Plans for Dark Rose
May 30th, 2009
Hey, guys. I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, but Dark Rose is pretty much inactive as hell right now. I haven’t uploaded new art in months, I take forever to post blogs (and when I do they are about nothing), and I haven’t given this place a new layout since… November? This has been going on for a long time, and I haven’t had any inspiration for this place until recently. Obviously, the way I am handling things right now aren’t working out, so I’m going to switch things up so I can actually maintain this place as a hobby like I once did, to my immense satisfaction. Right now it seems like more of a chore, and that’s not how it’s supposed to be. This was meant to be fun.
So, to fix that, things will change over the course of the next couple of weeks:
- Dark Rose will no longer feature a personal blog. There will be updates, but it will be more like “HEY GUYS LOOK WHAT I MADE LOL” instead of “Now let us discuss the undermined importance of the grasshopper to our society” or whatever. The blogging has been my largest issue for the longest time because I already have a private journal where I write about my personal life in much more detail, and I am not interested in sharing that stuff on a public blog regardless of how much I am trying to open myself up. Also, most of the topics I would write about have already been done to death and covered from every angle. Yes, even the squid angle. So updates will be more or less of a different variety, to take the pressure off of myself to write it and to take it off of you to actually read the crap I write.
- Now, even though the blog will no longer be totally opinionated rambles on whatever passes my fancy at the time, this site will remain personal. Things I like will still be on here and I can promise that those things will be updated frequently. I will also link to my profiles on networking sites like last.fm and Goodreads for the rare person interested in that sort of thing.
- The ask me a question thing is staying. Period.
- I actually do finally have inspiration for a new layout, so we’ll definitely be seeing one of those soon.
This in mind, my orientation begins August 30th (the same damn day I was supposed to go see Jeff Dunham with a certain someone, AGHHHH). The site will reflect these features by then, but they might not be as updated as frequently as they will be over the summer. And to my fellow Quilting Bee members who are waiting for a response from me regarding trades and activities - I am not ignoring you, I’ve just been a little busy, and I will totally reply to you tonight after I get home from work. ♥
I love Google
January 9th, 2009
I decided to take a break from my usual squandering about my meaningless life to share with you my deep passion… for Google.
Yes, Google. I have loved Google since I was nine and discovered that there were rivals to Yahoo and Ask Jeeves. I search something in Google and it finds what I’m looking for. It has always seemed to produce better results than other search engines both in terms of on-topic quality and quantity. So they are tracking my personal information, big deal, a small price to pay, really, for such a useful commodity. But then, I’m not exactly on a super secret mission, either. I don’t care that it knows I am looking for information on papaya fruit at this very moment in time. No, I will not tell you why I am researching papaya. 
Anyway, I’ve been much more involved with Google for the past two years. I opened a Gmail account in February of 2007, and really, I again can’t help but compare it to Yahoo and love it all the more. I love that I have tons of space that I have barely touched even though I have only deleted spam emails over the past two years. I love that I can label my emails and color code them, even if I am too lazy to actually take it up on the offer. I have also found it very useful that I don’t have to refresh it in order to check for new emails. GTalk is also nice for when I don’t share an instant messaging program with someone or if someone I haven’t entrusted with my user name wants a quick chat, though I use it once in a blue moon.
So far, the thing I’ve found most helpful is iGoogle. The fact that I have so many options and different ways to customize everything just rocks my world. The apps are my favorite part because I can keep a lot of tabs on different things. I log in, there’s the weather, a quick notification of my Gmail’s current state, personal notes for myself, a quick Wikipedia search, my horoscope that is eerily on target rather often, and as of tonight… Google Reader.
Sfljdsklfjdsf Google Reader is the most amazing tool ever known to this giant squid. Larissa said it before: I don’t know how I ever got along without it. Granted, before tonight, I was never subscribed to feeds. Sure, I’ve got one, but for your convenience, not mine. I know they’re useful because things are ten times easier to keep track of, but I’ve just been so used to visiting websites for their updates that it put me off a bit. Because then it seems less personal; why go to the website if you can read the update right in your feed?
Ah, but this entry is about Google and its various and lovable tools, not the pros and cons of feeds, so bah humbug to you, random but interesting topic #47! In any case, Google Reader is amazing. I like that I can read one feed separately or altogether depending on the date of post (or whatever other means I want to organize them by, really). I’ve already got 11 feeds added, but that’s not counting webcomics because I’m not sure if I want to ruin the fun of making myself wait to see them. On the plus side, this will make me 95% more likelier to read all the websites I mean to and possibly make more internet friends. My theory on that is, the more I read your blog, the more I’ll want to comment and get to know you instead of focusing on my own petty interests. Like papaya.
So, yes. I love Google very much and it is the very first thing I sign into after I reach my homepage (CNN, which I find I read less and less as more days pass after the election). It makes me much more interested in the internet and makes my life far easier regardless of how stubborn I am about change. And that is awesome.
The Quilting Bee Is Awesome And You Should Join
December 15th, 2008
Today is the annual Quilting Bee blog day, and that means that you get to read an exciting ramble about how much I love it. The only thing is… where to begin?
I’ve been familiar with it for years. I joined back in 2004 and then quit later because my interest in maintaining websites waned, and well, you can’t be in the Quilting Bee without a website! But when I came back to my old hobby, I remembered the Quilting Bee and wanted to join again. Four years later, it still exists with even more features. I’ve been having nothing but fun for the past five months or so that I’ve been a bee. To be fair, I was a wallflower back then and didn’t participate in anything other than trading patches, which I also did not actively seek. I don’t think it’s easy to be a wallflower any more though, now that the community seems more close-knit and everyone there is as sweet as pie!
Which, really, the people there. They’re super nice and friendly, and make you feel right at home. Do you have any idea how incredibly rare it is to find a community that isn’t snobby or full of drama? I don’t know how it does it, the Quilting Bee must be magical. I just know it’s probably the nicest group of people I’ve ever met on the ‘net, which makes it even funner to participate in activities and the bee*bee*s because it’s all in good fun. 
Speaking of which, the activities! I adore the activities, especially the contests based on entries because then I have the opportunity to trade my entry with others, meet new bees and swoon over their talents. There’s even a chance to earn a special patch and mushroom if enough bees like and vote for your entry, which is always an honor in itself. Plus, I love to pixel, so it’s especially fun for me!
All in all… you don’t have to be the most amazing pixel artist ever to step foot inside the Quilting Bee in order to have fun. If sharing laughs and a little of yourself with kind people sounds like fun to you, the Quilting Bee is the place to go!
