Things Not to Do When Updateing Your Blog Template

When updating your Blog Template do not forget to put your Google Analytics Tracker back into the new template. Turns out this causes some bad things to happen, like reporting no information... That can be kinda annoying.

2008 will be Great

So 2007 is coming to a close. It has been a big year with lots of ups and downs. There were lots of first in my life as well. I thought I would do a personal recap of some stuff. Here goes:

• Professionally - I got laid off, found a great new job (two actually), got promoted and feel like I am on a path for great things in the next year. I have been able to work with a fantastic group of people and am starting to share what I have done with other people as they begin their careers. I have joined the Project Management Institute (today actually), and will be scheduling my exam with my next paycheck, and will have my certification soon. Overall, it was a difficult start to my professional year, but it ended on a great high note. Lets hope this continues in 2008.
• Family - It was a pretty good year in my family as well. Like I said in a previous post I feel like I have come into my own as a member of my family (this is still a weird feeling). Also, things are looking up in terms of family health. Dad is still fighting, but the latest news was extremely positive (read no chemo). Mom is also doing well, as is Gram and the rest of the fam.
• Personal (Friends) - While I lost some people in my life through stubbornness and ridiculousness on both our parts, I have gained or reconnected with quite a few people whom I really value. I am constantly reminded that I have the greatest friends in the world. I want you all to know how much you all mean to me and how much I value our friendships. I have no doubt that good people will continue to enter my life and I can only hope that each one of you receive the same gift in 2008.
• Personal (Relationships) - A little rougher on this front over the course of the year. I think at 26 I am finally realizing that I have alot to offer someone and deserve someone in my life who I can share with, who I am happy with and who I can be myself with. Next year I am going to try to put myself out there a little more than I have in the past. I am not entirely sure how I am going to go about this, but I am no longer going to do things to prevent myself from being hurt, cause at the same time I am preventing myself from being happy.
• Personal Growth - There have been lots of time throughout my life where i have felt like I have grown up too fast, where lots of things have been dumped on my, but this year was different. I didn't grow up because of stuff happening to me. I grew up because I choose to. It is weird, and in many ways I tried to stay a kid, but it is happening. I am slowly bettering myself, the situations I am in and the communities which I am part of.

So overall, 2007 was pretty good. There are lots of loose ends that I hope will get tied up really soon, but I can be patient. Really, I liked 2007 and 2008 looks like it will be a fantastic year.

A New Blog Template and Some Other Improvements

If you are a frequent visitor you may notice some changes to the site. I am going to try to layout the steps I took to make these changes in case you want to make some improvements to your blog as well.

First, you will notice that the blog is now wider. This is a huge deal since the standard templates that are included in blogger are quite thin. I checked Google Analytics and saw that most of my readers have above 1024 pixels wide resolution. I did not want to push the boundaries of everyones screens, so I increased the width to 960 pixels. This means that I could add 220 pixels to the posting area of the blog (Yay). I googled quite a bit and found all the areas I needed to change within the HTML template.

From there I needed to adjust the images that are used to round the corners throughout the blog. Three images are used to create the look of each section. The corners on the top, the corners at the bottom and the rails that run along the side make up each section. I used a great program called Paint.net to adjust each one of the images (which you can find in the HTML template). In order to use the adjusted images I used my Google Page Creator account to upload the images and have them available via a link. This pretty much finished the widening of the page.

I then used Paint.net again to create a new header for the page. I like the new design. It feels like it fits the page and makes it seem more professional then the standard header. It was really easy to create, about 20 minutes in I was all done. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Last changes were around the ads running after posts. I decided that I really wanted them centered so I added them to the template using the Google Adsense script as opposed to letting blogger do this for me. This gives me a little more control on placement and look of each ad.

Now that I have made these changes I may be making a couple more. I have put my foot in the water. If I decide to make a jump, watch out for the splash.

An Update... An Update... YAY an Update

Hello My friends,

It has been a while. With the holidays and lots of work I have not had a ton of time to gather my thoughts and update you on what is going on in my life. I have a second or two today so lets take a care of a little bit of house cleaning.

First, I have been able to cross off a couple of things from my 101 in 1001. One was a huge surprise. I was promoted to a Senior Consultant with my company. I was sitting at home on a Sunday when I got the news. The Eagles were playing and I was checking my email while watching the game. I saw the mail and i screamed a little. My sister was in earshot. The following scene then took place:

My Sis: What happened? Who Scored?
Me: I Did!!!

Like I said this was a little bit of a surprise. I have only been with my company for nine months, but I guess hard work paid off. If anyone is looking to join the dark side please let me know and send me your resume. Cross the promotion off my list.

Another item crossed off was making homemade pasta. I had $25 to spend at amazon and was debating what to get. I ended up with a nice little pasta machine. I made a test batch last week where I left the noodles a little to big. Last night I made another batch for the roomies and it was scrumptious. Turns out pasta is pretty easy to make, just a little time consuming. Another item crossed off the list.

On another note, the Holidays were pretty standard for me and the family, though we did some tradition bucking for the better. This was the first year that I really felt like an adult during holiday time. I am not sure what it was, but there was just something about this year that made me feel better about the whole thing. It may have had something to do with the conversations between myself, my 35ish year old cousin and my 65ish great aunt about her Wii and DS. That is right. I have a granny gamer in the family.

Outside of those things there is not a ton going on. I am working hard right now to get ahead of the game financially. It is not really fun, but it will pay off in the long run.

I am going to have a couple posts today. Stay tuned.

If Wrestling was Life: Five Things in Wrestling that Would be Cool in Real Life

So I was watching wrestling last night and I decided that there are some things that happen during the great male soap opera that would be really cool if they happened in real life.

1. Championship Belts - This has started to take hold in other sports already. Seriously, how awesome would it be if they gave you a belt as you graduated college, or got a promotion. Something to show all those other folks what you have accomplished. Carry your belt on your shoulder as you were picking up groceries at the supermarket. Have competitions for biggest and most belts. Even better... Could you imaging the pickup lines? "Hey baby, I was wondering if you could help shine my Belt". Okay, that probably wouldn't work.
   
   Yeah, a Championship belt. I would get it from this guy, cause if you are going to wear a belt, it might as well be from the source.
   
   Would you carry your belt with you and show it off or stash it on the mantle? Could you be challenged for your belt by your rival? So many questions to ponder.


2. Entrance Music - You walk through the doors of your office a gong hits and the music begins. Maybe a pryo here or there. What a good way to announce your presence. It says to the rest of the room, "I don't know or care what you are doing, please stop everything and acknowledge that I am here". Don't you think that everyone could do with a little more acknowledgment? I am so coming in to "Sirus" by the Alan Parsons Project
   
   Now that I think about it, this could get annoying. Maybe there should be entrance music for just me?
   
   If you had it, what would you choose for your entrance music?



3. Divas - Okay, I can't lie, being the full blooded American male that I am there is a special place in my...heart... for some of the beautiful ladies that enter the ring each week, particularly this one.
   
   The characters they play run the gamut from crazy psycho to sweet an innocent. Seriously, take your pick, every type of personality represented and every one really good looking. The other great part about the Divas, there choices in men. In real life not a single one of them would ever choose the wrestlers that their characters find attractive. When was the last time you saw a beautiful girl on the arm of some guy named Ballz? If only it were real!
   
   Yeah, I know this is crazy, but it is my fantasy, I will put in it what I want.
   
   
   
4. The Call Out - Wouldn't it be nice? Whenever you needed someone you could call out their name and they would appear in the doorway. Think of the possibilities. Need a cup of coffee, yell for Juan Valdez. Hungry? I think Emril is free, just give him a shout. he will show up in 3...2...1. If only it were true. Oh, and if you are frustrated call out that bully from elementary school. It turns out he is an accountant and you can take him easily now. Don't believe me? Just call him out and get back all that lunch money, adjusted for inflation.
   
5. Number five.... turns out there isn't a number five. Just the four listed above. If you can think of a fifth leave me a comment.

Sme Timez U Nd 2 LOL

moar funny pictures

I Can't Wait for This....

I am a huge fan of Batman and I think the next movie with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger is going to be really good. Take a look at the posted just released on the Joker's viral site (whysoserious.com)

I can't wait.

This May Be the Cutest Thing Ever

I found this photo through Digg and their new images section. It is by a guy named Christopher and it is on flickr.

Are you ready

Seriously be prepared for the cuteness.

This thing is kinda ridiculous.

Pug Dogs need love too.

Told you it was cute

Oh What a Lovely Tofurkey Day

So yesterday was Thanksgiving. I have quite a bit to be thankful for this year. Life has been pretty good lately. I have the most amazing family and friends, I have been staying busy and getting ahead on the things that are important to me right now in life. Overall things are good.

Now I didn't head home for thanksgiving this year. I am working today (Friday) at both T. Rowe and Apple, so doing the drive just wouldn't make that much sense. Instead I spent the day at home slept in and cooked myself dinner.

I am still in my month of no meat, so I tried to make a tofu turkey. This was an experience to say the least. I tried to make this dish by hand. Lets just say that the sides were really good. There were some pieces of the lump bird that were quite tasty, but overall I am going to call it a culinary failure. I hear that twink's store bought tofurkey loaf was pretty good. I think we are having leftovers on Monday. YAY. The sides actually were really good, but I thin that next year I may go with Turducken as opposed to Tofurkey.

Overall, the day at home with Onyx (Ben's Cat) was quite relaxing, which is good cause i am going to need it. today was PT, then work, then work again, home around 12:30.

Peace Out

An Interesting Weekend

My friend Andy is getting married next month and this past weekend was his bachelor party. Chad, who is Andy's best man got a limo and made reservations at Delilah's, which is considered one of the best strip clubs in Philly. Here is the thing... I have never been to a strip club. Seriously. Not once. I was pretty nervous going in. I guess I was outwardly displaying my nervousness. I thought I was being cool, but I guess not.

Within the first 20 minutes or so I had someone come over and sit on my lap... this turns out to be a rather normal occurrence. This was the point where the people who I was with figured out that I had never been to such an establishment before. I guess they could tell that it made me really nervous. A few minutes later another, extremely attractive girl comes over to sit on my lap (no one else had been "proposed" to at this point). My friends decided they were going to pay for a dance for me. It was still very strange, but the girl did a really good job of making me feel comfortable and actually talking to me. We actually talked for a while, which I know is not at all the norm, but it was still pretty cool... OMG

I'm in love with a stripper

Okay, not really, but it was a good time and she was super nice. (oh, and she is from Ohio and studying to be a dental hygienist, yeah I am the guy who knows that). If you are ever in Philly and looking for a club, go to Delilah's. I am still not really into the whole scene, but it was a cool experience.

The rest of the night was exactly what you would expect. We had a good time and Chad got CRAZY DRUNK. To illustrate this lets talk about when we got back from the club. We all piled into Andy's place and then we realized that Chad was not in the apartment with us. We went outside and started looking for him. It was dark, and while Chad is not particularly stealthy, he is not easy to find in a very large apartment complex with all sorts of wooded areas and shadowy places. After driving around we circled back towards the apartment, Andy happened to go walk the dog out the back steps and found Chad, passed out on the landing a mere 7 steps from the door... DRUNK. If anyone who is in reality TV production is reading this, get a camera and follow Chad... you will have a hit on your hands.

Ok, more to talk about in later posts.