August 30, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
6:03 PM (Pacific)
It occurred to me that, since I'm starting to look around for a job...maybe I should finish the Code Guide?
The only thing I needed to finish was the applets section; infuriatingly, I had to pitch several applets because they do not work on IE 6.x. Sure, they still run on Netscape 4.x but who uses that anymore? Even I don't.
What's consistent in what I had to dump is either file I/O or using Javascript to access the applet's public variables. So I will guess that those applet operations have either been phased out or else made so difficult, on the part of the applet designer or on the part of the user, that they might as well have been.
Here's what's on the dump list:
* Printer-friendly version applet--this read in an HTML page and handed the text, sans HTML tags, to Javascript, which popped open a window with the plain text on it.
* Likewise, BlogPrinter--same concept but split into individual blogger entries, which you could add to, or delete from, your printer-friendly page.
* Links Checker--the link-checking function worked only offline anyway, but I had a "tree" function on there which extracted the links from all HTML pages in the site and displayed them in a tree structure.
* Search Applet--this was a site search engine.
Even the Marilyn Monroe applet on the Auto Maxx site does not quite work anymore. You can still see the scrolling images and pause/restart it, but since you cannot access the applet's public variable, you can't get the Javascript to pop open the detail page anymore.
I'm trying to be slightly philosophical about this, since most of these applets were developed simply before I had CGI access. Still it is aggravating. It is simply a Microsoft hysteria regarding security privileges for applets written by the common man. No way in hell could the old applets access files on your computer much less do anything meaningful to them one way or another. Now you're spitting blood even to get the applet to read files on its own server?
August 28, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
12:45 AM (Pacific)
lol...I'm going to take a pic of me wearing a pink top and jeans...I just have to.
I don't own a pink tank top (and I'm too lazy to bother dressing the virtual model in something else) but I do have a hot pink tee shirt. It'll do.
August 27, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
5:28 PM (Pacific)
The gates of summer are slowly closing. The last of the pears sit outside in the yard...I can taste them from here. It's hot today. Actually hot, though not humid. I'm thinking about making some iced tea.
My daughter is...wonderful. I know I don't write about my kids much. I'd love to. I'm paranoid about writing about my kids on the Net, I never put pics of them up...and I'm superstitious on top of it all. I always feel that I'm treading lightly in life, throughout my life. I don't believe in God as something from a book, something that someone else tells you to believe...because once someone else tells you to just believe anything, they've already got their hand half-way into your wallet. I know God is there. shrugs Human beings could not create the pear trees.
I have one more review to put up... I miss my digicam. It's odd; it's like a microwave oven. Once you have one, you take it for granted. I was heating up a cooked omelette today in the microwave and it crossed my mind, how long it would take heating it in the oven. And since I have not had the digicam, there have been a thousand pictures that went by unsnapped.
I'm so sleepy all the time. I'm constantly thinking of coffee. I should make coffee, not iced tea. There, that's decided.
I still can't believe I look like that freakin' virtual model! Maybe I should get those pants? rotflmao
Okee dokee...I'll put up my "how to remove enormous amounts of honey from the floor" Household Hint. :D
I have to put up some book reviews Raphaelle wrote and we also have some promotional materials for another book, so I can update our Feature page.
I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. I know what you mean about drama...I'm generally a non-dramatic person. I feel there is a job to be done...you can always find some work to distract you from the way life can be. Because life is not going to change. It's always like that, up and down. And it's way too short and precious.
August 25, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
8:34 PM (Pacific)
lol...I was just going to put in the Home Hints Blog, how you can use a dough scraper to scrape up enormous amounts of honey off a hardwood floor. You have to be a little careful not to damage the floor, but it's the only way to get that much honey up. *g*
But what kind of insane Home Hint would that be?
That's a separate incident from the maple syrup, of course. I'm not gonna relive the black marker incident...shudders
I hope I didn't sound antagonistic about people who have never raised kids. Most of them are very nice. It's just those few odd judgmental people who stick in your craw. I mean, hello? Weren't you a baby once? Didn't you cry? Babies cry, that's what they do. They're noisy little creatures. It bugs me if I see someone neglecting their kid and the kid is screaming...but when the parent is honestly trying to quiet the baby down...I feel they're doing their best.
Then they get to be in the little-kid stage...running all over the place. You can control them, but not completely, not always, it is not always possible. Your chief concern is keeping them alive. Yes--I myself loathe it when I see parents letting their kids destroy some store and they don't say anything. But then I've seen the other side. I have been treated like crap in some stores when my kids were younger. What are you going to do? Summon up the shopping fairy to do your shopping for you?
*g* Oh, raising kids never involves saintliness, so I'd hardly think homeschooling 'em could be any more saintly. :D
It's only on TV, and in the minds of some people who have never raised kids, that everything is always clean and neat and shiny and quiet. The kids always do what you tell them to do. They always wake up in the morning and dress themselves and brush their perfect teeth. rotfl
They never get hold of the big Costco-size maple syrup container and pour it all over the floor (part hardwood, part tile) right before daddy is supposed to come home at the end of a long, hard workday. No, they never do that.
The little kids never have bathroom accidents and no one ever cries...oh well they do cry, but it's quiet tears, not screaming bawling tears in a public place.
:D I've never regretted having kids, but I got over that Brady Bunch mentality preeeeeetty quickly.
Nope, I didn't take the followup quiz: Which Nigerian Spammer Are You?
August 18, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
10:57 PM (Pacific)
Oooooooh--I love the women's gymnastics. The men are stronger, but the women are where my heart is, because they are both strong and artistic.
Of course I'm for team U.S.A. I also like the Chinese women's team. It's a matter of style to me. The Romanian team are perfect and classical, but the Chinese and Americans are more creative and innovative. I like to see that for China particularly because China has the reputation for bloodlessly copying everything.
Hmmm...oh yeah, and I finally went to the top of Coit Tower. I've lived out here almost 20 years and never been to the top of that dang tower. It's nice actually. Well worth the trip.
Summer is ending. In California, that's sad, because our summers are not as gruesome as, say, they are in the South. It can get very hot in CA but it's dry heat.
The pears are almost finished...some remain on the tree but the bulk are gone. Those are the most delicious pears. I mean they're only Bartlett pears, but because you stroll out into the yard and pick the pear and eat it while it's still warm from the sun...when it has ripened completely on the tree...the pear is incomparable, it is lofty. "You could eat it with tea," because it's like sugar.
And the lilies finally kicked in this year. I think I have graduated from having a black thumb, to one that is reasonably green.
Next year we'll have our tulips and crocus planted. We have 50 Pink Impression tulips, 50 Hollandia (red) and Carnaval (creamy-yellow with red streaks), 50 mixed tulips in shades of pink, orange and red. And 50 lavender crocus and 50 yellow crocus.
These were all selected by the kids of course. We'll see what ends up coming up. It sounds like a massive amount of bulbs but it really isn't, if you think of how little space ten tulips take up.
I need to transplant a couple container trees...the lemon is doing well but the orange stopped growing a while back and I saw ants hanging around it. I'd like to make sure the ants haven't attacked the roots of the tree.
August 9, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
11:45 AM (Pacific)
Ooooh...this is fun...
I don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation
You’re living in the past it’s a new generation
A girl can do what she wants to do and that’s
What I’m gonna do
And I don’t give a damn ’ bout my bad reputation
Oh no not me
I don’t give a damn ’bout my reputation
Never said I wanted to improve my station
And I’m only doin’ good
When I’m havin’ fun
And I don’t have to please no one
And I don’t give a damn ’bout my bad reputation
Oh no, not me
...
Spread the news the Maestros back
With a beat-box soundtrack
King of brains - Queen of the sack
Executives have heart attack
It`s assault course celluloid
The money makers would avoid
Sometimes notions get reversed
Centre of the universe
...
(Here I'm doing the best I can; I don't actually remember the exact lyrics)
Punk rockers in the UK
They won't notice anyway
They're all too busy fighting
For a good place under the lighting
The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny
Turning rebellion into money
All over people changing their votes
Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler flew in today
They'd send a limousine anyway
I'm the all night drug-prowling wolf
Who looks so sick in the sun
I'm the white man in the palais
I'm only looking for fun
...
It's in the order of their hedgerows
it's in the way their curtains open and close
it's in the look they give you down their nose
all part of decency's jigsaw I suppose
Radio used to be addictive. It isn't anymore; the Internet is.
I can admit I miss the radio days. This was all before music videos. I mean there were videos; there was no MTV. Only Don Kirschner.
Let us briefly revisit that time, long ago. If you recognize any of these lyrics, then buddy, yer too old. lol
Should you awake dear from your beauty sleep
To find your room swimming in blue and green
Should you awake to feel like you’d never slept
And feel so very old well don’t you feel alone
I`m kind of blue blue for you again
I guess i`m a fool at least i`m not innocent
But what to do
whatever I touch turns blue
...
Welcome to the human race,
With its wars, disease and brutality
You with your innocence and grace
Restore some pride and dignity to a world in decline
Welcome to a special place
In a heart of stone that's cold and grey
You with your angel face
Keep your despair at bay, and send it away
Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
Cos I've heard so much about it
I don't want to live without it
...
take me now baby here as I am
pull me close, try and understand
desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
love is a banquet on which we feed
come on now try and understand
the way I feel when I'm in your hands
take my hand come undercover
they can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now
because the night belongs to lovers
because the night belongs to lust
because the night belongs to lovers
because the night belongs to us
...
I and Bragger and Junior Lee
Well that's the way we always thought it would be
In the Winston lips of September, how we met
Decked out like aces, we'd beat anybody's bet
Cos we was Coolsville
Well you stick it here, you stick it over there
But it never fits
And the hungry night wants more and more
And you're chippying your little kiss
Well, I jumped all his jokers, but he trumped all my tricks
And I swear to God I thought this one was smart enough to stick it into Coolsville.....
...
I'm googling all this stuff, half of it is wrong. Who transcribes this stuff? Well I've fixed it to the best of my memory. How did "the Winston lips of September" become "the wind-strewn leaves of September"? It was Winston, dagnabbit. I know it. I saw her perform on Saturday Night Live and that's why I bought the album to begin with.
And you should've left the light on
You should've left the light on
Then I wouldn't have tried
And you'd never have known
And I wouldn't have pulled you tighter
No I wouldn't have pulled you close
I wouldn't have screamed
No I can't let you go
And the door wasn't closed
No I wouldn't have pulled you to me
No I wouldn't have kissed your face
You wouldn't have begged me to hold you
If we hadn't been there in the first place
Ah but I know you wanted me to be there oh oh
Every look that you threw told me so
But you should've left the light on
You should've left the light on
And the flames burned away
But you're still spitting fire
Make no difference what you say
You're still a liar
You're still a liar
You're still a lawyer
(yes it's really LAWYER, according to the official books !!)
Heh heh...you learn something new every day.
August 7, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
9:41 PM (Pacific)
It is odd how, once you get older, you become conscious of time passing...running through your fingers, like water.
Today everything was golden. It was hard to be in a bad mood. The sky was clear and soft, the weather suddenly hot, almost annoying so, but not quite.
We went to the park. My daughter and son, my mother and I. What can I say? Will they ever be this young again? No. I found a cache of blackberries for the kids to eat. It's funny how you finally understand why the adults in your own childhood, put up with all of your nonsense.
I suppose it is possible to forgive all the idiots who wished you harm. No one who is happy...who could ever be as happy as I was today...would ever wish anyone harm.
August 6, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
6:45 PM (Pacific)
Hmmm...I was looking for a quote from that movie "Finding Forrester" (which, oddly, is a movie that has stuck in my mind)...I couldn't find the one I was looking for, but here are some others:
Forrester: No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!
Forrester: In some cultures it's good luck to be wearing something inside-out.
Jamal: And you believe that?
Forrester: No, but it's like praying: what do you risk?
Of course the famous one:
Forrester: The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time.
I can admit it's pretty cool having IE 6.x, finally.
Partly it's because the entire Net world revolves around IE 6.x. Nobody bothers making anything work across more than one or two versions of IE, apparently.
Partly, yes, I'll say it. It's that familiar Microsoft feeling.
Sure it's ugly...but in a cute kind of way, like the good Microsoft software. It's ugly in an almost endearing way, like a short, ugly, yet friendly and energetic dog. Sure, every time you look at it, you're thinking, "Can this dog get any uglier?" Then it barks and jumps up and down and you feel your heart soften nonetheless.
Oh, so many things make no sense in this IE. Since when were the links in our beauty links page centered? They're all centered. The code is as follows:
Surrounding table, white background, everything inside the table is centered.
Inner table, 90% width, table data is LEFT-ALIGNED.
The letters at the top of each section are centered.
That's it.
How the...did the links get centered?
For a brief moment, I contemplated delving into Microsoft world and trying to figure out why the links were centered in their HTML where they weren't in Netscape's HTML. Then I thought, nah...it actually does not look that bad, centered. It's kind of interesting actually.
I am getting extremely hungry now. :)
I've decided to really blog. I have not blogged regularly since we acquired The Lipstick Page...I would like to blog every day now.
August 5, 2004
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
9:56 AM (Pacific)
Okay...the eternal web compromise...I stopped freaking out over IE interpreting "thin" as thick and set the border to be black, solid and 1 pixel wide. Yeah it does not look as good in IE, but how good can things look in IE anyway?
Holy crap, does Microsoft have no mercy whatsoever...
I just had to download an IE. So, well, I downloaded the IE. Then I thought, let's have a look at thebroadroom site from IE 6.x--how the rest of the world actually sees the site.
My beautiful css table...that looked so beautiful in Netscape...looks like five shades of holy hell in IE 6.x.
That lovely off-centeredness, created by padding-top, padding-left, etc.--does not show at all in IE 6.x.
Worse yet, that lovely pencil-line-thin dotted border, looks like a...ranch-style thick chunky dashed border, like tacky stitching.
pfffff I took out the dashed border and replaced it with, of all things, a thick white border. It craps up the table slightly in Netscape, but at least it's presentable in IE.
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