a (quarter) milestone

This one almost came and went like your odometer rolling over 100,000 miles and you looking at it on mile 100,002. Luckily, almost doesn't count. I caught it just in time. We have avoided a great disaster today my friends.

I've decided to treat this 250th post like a reflection episode of Saved by the Bell. I'll be Zack talking to the camera and when I'm done, things will blur into a look back at some posts of days gone by. (I'm not clever enough to make your computer screen blur between the time you click the links and the page actually loading, so just pretend, and please, click the links, as it will certainly be to your enjoyment... I used to be funnier than I am now).

As many of you know, things here at odfm started way back on May Fool's Day, 2005, with a debut post most have never read and the rest have forgotten. It's mind-blowingly creative title was, "testing..." I was gearing up for my big summer in China, and I planned on using this blog (inspired by one Joshua Langston) to keep the masses updated on how I was doing. Things started off well but really exploded when a post titled "red carpet at the barber shop" boasted double digit comments (thanks to Jon's mom posting the same comment twice). Double digit comments is a feat that has only been achieved 7 other times in odfm history.

Upon arriving back in the States I posted a few posts on reverse culture shock and then I went out on a limb and posted a non-China post entitled "laying out aka lawn mowing." This post was not only significant for trail-blazing a way for odfm to survive in America, it also debuted the first ever total stranger comment by "Immortal Beloved."

At that point in blogging history, you didn't have all the blogs you have today. As I recall it was only Joshua, the Supercinski's, and myself. Of course we weren't the only three bloggers in the world at that time, but in my circle of friends, that was it. In the two years that followed blogging spread like gangrene to the point that everybody and (literally) their non-speaking-much-less-typing babies had blogs.

I've had many posts from that fateful 1 May 2005 to present. The following are some of my personal favorites (in chronological order).

- the bike crash heard round the world
- superhero soirée
- trip results...
- ... down in New Orleans
- Bush, Graham, Osteen and Oliver
- "the sub that hacks"
- first ever contest!
- 75 things that make me smile and/or things I like
- freshman door... an epic
- done and done.
- Reformation Day, 2006
- my ears are still ringing
- undeserved
- perfection
- to all the nay-sayers
- a (quarter) milestone

It's crazy to think about how much stuff has happened since I started this blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed keeping it and you guys are gracious enough to pretend like you enjoy it as well. It's a wonderful blessing to know that most of you readers have been my friends longer than this blog's been alive. I'm sincerely thankful for my readers and I'm at a loss of words when it comes to describing my friends. I'll just go ahead and sum it up with one: love.

Thanks for reading. Here's to 250 more posts...

(note: this entry took longer to create than any other post in odfm history, bar none... in case anyone asks)

RSS how-to revisited

Seen that thing before? Wondered what it meant? Well you're gon' find out.

Ok, I must start by saying I've blogged about this before. The reasons I'm revisiting it are two-fold: One, I'm convinced that there are far more people reading blogs at this point in history than there were when I originally posted about it. Two, Lynsey's recently posted about it and apparently had some issues. So for you technologically savvy readers, please pardon the repetition. It's for the good of the whole. Here we go.

Problem: You waste too much time clicking every single link on the Hendrick's blog (and give them an undue amount of pageloads) to see which blogs have been updated that day.

Solution: RSS feeds. Blogs are set up to where you can check them without actually going to them. You'll save heaps of time.

It's important to know that there are tons of different RSS feeds out there, some of them have more bells and whistles than others, and this post is only going to address two different ways to go about doing things.

Option 1: How do I set up an RSS feed? Click that and it'll take you to the post I put up about a year ago, and it shows you one way to install and use one type of feed. It requires that you browse the web in firefox, which you should be doing already. I happen to know that over 60% of my readers are still using Internet Explorer... come on people. At any rate, if you use firefox or are willing to start using it, this is a very easy and low-profile feed you can use.

Option 2: I don't have firefox, and I don't want it, you say? Well let's agree to disagree and then talk about Google Reader. To use Google Reader you have to have an account with Google. Again, this is something that you should already have as an Internet user in the year 2007. If you don't have one, it's super easy to set up (you can do it from the link given above). If you don't want to set one up, go back to option 1. Ok, if you have a Google account, go ahead and click here to see a video explaining Google Reader to you. I could do it myself, but it's already been done, so no need. It's super easy.

So there's a little recap on RSS feeds. If you don't like either of those options, there is still (tons of) hope! Just google "rss how-to" or something of that nature to see other possibilities. If you have any questions or are having issues making either of my two options work, let me know. I like helping people. I'll leave you with a suggestion of how to spend your newfound free time: bake me some cookies (I like them crispy).

under construction 2nd mvt.

I've been churning out the posts more rapidly than normal this week (see i-dub and jiffy news) which made me hesitant to post this disclaimer submission, but I think it necessary.

As I really hope you're able to tell, I've done some more work on the aesthetics of odfm. I called it that on a previous post... that means online diary for the masses... in case you weren't sure. Anyway, I think I've been able to fix most of the problems I've been running across over the past few hours. Still, I'm having trouble with the background (or the stuff on either side of what you're currently reading). If it looks like the picture above, we're sitting pretty. If it's white... then we've still got problems... and I fear that's the case.

I think my problem (here I'm looking for confirmation) is that I'm using jpeg's instead of gif's. The reason being, I can't find a site to host my gif's. The links I'm replacing with my cool canvas pieces were gif's. So... yeah, thoughts? Anyone know of a place I could keep my gif's in order to use them here? I think you do know. Go ahead. Fess up.

under construction

A series of events have occurred lately (Andrew's improved blog, a growing personal dissatisfaction with mine, heaps of free time) inspiring me to attempt something I've not done since Mike Hnatt's Info 210 class: editing the layout of a website.

As you've probably noticed, the header is (mostly) new. I spent a long time making that header today. I was very excited to see how it'd look when I threw it up at the top of my blog and was pretty disappointed to see the solid brown strip still hanging out below it. I'm sure I'll be able to fix it at some point, but for now, they blog's gonna have some things that are less appealing to the eye.

Those of you who've seen my CD wallet (every CD separated by genre and none turned upside down or sideways) will know that these visual discrepancies are something I'm not okay with. I look forward to figuring all these formatting issues out. Until then, be gracious with me. Being gracious with me may include asking me to come over so you can help me with these problems. Also, please keep curse words to a minimum in the comments during this time.

Here's one plus: if the changes continue to be gradual, you won't be so scared when you visit the blog and it looks entirely different. Hang in there readers. I'll be done before Texas Ave construction is finished.

little did I know

Not too terribly long ago I posted this piece offering all the sneaky p's who read my blog without commenting an opportunity to show themselves. At that point I felt pretty well caught up on who the newest members of my readership were. Well it turns out I jumped to conclusions.

Since resurfacing in College Station I've had, I kid you not, no less than 4 different people or groups of people approach me and say, "Oh, you're D.O., I'm _________. You don't know me, but I read your blog." Some have even been so forward as to claim that they've been "blog-stalking" me. None of these people were the ones who reared their precious faces in the afore mentioned post. They're all new. This brings my total number of readers to 13 or so.

Now a lot of people would probably cringe at the thought of a total stranger stalking them via the Internet, but not me. I'm ok with it. I'd be more ok if people added on to their confessions of blog-stalking comments like "... I read your blog, and it's truly excellent!" or "... I read your blog and in my humble opinion, it's an epic masterpiece" or really positive feedback they feel like wrapping their confessions up with. But I'm content. They fact that they're (you're) reading really speaks enough to the blog's worthwhileness. (It's only fair that I inform you guys that you really are deceived.)

Anyway, the whole point of these five paragraphs isn't to ask all the new ghost readers to fess up by posting comments (though this is obviously welcome) or to brag on how the online diary for the masses family has grown. Don't worry, you readers are still an elite community. The point is this: I give mad props to those of you who have the gusto to come up to the random guy with the red beard and tell him that you've been keeping up with his mindless digital rants. Along those lines, it is important to note that if there are any remaining blog stalkers our there, you should feel welcome to approach me and tell me so. I won't think you're weird.

So thank you to all the honest goku stalkers (see pic) out there. Though I'll never understand why you spend any of your valuable time in these parts, rest assured that I'm truly glad you do. And also I'd like to thank those of you who've made room in your sidebar for a D.O. link. That's very sweet.

you think you're sneaky...

Keeping a blog updated regularly really isn't hard, especially when you aren't concerned about your posts being entertaining. What is hard however, is keeping up with a blog that is in some form or fashion, worth people's time. In order to do that, you're more or less forced to keep things entertaining, thought-provoking, humorous, things of that nature.

I'll be the first to admit that the online diary for the masses (that's the name of this blog) often fails at meeting any of those prerequisites for a healthy blog, which has, over the past few months, made me doubt whether or not I had a sizable readership. But, every time I let myself think that the only people who read my blog were the four people who post each time, my sources tell me that I have readers I'd never have even thought about having. Friends of friends. Siblings of friends. Total strangers. All of the above.

So, to you mystery readers, you "ghosts" as they say in the message board world, I'd like to offer you an invitation. Now is your time to shine. You yourself could be published on this ever-so-prestigious website. I invite you, I challenge you, I admonish you to post a comment to this entry. Show yourself. There's no reason to hide. The other readers won't tease you, I promise! They're nice. I bet they'll even post welcome messages to you. It'll be like a virtual electronic happy time for everybody!

Go ahead. Do it. You think you're exempt but you are certainly not my friend. Plus, rest assured that I know you who are regardless of the action you take at the end of the next sentence. I've heard of you reading this very blog at your home, workplace, and favorite local bistro... Show yourself.

a proposal for new management

None of us will soon forget where we were when we heard about Judy Blume's retirement from Jiffy News. I was sitting right here at my computer after waking up around noon from a solid night's sleep. The death of such a beloved and informative blog does not occur without the world-wide-web community feeling the impact. To add insult to injury, earlier today I clicked the Jiffy News link just for old time's sake, and the dreaded Error 404 was displayed on my monitor! How are people supposed to get their news? Sure they could watch CNN or read up on the countless long-winded websites that offer such information, but who's got the time? Well I might.

That's right. After hours of self-consultation I've decided to contact Judy (via this post) and submit to her my application, that I might become a Chief News Correspondent for Jiffy News. I could help write news stories, and she, being the founder and CEO, would have the liberty to edit, erase, or elaborate on anything she so chose. This came as a suggestion from Heather Hendrick herself, queen of popularity and blogging. I think that says something right there. I did modify and add a few things to Heather's original proposal, which can be read in the comment section of my previous post.

So Judy, what do you think? All I'd need from you is the okay and the password (that way the URL doesn't have to change, which will save your readership some confusion). I even made a logo in Paint! I'm anxiously awaiting your thoughts.

peace

Just minutes ago I read some sobering, yet enlightening news: Jiffy News will cease to exist. Sobering because, though it is a young blog, it's popularity grew exponentially, and many Internet surfers felt at home there. Enlightening because it made me realize: if the people at Jiffy News can decide to up and quit their job of educating the masses, then I can certainly quit my job of online diary-ing for them. So that's it. Thank you Judy for the eye-opener. I quit too! Who's with us?

CELEBRATE!!!

Ladies and gentleman, you are truly experiencing an exciting event right now, even as you read. The post that your eyes are currently beholding is the 150th post on my blog! It's the sesquicentennial post, and that gives us a reason to celebrate. I'd like everyone to take part in an enjoyable activity today that you normally wouldn't let yourself do:

- Eat that ice cream
- Skip that workout
- Buy that new CD
- Post a comment on the "online diary for the masses"
- Cartwheel

And when you're done enjoying whatever activity you've chosen, I'd greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to participate in the first ever (maybe second...) "online diary for the masses" poll. Please friends, answer me this one question in the form of a comment below.

How often do you check this blog?

I'm asking so as to better meet the needs of my constituents, because seriously, where would I be without you guys? Certainly not sitting here publishing my 150th post, that's for dang sure. Seriously, I'd love to know how often you check this blog so that I'll be able to know how often I ought to update it. I've got all sorts of potential posts running through my brain to take us from 150 to 1,500, I just need you guys to tell me how quickly you want to get there. Thanks for hanging out with me this far.

sorry

dang it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry my blog has been so dang boring lately. Well there's a good reason why, you see: my life has been boring lately. Unemployment doesn't make for an overly exciting life (though I'm pretty sure employment doesn't either... so I'll have to think of something). Ok, that's all. Know that I haven't forgotten about the blog, my life just has ceased being a life worthy of keeping a blog updated. Sorry.

beta.blogger.my.butt

For those of you who not only read my blog from time to time, but also host your own blog, you've probably seen options to convert your blogger account to a beta blogger dealy. Well I figured why the heck not? I mean, surely they wouldn't ask you to upgrade to something that isn't as good as what you're currently using right? Well apparently it isn't without its flaws. Actually, it really only has two flaws that I've found so far.

First, I don't think the little arrow bullets for the archive section of the sidebar is as aesthetically appealing as it was before. That I can live with.

Here's the real problem. I cannot post stinkin' comments on other peoples' blogs. When it asks you to sign in, I put my new user name and password (for beta) and it says "User not found." Then I put my old user name and password (not beta) and it says "You upgraded to beta, please sign in with your beta info."

SO

Brooke: Looks like you're going to see your Mom. Hey, I don't think there is such a thing as stopping too often for pictures. We need people like that. They are a necessity. I say good for Lael.

Brandone: I like babies

Hendricks and Sarah: I'm going to need an update real soon.

Joshua: I would say I can't believe that you've updated your blog, but that'd be a lie, because you kinda gave me a heads up, which I greatly appreciate.

Colby: I'm happy you are back, now get your booty in my apartment immediately.

Those are the comments I've spent the past 30 minutes trying to post on each of your blogs. Hopefully this problem gets fixed soon so my blog doesn't just become comments for all of your blogs... then again, that may not be terrible.

here's what I want...

could I bother all you readers to leave me a comment on this site? I'm pretty certain that nobody is looking at it, and that defeats the purpose indeed. thanks a lot. I just want to make sure all this creative genius isn't in vain.

a test and some flavor

I'm still trying to master this whole website thing. Most of it isn't very difficult, but leave it to me to make things harder than they ought to be. I think this site will be everyone's source for keeping up with D.O. as he travels the ins and outs (really just the ins) of China. Hopefully I'll be able to update it at least weekly while I'm over there, and you guys will be able to talk to Pappy on my behalf, which I appriciate a ton. I guess there's no turning back on the website now, since we've got two posts, it seems the ball is rolling.

testing...

this is clearly new to me, and I went ahead and didn't choose a template to make my page display attractive, so this is what we've got... unless I can figure out how to change it...

edit: 15 minutes later, the page is more appealing to the eye, and nobody ever knew it wasn't.