Tinkering

27 June 2011, 2:48 pm by Giggles
Categories: Science & Tech

:computer: When I took my first computer science class in high school I had no idea how it would affect the rest of my life. I just didn’t want to take keyboarding and it was the only computer class that didn’t require it. Fifteen years later I’m still thinking about code when I’m supposed to be working on other things and staying up “just five more minutes” to fix the bug I’ve almost cornered.

Back then it was with Pascal programs. Now it’s with the blogs. And while I notice the changes and think they’re great, I really doubt most people even notice them. So now I’m going to tell you about my latest tinkerings and you can go “oooh” and “aaaah” even if you have no idea what I’m talking about. Humor me.

Last week I decided I wanted to do some major tinkering with some aspects of our blogs. I started with our family one. There were a few things I wanted it to be able to do that, for me at least, would make it better.

The first thing I did was figure out how to add the avatar of the writer to the post so that you can see at a glance if it is one of those rare posts that Brett writes (there have only been 4), or if it’s just another one of mine. The code I used to do that also allows registered users to upload their own avatar that will go with their comments if they don’t want a Gravatar or would rather have something different on our blog. And you have to admit, that’s pretty cool. So while I don’t need to put my avatar with the posts here, I added the local upload of avatars to Random Giggles as well. Yea tiny pictures!

That took a few days tinkering before I decided I liked how it was positioned and formatted. I came home one day and told Brett I’d been doing more tinkering and he replied matter-of-factly, “I know.” I asked if he’d been watching and had seen the changes. He hadn’t. :straight: But he understands tinkering and knew I wouldn’t let it alone for a while. The advantages of being married to another “just five more minutes for this bug” kind of person. This weekend he did a lot of tinkering on his personal code project too.

That tinkering done (for now), I moved on to the next. We had some photo pages related to our wedding on Ooh Shemo that were part of the site but not part of the blog. I decided to make them part of the blog. Moving the basic code wasn’t hard. Finding the right video file to convert for the videos was annoying because I kept grabbing the slightly wrong one. But eventually I got them all. And then I needed to figure out something to do with the large (120) photo album of wedding photos we had. When I read the comics on-line, one site lets you enlarge the image right there on the page. I figured I could figure that out. And that was my Sunday afternoon.

I’d also read it was possible to have different themes/headers for different categories and posts with WordPress. And I wanted to figure that out. I wanted to keep the banner image at the top of those pages about our wedding to be a picture from our wedding. An if/else statement, an array of page names, and some frustrating punctuation later and ta-da! The pages related to our wedding will always have a picture from our wedding at the top regardless of what image we have on the rest of the pages.

And since that tinkering worked so well, I’m going to be expanding it over here too. Then posts about Christmas or in December will automatically have the December feel to it. Posts about BYU football will have the stadium at the top. July will always have a flag on it. … The possibilities are endless!!! (And so is my tinkering.)

4 Shared thoughts

Politics or Crime in New York?

24 June 2011, 10:50 pm by Giggles
Categories: Politics, Venting

What is the deal with all the midnight voting going on in politics lately?

First it was the health care bill being passed in the middle of the night on a Sunday. Definitely not normal business hours. And now it’s the state of New York.

The middle of the night is not when upstanding citizens do their jobs. It’s when criminals get together to plan stage coach robberies.

If you can’t do it during the day, if you have to hide it in the dark of the night, then you must not be proud of what you are doing.

From the New York State Catholic Conference about the shenanigans going on in the New York Senate this week:

“The Bishops of New York State oppose in the strongest possible terms any attempt to redefine the sacred institution of marriage. … Marriage has always been, is now, and always will be the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, life-giving union. Government does not have the authority to change this most basic of truths.”

I was supposed to turn in an assignment this week for my constitution class at the community college about the paradigm of same-sex marriage and what both sides are saying. I took a zero. There is no argument here. Changing political climate does not change eternal truths.

And if the politicians have to keep doing things in the middle of the night like they’re doing, maybe they should rethink some things.

2 Shared thoughts

*I* make the blankets

24 June 2011, 3:39 pm by Giggles
Categories: Family, Folks, Quilting/Sewing/Knitting/Crafting

I’m slightly possessive of my role as quilt maker in the family. I’m not always prompt at it, but I do love doing it. The latest quilt was inspired by this embroidery on a pillowcase from my paternal grandma (you might recall that the pansy design I use everywhere is from the embroidery on a pillowcase from my maternal grandma).

I have no idea what kind of flowers those are, but that’s just fine because I’m sewing them, not planting them. With that as the inspiration, this is the quilt that resulted.

And here’s a close-up of the different quilting on the two blocks.

I did a tiny zig-zag around all the blocks to outline them and so I didn’t have to worry about being right on the line so much. I think I like the technique. For the pinwheels I did a stipple design with light purple thread on the purple and nothing on the green. That meant when I washed it the green really poofed. The flowers are outlined in dark purple, a spiral in yellow on the center, and then arrow things in the white space in light purple. There is no quilting on the flower petals so they poofed too.

All of that meant the back really mirrored the design on the front. The pieced binding really framed the whole thing well. I think all new babies should be welcomed to this world. So for the label I simply wrote “Welcome” (plus I didn’t know her name till after she was born).

Welcome indeed little one.

5 Shared thoughts

Life is a quilt

22 June 2011, 1:41 pm by Giggles
Categories: Gospel, Quilting/Sewing/Knitting/Crafting

Brett and I went to the Church Museum earlier this year to see the quilt exhibit they had there (LDS Church cuts ribbon on quilt, artwork display, ‘Pieces of Me’ at museum, Quilt Exhibit Teaches about Ties That Bind Humanity). I enjoyed the quilts, but the quote at the beginning of the exhibit next to a crazy quilt really stood out to me:

“As we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most, we learn over and over again the importance of four key relationships: with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ensign, Nov 2010, 21

Life is a complex crazy quilt – a colorful representation of oddities stitched together into one complete composition of who we are. In spite of the chaotic appearance of the fabric scraps in a crazy quilt, the quilt creates a beautiful whole, organized upon the foundation of a basic structure, often a square. Likewise, all of our uniquely shaped experiences are pieced together to create individual identities founded upon our spiritual nature and the experience of human relationships.

Many small relationships are integral pieces in the fabric of the person we call “me.” The narrative of “my life” starts as a relationship with self, involves family ties, expands to interactions within a community, and reaches out to connect with the world. Our relationship with God is at the heart of all other relationships. He is the thread that ties us together.

The art of quilting can help us share stories of the relationships that make up our individual and communal identities. While all of the quilts and artifacts in this exhibit have been made by individual Latter-day Saint artists, the relationships they illustrate are universal and can speak to people of all circumstances. Seemingly commonplace quilts can illustrate the complex nature of human ties and tell a story that beautifully ties together all of the pieces of “me.”

The quilts were great. It was not a large exhibit like the quilt show we go to here. Instead it was an exhibit about how it is possible to express yourself, and especially your beliefs, through quilting. One of these days, when my landscaping quilting skills are a bit better, I’m going to make a quilt that represents with images the testimony I have of God and my Savior.

I did, however, finish up my first quilt in a while this week and as soon as it arrives at its destination I’ll put a picture of it here (don’t want to give away the surprise). I actually finished the binding while riding the bus. I kept getting far too distracted everywhere else because I hate doing binding. I like how it looks, I just don’t like doing it.

I am (still, some things just take a while) working on a scrap quilt and when I had all the big pieces of fabric before I cut them up I was worried it wasn’t going to look that great, that the fabrics wouldn’t go together. But they do and the quilt is beautiful (it’s just not completely quilted yet). That’s like life. Sometimes you’re looking at what you have and can’t see how in the world that will all work out. But then you work with it and get it to the shape you need and suddenly that’s just the pattern experience you needed to make your quilt.

By experiencing the beauty this world has to offer and then adding our own, we are participating in creation with God. And that is definitely something to seek after.

2 Shared thoughts

Full minded mindfulness

20 June 2011, 8:22 am by Giggles
Categories: Exercise

Last month I read on The Introvert’s Corner about Mindfulness for Introverts (I’ve also recently really enjoyed the snappy comebacks).

Clear back when I was in college (the first time), I decided I would get into yoga. I figured the stretching and the structured relaxation would be good for me. So I got some yoga VHS (yes, it was that long ago), and started stretching my inner chi. I now have several DVDs. Brett got me a new one last month.

Just as she mentions in the article, meditation stuff is real hard for me. Quieting my mind is almost impossible most times. When I’m running my mind is constantly going. I’m working through papers or lesson plans or doing math (Brett finds that last one funny). Going to sleep takes a long time for my mind to fully calm down and stop. And that’s where the yoga comes in.

Savasana (lying on your back and relaxing completely) is actually my favorite part of yoga. Because it’s lying on your back and it’s exercise! However, if you leave me to my own devices while I’m lying there, I won’t relax. I have to consciously think of each muscle in my body and tell it to relax. On the DVDs they guide that thought from your toes to your head. When I’m listening to my DVDs I get it. And it feels so good. But when it’s silent around me, it takes a bit of effort to mentally talk myself through it. But I can do it.

Yoga has also changed my breathing. I played flute for 7 years. And I run distance. So my lung capacity is pretty good. Yoga focuses my breathing though. I think about the air going in and filling up my body, making it expand. And then visualize it going out. When I’m visualizing that way I can control my breathing and calm my body rather than letting it control me. I take that time to remind my shoulders to stay out of my ears too. Lately I’ve been imagining the new air coming in and cleaning everything up and then tumbling back out with all the bad and negative I might have inside of me.

Mindfulness. Meditation. Relaxation. They are not things that come naturally to me. But I’ve also learned that they are not impossible. I just have to work a little harder at them.

6 Shared thoughts

Wow I write a lot

17 June 2011, 7:56 am by Giggles
Categories: Proclamations, Science & Tech

And here’s the proof – this is post number:

1,000!

There are 6 pages (About Miss Giggles, Blogging 101, Commenting, Contact, Education Links, Quilting Blogs), 25 categories, and 1,622 comments (nobody commented the first two years really, barely 109 comments total in the first two years). You can see a breakdown of lots of the counts from the start through the end of 2010 that I put together in January. I’ll do that count again the end of this year.

The category count isn’t there though, so I thought I’d put it together here and you can see what all those 1,000 posts have been about.

:computer: This blog started as my first assignment when I started my Masters degree. And now here it is. I have learned a lot doing this, both about the technology and about myself. And I know some of you have used it to learn about me (Brett, I’m looking at you). It is one of my favorite hobbies. I do it for me, but I really appreciate all of you being a part of it as well. So I’m proclaiming this Commenter Appreciation Day on Random Giggles. Thank you for being a part of the first 1,000 posts. :daisy:

I have a lot of ideas for the start of the next 1,000 posts, but if you have any ideas or questions or suggestions, just let me know.

9 Shared thoughts

Maybe you should water it

15 June 2011, 8:54 am by Giggles
Categories: Musings

The grass on our side of the fence:

The grass on the other side of our fence:

Perhaps, instead of complaining that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, you should water the grass on your side of the fence.

That’s actually a lot more green in our grass than just a few weeks ago. It’s a work in progress. Kind of like a lot of the metaphysical lawns in my life.

5 Shared thoughts