A re-design of LauraCatoe.com was long overdue. I had planned on (finally) learning Flash this year and using that, but my Flash plans have been postponed.
I use Yahoo webhosting and considered using their support of Movable Type or Wordpress to get my Blogger blog on my own domain, but all over the ‘net were rants that made me decide against it.
After much Googling, I found Mike-Downey.com, a fellow Blogger-blogger/Yahoo webhostee. He helped me figure out how to get my blog onto my own domain.
Eric sent me a link to Kuler and when I saw the Cherry Cheesecake theme, I knew I wanted it for my new color scheme.
The dots come from a vector freebie at GoMedia (found via a link on Dooce).
The font is Bauhaus, which was still on the brain from the Tunes for Tots flyer.
The template is a (modified) version of K2 from Gecko & Fly.
Phydeaux3 helped me understand conditional tags and offers a nifty Random Post widget.
I added all my old archives from when I began blogging and then added a search bar (thanks to bizwhiz’s Tips for New Bloggers), so now if I ever wonder how often I blog about, say, vampires, I can easily check.
Other changes:
I created a blog to host my portfolio, making it easy to view my creations by category, like logos or album art.
I will no longer be creating a desktop of the month. The current galleries will remain open.
Happy Halloween. My grandmother (GJ) is 93 years old today.
I found these scans of some projects I did in Mr. Shaw’s Printmaking classes at JSU. Once upon a time, these files were on my old (now defunct) website, along with the titles, mediums and sizes. Most of that stuff I don’t remember and I’m not going upstairs and pulling the originals out from under the bed to find out.
Here’s what I know. These are from Printmaking I (Intaglio):
The Shaw man mandated four designs (one landscape/nature, one portrait/human form, one abstract and maybe a still life?) per semester and at least five prints in the run.
Printmaking II (Woodcut) I took during a summer term, so it was only three designs instead of four, but one had to be like an 11×14 or larger.
Check out how young Liz looks! In the photo I was working from, she was 16, I think. In fact, the title might have been “Liz at 16.” The big one is something like “Contemplate the Faerie Wood,” and yes I think it was that long and silly on purpose.
Printmaking III (Collograph)
For my collographs, I think the plates themselves were more interesting. I need to take a picture of those sometime.
Of all my art classes, Mr. Shaw’s Printmaking classes felt the most like my mom’s art classes. I felt the way about the printmaking room the way I did about the art room at SHS… a sense of home and collaboration and freedom of expression.
Jaimie and I took the first three printmaking classes together and then I graduated. She went on to take Printmaking IV (Screenprinting) and do an Independent Study (Lithograph).
At Jaimie���s twenty-ten birthday shindig, we were discussing my desire to take Ben���s picture with a pumpkin and I admitted that I was not above asking a stranger if I could use the display in their yard. There���s a house on Haralson that we walk past and the set up is amazing. Flowers, gourds, pumpkins, a bale of hay��� it looks like something out of Southern Living.
���I know the house you���re talking about!��� Kelly Fish said. (She���s a downtown walker, too.)
Nature attempted to thwart me. Last week, it was raining and dreary. The weekend came, beautiful and warm, and he was sick. But yesterday, Ben felt better and the skies were clear. We grabbed the camera, our mini-pumpkin and headed to Haralson.
I rang the doorbell at the Glorious Yard Display, but nobody was home. So we plopped the little man down in their yard, handed him his pumpkin and snapped away. As we were finishing up, who came walking by but Miss Kelly Fish? I roped her into the act and we got a family pic.
I know I am blessed in life���s big things, but sometimes it���s the little moments that bring so much joy.
From June 2006 to October 2007, I used a site design on lauracatoe.com that I referred to (in my mind) as either “squares” or “jungle.” This design stayed up longer than any other so far not because it was the favorite, but because it covered the time when I was pregnant up to my son being 7 months old.
It is one of two site designs (the other was for a college project for JSU) that I used javascript, and I was so proud of myself (the other time I had my then-boyfriend create the code for me).
So when you went to the home page, you saw:
But if you could’ve moused over all the letters at once you would have seen:
I archived a copy of the design here, if you want to see it “in action.”
P.S. Retiring simultaneously, the “fishbowl” design of the blog.
My pics from the 3rd Annual Zombie Parade
Ben is getting better (his fever is gone), but he still won’t be going back to daycare today cause his bum ain’t back to normal yet.
Kris and I both got totally yakked on over the weekend. The first time was the worst, cause Ben had never thrown up before and I think it kind of scared all three of us. And it came out of his nose. Vomit nose is gross for grown-ups, so it must really suck when you’re 7 months old.
Today was the first time I had to go pick Ben up at daycare because he was sick. I am thankful that it took so long (he’s been in daycare for over three and a half months) and that he’s not very sick. A mild stomach bug. One of the boys in his nursery has been out since Monday with it. Poor thing. Ben is fussy and feverish and that’s about it.
I am also very thankful that my editors allow me to work from home when the need arises.
Our baby book is on the traditional side, so it doesn’t have a page for the first time your baby’s poop overflows out of his diaper and onto you. If it did, I would write down October 24, around 7:30pm. He was playing happily, but I thought he felt cold, so I scooped him up to go put his pajamas on and was like “hmm, I smell something.” I looked down and saw it coming out of the diaper and it was on me and I was all “Kris! Help!”
He’d had some soup at daycare and we thought it just didn’t sit well on his stomach. But today he woke up from his first nap around 10am shivering, so they checked him for a fever. It was around 100; I called the pediatrician and they said bring him by. He’s alert and not showing any signs of dehydration, so the doc said it’d probably be over quick but you can’t really do anything for it. Just avoid juice and sugar and be sure to wash our hands cause we could catch it.
Ben, thanks for not getting sick before now. And for not being too sick. If you’d gotten sick when you were really tiny, I woulda had to go all Juanita on you or something.
Poster by Leslie
The 3rd Annual Zombie Parade is this weekend. As I looked through some pics of last year���s event, I wondered if Scottie would be in town for this one. Then I visited the Moxie yesterday and who was there but the man himself. Les said he made a special trip to be the Grand Marshal.
Nicole asked if we���d be bringing Ben, and I said I hoped not. I���ve asked Dad if they can keep him, and if they can���t, we���ll ask Kris��� parents and if they can���t, Ben will be in tow. He���s not old enough to enjoy the romp himself, and where Ben is, I am in mom-mode. Plus, I don���t know if weird makeup on his parentals would weird him out.
Last year, I used an old bridesmaid dress for my ���festive attire.��� This year will be an old prom dress. I go easy on the fake blood. I am all about crazy hair and outfits and crying ���brains!��� all along Broad Street, but covering myself and clothes in fake blood��� I���d just rather go zombie-lite.
* * *
Ben turned seven months old yesterday. We measured him at 28.5 inches long and 19.5 pounds. According to the growth chart, he���s holding steady at the 90th percentile for length and between the 50-75% for weight.
On non-doctor visit months, I weigh him by getting on GJ���s fancy scales holding him and then by myself. I, too, hit a milestone yesterday. My weight was back to pre-pregnancy digits. Some moms have asked what I did to lose the weight and though I breast-fed for a while and exercised for a while and watch what I eat, I think that the best answer is genetic luck of the draw.
GJ is so not getting a scarf for her birthday. I have a week until she turns 93 and the scarf wouldn’t even pass for a pot holder yet. I timed it and it takes me about 5 minutes to complete a row. A scarf has a lot of rows, capiche?
My big plan was to make GJ an emerald scarf (cause she likes emeralds) and Mama Juanita a sapphire (her birthstone) scarf for her birthday. Maybe for Christmas instead.
Of course, for Christmas they were going to get framed pics of the Benster. They can have those for birthdays.
While I was knitting 2 rows (10 minutes of Ben naptime, gone!) this evening, I wondered what sort of scarf I would have made for mom. Amethyst, I bet.
See a few more photos on Flickr
I can’t believe you’re 30, Jaimie. May I join you in the “twenty-ten” section in April?
Ben’s stash of fruit and veggie cubes is once again well stocked. Sweet potato, avocado, mango, spaghetti squash, zucchini, bananas, broccoli, plums and carrots.
Kris forgot to tell me that Zach had asked both of us to play on his worship team Sunday morning. As I was getting my guitar out of its case, I realized it has been over a year since I was on a worship team. So, out of practice, but I had a good time.
