by Shirley | Dec 17, 2015 | Music
Google Doodle honouring the great Ludwig van Beethoven this 2105.
Sure it is fascinating—your life, how you battled your own condition so much so that you became a world famous classical icon, how much energy you poured into your work…
Definitely amazing.
A prodigy such as you certainly deserves a fete, and now is the time that you be recognised through a Google Doodle which basically means that you still touch lives in this digital age, where digital natives listen to your music not through a turntable but via a simple mouse click away to play .mp3, .ogg, .wma files of your prestigious, prolific masterpieces. Oh and don’t forget Spotify, that music streaming portal that once caught the ire of Taylor Swift (you definitely have never heard of her; she’s a best selling artist in today’s modern age). You’re all over the place there.
Not to mention that Nodame Cantabile created by Japanese mangaka Tomoko Ninomiya did immortalise your symphonies and shorter pieces in her work that eventually gained recognition in the form of an anime series, a live action series, and two movies. It was through Nodame that I came to have a love affair with you (uh, that was awkward).
So, dear Ludwig van Beethoven, happy 245th year to you. Kampai.
by Shirley | Dec 16, 2015 | Anything Online
For some time I was searching for a way in which I could integrate a diversity of fonts to make this network of sites I have attractive enough to make Alice in Wonderland blush, and mostly I appealed to the notion of installing one particular theme catered to such. Of course I then attempted to search online for particular themes that provide that certain function; and while there are many out there that include specifications for Google fonts integrated into the CSS backend, none of such (in respect to their layouts or colour palettes) actually gained my interest. It is either they have stylesheet configurations guaranteeing font sizes large enough to simulate a preschooler’s activity book or layouts that seem to feature humongous boxes with equally weird colour combinations, not to mention gargantuan slideshow image headers. Additionally, despite that of a myriad of WP themes populating Themeforest, Mafiashare, or even that ever-dependable WordPress.org portal where free and premium themes meet, many of those in vogue feature parallax, business-inclined website prototypes that (I feel) are not suitable to what I have in mind for my site (except Spacious, courtesy of ThemeGrill; oh how I love that theme which, by the way, may be converted into a business layout if one wishes to). To make matters a bit more complicated, those I chance upon which eventually turn out to be exactly what I want—with Google fonts in particular—are mostly paid, and in US dollars to be precise. All these in the midst of a simple desire for Google fonts: that if I should I have any /remote/ chance of attaining the possibility for that ultimate typographical customisation, would appease my longing heart for web blogging artistry within the WordPress framework.
As luck would have it, I serendipitously read some writeups concerning how to add custom fonts to a WordPress blog without even having to bear the brunt of searching far and wide for templates that accommodate such a feature. The great news is it may be easily and seamlessly integrated as a plugin installation, well of course, in an attempt to make blogging life easier. The “eureka!” moment then came to me—an Archimedes-like realisation that a plugin should be the most reasonable and feasible workaround there is, when all hopes have gone to the dumps and where all else have failed. In this way did I deign search for myself some of those available and voila! A nifty little tool called “Easy Google Fonts” came my way, with its WordPress index page staring at me for a handful of minutes. The usual cautious me began waving a red flag as to whether it may be safe or not to install it since a little note indicated that it has been “untested with your version of WordPress” (I have just updated to the remarkable WP version 4.4 ‘Clifford’). So, the clock began ticking away as I tried to weigh options, outlining yet another pro and con list in my head. Ultimately, though, I had to give it a try with high hopes that it avoid breaking my Multisite installation in any way.
The WP webpage containing details about the plugin
I was surprised that installing it was a breeze and that my prayer for hassles non-existing should come to pass. Nevertheless I was baffled at first on how to tweak settings or apply changes to my default font style: I went back and forth to the “Settings” menu in the WP dashboard in order to set a default font. Instead I was met with a page telling me to indicate a “Font Control.” Naturally I was oblivious to that feature; but all I needed to do at that moment is change how my site’s text would look! Providentially, though, I was able to revert back to theme customisation and there it was:—the menu outlining a plethora of fonts for different areas in my website requiring text. As it could be expected of me, choosing which font proved difficult inasmuch as Google offers a bevy of handsome typography enticing enough to behold. Since I have a predilection towards serif fonts (for this site in particular) I eventually picked out “Andada” which I found more pleasing to my eyes. Sure enough I was all set; and when I previewed, I thought my webpage looked better than before.
Outstanding “Andana”. Lovable, indeed.
Got somewhat confused at this point: where do I set font specifics?
The menu at left is the crux of it all.
Now gone are the days of theme-hunting, all for the sake of dressing up my site with various lettering styles. Titanium Themes did a really good job at this one and for this I bestow upon them a crown of laurels.
(N.B.: For webmasters interested at making their paragraphs prettier than usual, Easy Google Fonts is the way to go. Any info about it may be viewed at its official WordPress plugin page where a download link is also available. Likewise, it may be installed through the WP dashboard.)
by Shirley | Dec 11, 2015 | Academically Speaking
Since I got hold on a new portable install of Opera Mail (very handy and lightweight as an email desktop client), I was able to scan all folders for whatever delayed, unread, or junk email that I have so I may delegate those in their appropriate folders or eject them from my inbox altogether. It isn’t easy to have a cluttered inbox, what with all those unread mails especially so I decided to play exterminator in some way. To some point, I got to purge certain messages that are relatively useless or those that I just wanted to forget altogether and I sighed in relief somehow upon knowing that I was halfway in such a task. However, something caught my attention and I began to feel a little ache heaving in my chest that I felt a bit shaky:
Oh yes—the above was an invitation for a language research seminar coursed through a faculty member from the College of English and Comparative Literature in UP Diliman ; and when I looked carefully, it was sent last November 24. Yes, November 24!! I was shocked because I remembered not having checked my email account for two weeks on end already! If only I were diligent enough I could have RSVPed all at once so I could partake of yet another session of mind-enriching lectures by eminent language professors of famed institutions in Singapore. But no. I was too tired and lazy even to take a peek into my inbox, no thanks to my usual reasons of a slow internet connection, a rundown netbook that does nothing but overheat, or my Firefox browser taking up all my CPU resources. Heck, I could dual boot and access Ubuntu instead of crappy ol’ Windows 7 Starter for gosshakes.
There: I missed a most rare opportunity for a meet and greet with scholars who I believe are most worthy to emulate. Heaven knows when another lecture might take place; and when it does, I’ll definitely make sure I’ll be there, God willing.
No use crying over spilled milk indeed.
by Shirley | Dec 10, 2015 | Anything Online
My pledge: this shall be an equally short post.
A few hours ago, I posted on Facebook as to whether I’d like to multisite this installation of WordPress (for those who do not know what Multisite is, better check out this and this).
Indeed, my previous website had been on Multisite and I have enjoyed all the overwhelming fruits of its functionality but this time I began to get a little cautious about doing it the second time around. What if the plugin doesn’t work since WP is now on it’s 4.4 version (plugin was for 3.0)? What if I do exploit the beauty of Multisite for merely a load of websites that I do not even need? What if I screw up the installation? All these vestiges of trepidation sprung out of me that I dabbled between setting it up or not, not to mention that of imagining a pro and con list in my head. However, the pro list made its way through so I eventually got my gear going.
I installed Multisite.
So far so good as of this writing and I don’t even feel even a tad bit of regret. In fact, I uploaded the backup of my long defunct poetry website and resurrected it along with my hopes and dreams of someone reading it which should, in the long run, give way to its impending popularity. I was a little disappointed, though, because my media files got lost—the .xml file’s specifications for uploadable attachments seemed to have been rejected by the server—so I wasn’t able to salvage some posts’ images and the e-pamphlet of my first poetry folio. Nonetheless, I should say I am satisfied with the install in general. Kudos.
(By the way, I need to sleep now because my bedtime has been extended to its utmost lately that I’d still be awake at 1 or 2 AM. Definitely not healthy).
by Shirley | Dec 9, 2015 | Life
This post, I think, shall be the progenitor of all things that calls for my own sweet demands and idyllic wishes that I’d like for the holiday season; and yes, I know, I am not much of a dubious little fiend who would bombard good old friends with text messages or Facebook PMs hankering for attention just so I could get any gift I want but of course, I can dream of charity wells springing across town so I may eventually acquire what I fancy, right?
Now, since the holidays are now forthcoming with all them jingle bell carols and churches opening their doors for dawn masses, likewise with fireworks lighting up the sky every New Years’ Eve (so much for the litany) I might desire to have something that might set my year straight. Since I am not so much of a spanking spic-and-span sort of individual but very much obsessed with the untidy—in terms of managing my daily affairs, that is—I need to have something to get me by through all the diversities of responsibilities as well as menacing job-related endeavours. In the same manner am I not a person easily spurred when in a circumstance of much-needed attention: sometimes details escape me that I end up remembering only a word’s three final syllables, regardless of 1,500 of the original piece. True enough, I don’t register that much except that of imaginings that dabble on far-fetched fantasies of wealth worthy enough to make Snow White blush (Oh wait, she dreamt of a prince and not wealth; I didn’t see that coming). Anyhow, my singular point is this: I am a tad bit more disorderly than many people whether in terms of the concrete and abstract so I need a notebook with calendars in it so I could scribble some markings indicating with precision those exact times I ought to shower. In short, I need a planner.
But, hurrah for that since I found a perfect solution to the problem—a planner at the expense of 12 drinks available only at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which I should say has such coffee that matches my personality (if there’s such a thing). In order to take a good rendering of what the heck I am talking about, here they are:
Image courtesy of CBTL’s http://brewyourbestyear.com
Aren’t they classy and grand? All one has to do is collect the entire roster of the needed 12 stamps from certain “genres” of drinks and you’re all set. Problem about this, though, is the money whereby I might procure even just one: I don’t have any. I am penniless since I live in penury most of the time, no thanks to a deep-seated resentment my body has towards jobs that make me brain-dead. But of course, I won’t force my friends to give me one because I definitely have to mind my own penury business such that I would, in the long run, have a car and a mansion that would hold more cars and cats in it (as if that would happen). Nonetheless, with all the punitive attempt at humour I have been facilitating until the last sentence prior to this one, I could only say that having the planner might be something that could summon me from my misery. Seriously, I have been in a slump for quite a while now that a respite is badly needed. Having the journal might be salvation personified.
Therefore, regardless whether I have the money or not, it still is worthwhile to dream of any of the featured planners in the above image I snagged from the official website. Hopefully, someday, a surprise is waiting that beholding (and owning) a CBTL planner once and for all may not be too impossible as it seems. And oh, before I forget: all proceeds from purchases has some percentage to be donated to the Real Life Foundation which sponsors financially-challenged students to make their way through college.
To culminate, you may indulge yourself to read the entire mechanics and some other additional information about the Brew Your Best Year planner through the official page at http://brewyourbestyear.com and the official announcement page at http://brewyourbestyear.com/articles/giving-flavorfully-with-the-coffee-bean/.
Advanced happy holidays everyone. Have a nice sip of coffee while enjoying the holiday vibe.
