wrote the first Facebook Friends post, I still had more ideas for things I could have done, and a few days later I looked at my stats page, and I had about 3 times as many hits on that post as I normally get on the average post. Plus, certain people, (You know who you are ;) ) loved it so much they apparently kept quoting it long after they read it and wanted more. So, I have decided to continue writing them, and I will probably make this a semi-regular series and post new ones as I come up with them.
Now, to all those who have been patiently waiting, I’m sorry if this seems like a cop out… This is not quite the next installment of the Facebook Friends series. Not yet anyway. I am reposting the first “Day on Facebook” post with a few updates. Read on for the reasons.
Unfortunately, after I wrote quite a bit of the next post, something happened and it was erased, so I had to start over again on quite a bit of it. I am about done with it (Again) but until I finish, I decided to republish the first one, because I am making a few changes to the series. Mainly names. The most insignificant is changing the spelling of Franky to Frankie, mainly because spell check keeps telling me it’s wrong and that annoys me. :p
There are also three other characters who get complete name changes as well. The reason for these are as follows:
Supportive Illiterate. I never liked that I named her Supportive. I only named her that because I wanted the reader to know that her main function was to be supportive, but it really doesn’t work as a name. Plus after I posted it I started thinking of other ways I could use the character. Naming her Supportive kind of limits her uses. So I decided to just scrap it and name her Izzy. Izzy Illiterate. I think it really rolls off the tongue better anyway. :)
Literate Quoter was another one that I just didn’t like the name. Mainly the last name. Quoter sounds dumb to me, but I wasn’t giving names too much thought as I wrote out the first post. I just typed out the first thing that popped into my head. I wanted a name that meant he was a well read person who quoted things. So he was Literate Quoter. So to fix this, he has now become Lorenzo Literate. This means I can use him for more than just quotes as well. I see him as a rather snobby character, and I want to have more options later on.
The name Diggin’ 4 Dirt really started bugging me after I published the post. Mainly because I had her middle name as a numeral, but also, I just didn’t like Diggin’ as a first name. And it sounded like a chat room handle. If this was a chat room spoof it would be a perfect name, but this is facebook, and I wanted something that sounded just a little bit more real. After agonizing over a good name for a very long time, I finally decided to completely change it. Her name is now Nellie Nosey.
After I decided on these name changes, I noticed something that each of them has in common. I guess I am quite partial to alliterations. :)
In addition to these name changes, I am also adding a few new characters. There will be more new characters introduced in the next installment, but for now to make this just a little more fresh for those who may have already read it, I decided to write new posts for 3 of the new characters, and add to the old post making an even twenty status updates, which I think will be about my standard length from now on.
Aside from these changes, I also changed the shade of blue I was using for the font, got rid of the facebook bar, updated my little “Thumbs up” icon, Created a jpeg for the CENSORED bar, and made my own logo! That all took quite a bit of work!
I had originally just taken the little thumb’s up icon from facebook and made it a little bigger, but I decided I didn’t like the way it looked and I took it into Photoshop and shrunk it down and darkened the blue just a bit. I also added in space on both sides to save me a ton of time formatting each and every single one in the post. This is so much faster. But it’s probably not something anyone would have even noticed… :p Same with the CENSORED bars. Originally I typed them all out, highlighted them black and changed the text white. Now they are a little picture. Much simpler.
I also decided not to use the top bar from facebook anymore. I wanted to design my own logo to use, so I made my own in Photoshop. I wanted it to look similar to a lot of other Facebook icons, just bigger. I painted it myself and I think it turned out really well! I will use from now on for this series. Check it out below!
So, if you are interested, here again is the first installment of “Facebook Friends” with the changes, and a few new characters sprinkled throughout. :)



Joyful Exclamations
Unicorns & Lollipops!
Lurking Liker Likes This


Whiney McDramaPants
The Werld is SO mean! I H8 Evry1!

Izzy Illiterate I LUv U Never 4gt that! UR speshul no matter wut ani1 sez!

Nellie Nosey What’s up? Details? Txt me!

Rainbow Sunshine
Isn’t God wonderful?!
Lurking Liker Likes This

Joyful Exclamations YES! So amazing! And He made bluebirds! I love bluebirds! :D

Rainbow Sunshine I love them too, Joyful! They’re such precious creatures!

Mitch Morebuff
Whoo! I just lifted like 50 hundred weights! And then I ran 70 miles!!! I rock!
Biff Bulkup Likes This


Vaguely McDramaPants
Why can’t these people just grow up and get out of my life?! They never have anything nice to say!

Izzy Illiterate U rock! Dont let nyone tell u difrent If they doo their a !

Nellie Nosey What’s goin on? Text me!

Vaguely McDramaPants Thanks, Izzy! You rock too! <3

Whiney McDramaPants I know just what you meen Sis!

Joy Lyrical
“Love! Happiness! Sing Hallelujah!” – FamousSinger
Rainbow Sunshine and Joyful Exclamations Like This


Gloom Lyrical
“Sorrow, Melancholy, Despair, Bitterness” – FamousGothBand
Whiney McDramaPants Likes This


Grammie Happy
Grandbaby 2 made an oopsie on the carpet! I love her so much!
Lurking Liker Likes This

Rainbow Sunshine Grandbabies are such a blessing from God, aren’t they, Grammie?

Grammie Happy They sure are, Rainbow!

Joyful Exclamations I love babies!!!

Angry McToiletMouth
You can & !!!!! Stupid !!!!!
Whiney McDramaPants Likes This

Izzy Illiterate Ya! U Tel then! Ur awesum! Don’t let the h8ters gt u down!

Joyful Exclamations
I LOVE GUMMY BEARS!
You Like This


T. M. Info
Woah! I tottally ate too much beans and now I have serious gas! LoLz!!!
Izzy Illiterate and Lurking Liker Like This

Izzy Illiterate Ur so funy TM! Luv U!

R. W. Republicrazy
DIE DUMBOCRATS! NOBAMA NOMORE!
G. O. Pachyderm Likes This

Lefty T. Parrot YOU RACSIT !!!!

Katie Catlover
I just woke up with 17 cats all over my body. If that isn’t the definition of love I don’t know what is.
Lurking Liker Likes This

Rainbow Sunshine Awe! How precious, Katie! I love cats too! I’m not sure I’d want that many in the house though! :)

Katie Catlover It’s great! Always someone to cuddle with! Who needs a boyfriend when you’ve got cats!

Mamma Frazzled
ACK! Kid #1 Just ate a bug while Kid #2 ate a scoop of sand! I can’t turn my back for a second!
Lurking Liker Likes This

Joyful Exclamations Your kids are so funny!!! I love them!!!
Lurking Liker Likes This

Lorenzo Literate
“To read, is to become much smarter than you.” – FamousDeadGuy
Lurking Liker and Gloom Lyrical Like This


Fanny LuvSports
WE’RE #1!!! YAY SPORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frankie Sportsfreak Likes This

 
Frankie Sportsfreak
GO FOOTBALL!!!!
Fanny LuvSports Likes This

 
Rabid Liberal
Gobama! WOO!!!!!!! U never do anything rong!
Lefty T. Parrot Likes This

Lefty T. Parrot You are so right! Those Tea s !!!

Indie Pendant Well, I think Obama has made a serious error in judgment here, but it can’t be easy doing his job.

Lefty T. Parrot Who asked you, you Right-wing ?!?!

Indie Pendant I am no Republican! Why can’t we all just get along?

R. W. Republicrazy OBAMA NEEDS TO GET KICKED BY AN OSTRICH IN THE FACE!!!! LOL!!!!

Rabid Liberal Stop posting this garbage on my page!

R. W. Republicrazy HE HAS MONKEY EARS!!!!! :D

Rabid Liberal !!!!!!!!!
Angry McToiletMouth Likes This

Ima Bean
Gnarkums! Jurmple! EPOXIKALITROIKUMS!
Lurking Liker Likes This

Lorenzo Literate I’m pretty sure this is just a random string of gibberish.

Ima Bean Glurp. Helveshique!

Lorenzo Literate Yes. Yes it is.

Ima Bean FLOOPADOOP!

Lorenzo Literate Ok. I’m leaving now.

Ima Bean GLARB! >:D

  
Joyful Exclamations
I LOVE LIFE!!!!! :D
You, Rainbow Sunshine, Grammie Happy, and 37 Others Like This

Another Close Call

Last night I had another close call with neglected school work. I had not been paying very close attention to my online classes and I almost missed the deadline for an assignment in Geography class. Our teacher gave us a list of various cities from all all over the world and we were to look them all up in an atlas or on a globe. This was almost a very big problem, as I have no idea where our atlas is. As you probably know, our house was flooded last year, and pretty much everything in the basement was ruined or moved before it could get ruined. The atlas was on a shelf, so I’m sure it is fine, I just have no idea where it is. Joel didn’t either, but he borrowed one from our grandma, so we could do the assignment. If she hadn’t had one we’d have been in trouble.

The atlas was one from 1962, which worked out fine except for question 11 which asked for the location of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City was not in the Atlas. When this particular atlas was published Ho Chi Minh City was called Cochin China, Thank goodness for Wikipedia. :) After I found this out, I easily found Cochin China. In case you’re wondering, it’s at 10°N 106°E. :) I submitted the assignment with minutes to spare before it would have been considered late. This is another example of why I needed to cut down on time-wasting things. If I’d have been paying more attention to due dates, I would have gotten the assignment done a long time ago. Procrastination never pays.

True to my word, I unsubscribed from a whole bunch of YouTube channels, and I deleted Northern Imagination. I did however, save a bunch of posts from the archive and I integrated them into this blog. They are mainly writing posts. I’ll link to a few of them here if you want to read any of them. Most of them are pretty funny.

This was my most recent post on my other blog. CLICK HERE. We had eggplant twice last week and it got me to thinking, why is it called an eggplant? It got me into one of my random humor moods, and I wrote a brief rant about how silly the name was, then I researched it and wrote what I found.

This was another example of my very random sense of humor. CLICK HERE. My random sense of humor is very easily fueled by randomness from outside sources. :)

This post started out as a comment on my cousin Shaina’s blog. CLICK HERE. She posted about coffee shops and how they were one of her favorite haunts. Of course this brought to my mind a very different kind of haunting, and I posted a comment in character as a ghost. I turned that comment into a whole blog post in itself. :)

This was a post about a terrifying sight at the Wellness Center one morning. CLICK HERE. Yes, this is hyperbole. :p

One post I did earlier this year was about a weird quiz on a cereal box. CLICK HERE. A while after I wrote it, I posted this follow up. CLICK HERE.

This post I wrote on my birthday. CLICK HERE.

All my old posts kept their original publishing dates and even their comments, so they blend into this blog quite well. This wasn’t all of them, so If you’re feeling adventurous you can find more of them. They’ll be in the post archives, between today and May.

As you can see I changed the background and color scheme of this blog. Since Fall is almost here, I thought it would be a good idea to have my blog match the season. I also redesigned my photo-blog again, and I have posted a 9/11 tribute picture there, as today is the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. You can find it by clicking HERE.

That picture did not always look as it does now. Joel and I have finally begun learning the basics of Photoshop in our digital photography class, and thanks to Thursday’s lesson I was able to turn this:



Into this:



I LOVE Photoshop!

Complete Overhaul!

I have finished working on my blogs and I have completely overhauled all three! I think they look so much better now than they did before! I also added a little of my “Random” Humor in some not so obvious places, so look around, explore, and let me know what you think! I’ve added new posts to both Northern Imagination and J. North Photography, so go check out those posts, and look at the new designs at the same time!

A Completely New Look!

I was not completely satisfied with the new background I picked out so I went back to the template designer on blogger and I started playing around with it. I found a whole bunch of new things I had never tried before, and I decided to completely update my theme. I’ve decided that I really like the natural feel of this template, and I am going to be able to easily change the look to suit my mood. There are tons of different natural backgrounds and the color schemes all change automatically to match the chosen background. But I can even change that if I want something else. I really like the way this works, and I am now going to go make some changes to my other blogs as well.

Happy Monday!

Yes, This was a random video. I haven’t posted anything random in quite awhile, despite that being the “Theme” of my blog, but I felt it necessary because this post is my

200th post!

This blog has come a long way since I first started it over a year ago. Back then I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, I just knew I wanted to have a blog so I started it, hoping that inspiration would strike. Not long after, I started back to school studying art and photography, and I haven’t been without post ideas since! The Fall semester starts in exactly one week, so I’ll have plenty more things to share in the coming months!

I’m also trying to find a new look for my blog. I like the Tie Dye, but I think I’ve had it long enough, and my 200th postiversary seems like a good enough occasion to find a new look, so I’m trying this out. Let me know what you think!

Here’s to the next two hundred posts!

New Background

I’ve been wanting a change to my blog, and I’ve decided to clean it up a little by narrowing down the background to just one image.

For now it’s going to be my giraffe sketch, but I may try something else later.

EDIT: It's later. :p I added a mirror image to the other side of the page. Hopefully this looks good in all browsers. I'm having some minor issues with the template designer.

New Background!

After fiddling around in Microsoft Paint, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop all afternoon, I have finally made myself a halfway descent background. This is what it looks like before it gets tiled across the page.

It isn’t perfect, but I am pretty happy with it. Let me know what you think!