Archive for November, 2008


Wordpress Plugins

So, I’ve long been a proponent of free software and the like, but I’ve never been much able to contribute back, as far as software goes. Until now!

Last week, I made a wordpress plugin that turns any twitter style name into a link, automatically! For example: @rachelskirts @jacefuse @thursdayschild

See? Automatically linked. If you’re interested in said plugin, you can check it out over on its page at Wordpress. Twitterlinker is the name.

Enjoy! Comments are surely welcome. If you use it, drop me a line as well!

Book Buyers

I was catching up on Twitter this evening, and I ran across a particular tweet from @grammargirl. (You can find her over at Quick and Dirty Tips) She said this:

Wow. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts. Their editors aren’t buying books.

She linked to this article over at Publisher’s Weekly. If you don’t want to read the article (Come on. It’s short.), the key line is “PW has learned that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has asked its editors to stop buying books.”

I’m a big fan of books. I read a lot of them. I buy a lot more of them. Some day, I would like to write one or two. I’ve been watching the publication industry for a while, because I would like to get into it in some capacity, and I have never heard of a publisher putting an entire hold on buying books. Spokespeople at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are saying that the move isn’t indicative of anything too sinister, but how can it not? While I’m sure the publisher has a vast store of manuscripts it has purchased not (yet) published, but if a publisher stops buying books, it creates a stagnation in thought.

Think about it: no new books are coming in, so new books will stop going out, and while there are tons of books out there, and no one could ever read them all, publication of new and ever-improving ideas is a must for the development of culture, philosophy, or really any other facet of life. This move by Houghton Mifflin really has me concerned, even if it is being called a “temporary” situation. This is a dangerous precedent for them to have set.

Small Canines

As I mentioned in my last post, Kreestone and I got a puppy last weekend. She got around to posting some pictures to Facebook, and since we’re not all friends there, I’ve rehosted them and thought I’d let you see our puppy. I’ll tell you a little about her, too, but after the pictures.


We think she’s pretty awesome. She’s a 4-month-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and she’s got tons of energy. Well, sometimes. She can run around in circles, chasing who knows what, but sometimes, she’d rather just sit. Particularly when she’s on a leash. In fact, the first time we put her on the leash, the only reason she moved was because the electric door of Petsmart closed behind her and scared her. She’s a special one alright.

We’ve named her Thalia (Tall-ee-uh) after the Greek goddess of festivity, and muse of comedy. She certainly fits the bill with her rather strange demeanor. She’ll run around exploring, but when she gets tired of that, she’ll come into the room, look at you, and promptly flop on her side, as if some invisible hand suddenly pushed her over. Sometimes, though, she forgets to stop running before she does this, and proceeds to slide for a few inches before coming to a stop. We’re hoping she’ll figure out how to lie down.

One of the best things about Thalia, though, is how she acts when she gets tired. We already knew she had some trouble lying down, but she has picked one spot in our office that she likes, even more than the little doggy bed we’ve provided for her. It’s, well, just have a look:

That’s our dog, alright.

Achoo!

So, I logged in, and began dusting off the surface around this place, and decided to let everyone know just what’s been going on that I’ve been neglecting this place for so long.

First of all, I’ve been spending lots of time with my girlfrie…err fiancee. That’s right, I got engaged back in mid-October. The real surprise is that we’re getting married soon. Like, in December! While we’re not doing the big traditional wedding thing (much to the chagrin of her family), we are going to be having a spiffy reception. If you want to come, or if you just want to buy us some pretty stuff, I’ve setup a small site with the basic info on it, so give it a visit and make sure to check out the registry page.

So, in keeping with the getting married theme, we had to find a house, and quickly, since her lease on her own place was up on the first of this month. Given that we got engaged only a couple weeks before that, we had to hurry. We both spent a lot of time making phone calls, talking with possible landlords, and the like. Ultimately, we found a place, and it’s perfect. It’s a small 1930s 2 bedroom, 1 bath, and it’s really pretty much just perfect for the two of us.

Then, of course, after we found a house in record time, I had to move her in. Her work schedule didn’t afford much time for her to do it, so I grabbed a buddy, and the two of us spent a Saturday moving what she’d packed over to the new place. The rest of that weekend was spent getting things settled in the house.

As it turned out, the fiance doesn’t so much like to stay at the house alone, so we got ourselves a welsh corgi, who we’ve named Thalia (Tall-ee-uh). She’s a little special, but she’s awesome. Pictures to come at some point in the future.

So, I’ve been busy just about every weekend for the last month and a half, but that still leaves the weekdays, you say. Well, it would, but since I’ve been gone every weekend, I’m having to spend more time during the week on homework. I’ve got to make sure I do well, because I’m graduating in December now, not in May. So, you know, if you want, you can get me a nice graduation present, too.

In any event, apart from homework, things have settled down a bit, and I think it’s time to just hit “Mark all as read” and jump back into blogs now, rather than catching up on the couple thousand posts that have amassed there. Sorry, but I’ll try to go through archives and catch what I missed later on, though.

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