WordPress Envy

I spent today at a workshop on how to build a website using WordPress. Sorry Blogger, but I'm now suffering from WordPress envy. When I first looked in to starting a blog, I did a few google searches on differences between Blogger and WordPress. Since I'm not a highly technical person, I quickly became overwhelmed. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to tell people about my blog, so I couldn't ask anyone I knew for advice. Procrastination and intimidation had already put my blog on hold several times and I already had a Google account, so I decided to jump in using Blogger.

I've been blogging for about seven months now. I'm slowly figuring out what shape my blog is taking. I'm becoming familiar with what I want to be able to do and how to do it. It wasn't until today that I really saw how WordPress would allow me to create more of what I want. I've been frustrated by some of Blogger's constraints. I understand that having a WordPress.com hosted blog will still have constraints (as opposed to a self-hosted WordPress site that will allow further customization with things like plug-ins), but I really like the options for a clean, precise look that WordPress allows. I also don't have to worry about a lot of the technical stuff that would be involved in self-hosting. I may decide to switch to a self-hosted site at a later date, but right now, I'm happy knowing that my WordPress.com site will be secure and stable.

I was asked to take this workshop by my supervisor at work. One of our websites at work is done using WordPress and I may be required to update it in the future. Today's workshop wasn't as applicable to work as I had hoped, but it definitely interested me personally. I registered my own domain and have started to build an updated version of the World's Youngest Senior Citizen blog. I'll slowly work away at creating a look and feel that suits my Youngest Senior persona and hopefully sooner, rather than later, the new Youngest Senior site will be revealed. Until then, keep checking back here for updates and posts!

If you have experience or tips on creating a WordPress blog or switching from Blogger to WordPress I'd love to hear them! Do you think it's a good idea? A stupid idea? Should I wait? Comment away people!

One Year

I've been thinking a lot the past few days about how much life has changed for me in the last year. I know exactly where I was, what I was doing, and how I was feeling one year ago. One part of me feels like it was all just yesterday, and another part feels like that life is completely foreign.

It's not to say that my life is perfect now. There are parts that are hard, annoying and uncomfortable. Take my apartment for instance. It's noisy, surrounded by weird neighbours, and sometimes falls apart, but I love the space that I've created for myself. I've made it my home. I know that all of those hard things are a part of my journey.  

My journey.

Part of the last year has been about owning my decisions and being TRUE to myself. I'm figuring out what exactly I want in  my life and what I don't, and finding ways to make that happen. It's amazing that you can think something is so right, when in hindsight, so much of it wasn't right at all. I'm hoping this journey I'm on, opens my eyes and makes me see my world more clearly. So far I think it has.

People often say it takes half the time you were in a relationship to get over it. It's been one year. I've got two more to go. I can only imagine two years from now, but I sure am excited to continue on this journey.

The Blue Whale Skeleton

Make no bones about it, the public opening of the Blue Whale skeleton at UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Museum was a whale of a good time...

Slacktivism and Shoes

One of my true, materialistic loves in life are shoes. Flats, wedges, boots, heels. Hell, I even enjoy a good running shoe. I try to limit my visits to stores like Gravity Pope because once I see a shoe I like, I become obsessed and very creative. I'll come up with elaborate reasons why I must have those shoes.

I recently discovered TOMS, these cute little summer time, canvas kicks. And the best part? When you buy a pair, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need. In my "I need these shoes" mind, it was a simple decision. By purchasing these shoes, I was really making a charitable donation and just happen to be gaining these shoes as a bonus.

Now sure this is classic slacktivisim, but in the realm of things to feel guilty about, I think slacktivisim is pretty low on the list. I may not be physically going to volunteer, but I'm still making a conscious decision to purchase these shoes over another. Am I really making an excuse to be materialistic and needlessly adding to my shoe collection? No, when it really comes down to it, I'm not. I actually needed a pair of summer shoes and I liked the concept of One For One movement. Now, if I bought another pair in silver glitter, I think that would be another story.

Asi se baila! (So they dance!)

It's been a month since I stopped taking flamenco class and I hadn't really thought much about it, until today when I received an email reminding me of an upcoming show. This led me to looking up flamenco videos on YouTube, and when I hear the music and see the dancers, I want to join in.

I've tried to articulate why I love dancing but I seem to get stuck using words. I think that may be the point though. Dance is about expression through physical means, without words. When I see a piece of dance that I like, and not just flamenco, but all forms of dance, I find myself reacting physically. Sometimes I find myself twitching in response to the dancers movement. Other times, as with this video below, I find I hold my breath and my heart starts to pound.

Flamenco has a very high cheese factor that adds some extra appeal for me. All the ruffles, the polka dots, the flowers in the hair. When else can one dress like that and feel amazing?

It's a very different experience to see flamenco on the street in Barcelona or in small, smokey tablao in Seville, but I never tire of watching flamenco videos. This piece by a husband and wife, is one of my favourites. I've watched this video over and over, I can't tell you how many times, so I thought I would share it with you.

Ole!

Sun, Sorrel, Rhubarb

Today was the first day that really felt like summer. I dug out my summer clothes from underneath my bed, found my capris and headed out to the first Trout Lake Farmers Market of the season. And despite my religious use of sunblock, my shoulders got their first pink sunburn of the summer.

I picked up a few pounds of rhubarb to make a recipe from my Route 66 cookbook tomorrow. There's nothing quite like good American diner fare when it comes to desserts.

I also found some sorrel, which I haven't come across in grocery stores. I remember having sorrel growing in the garden when I was younger. It was my favourite part of having potato leek soup. So of course I picked some up and made that for dinner tonight. Along with a fresh baguette and Qualicum Spice cheese, it was the perfect dinner after a lazy spring day with friends.

Tomorrow I'll be sure to dig out the higher SPF sunblock, because summer is almost here!!

My Week In Facts

I have one of those annoying memories that doesn't remember useful things, like calculus formulas or how to take the derivative, but will retain bizarre tidbits of information. These pieces of information serve no purpose other than occasionally filling awkward silences. I'm kind of like the little boy in Jerry Maguire telling everyone he meets how much a human head weighs (8 pounds...just in case you haven't seen the movie).

So here are a few that have come up in recent weeks...filling any awkward blog silence...

1. Whales have leg (femur) bones.
2. Baby blue whales gain about 200 pounds a day.
3. Basque (from Northern Spain) is a language isolate, meaning that it has no connection to any other language.
4. A group of ravens is called an unkindness of ravens, in the same ways that a group of crows is called a murder of crows.
   
5. Triplets are considered full term at 32 weeks.
6. Don't quote me on this last one, because I haven't had time to fully research it, but it's possible that beavers become intoxicated from too much saltwater.