when I offer you survival, you say it's hard enough to live

28th January, '12 | 09:50 GMT

I really seem to have fallen out of the habit of blogging with decent frequency, haven't I?

It's not even like I don't have any site-related news - it's nothing big, but I've recorded smaller updates here. Find A Laugh and the Triv' Quiz got some advertising last weekend, just because I felt like it. And in between posting 'Bump' to keep the topic up I actually got into a bout of question-making for the Quiz and raised the count from 110 to 130 by Sunday evening. That was quite satisfying.

And, you know, if I can repeat that every once in a while then it would do wonders for FAL's level of maintenance. I know I was saying something quite different a couple of entries ago, about definitely not promising any new effort on that score, but in fact taking the time to advertise and make some new questions maybe once every one or two months is hardly going to impact on my writing schedule. And, perhaps more importantly, I'd enjoy it and I'd feel good about it. AGFL and TEC both get decently regular advertising on the boards - why not FAL?

And, speaking of TECalendar:

26th Jan: I have now added 'external link' icons, thanks to Esomera for helping figure out how to code them. [=D] While naturally no links are leading off Neopets, these icons will instead indicate when a link leads off The Expanded Calendar. (You can see rather a lot of them in the Sitely section, for example.) I've been thinking some type of indicator could be useful for a while now, since one could easily expect some of these 'external' links to lead to one of TEC's own entries when in fact they don't.

And here's a link to that Sitely section in case you actually want to see it in action, but basically it's this: I'd spotted this icon on a few sites lately and I realised it was exactly what I was looking for.

I'd also like to record a bit of pet-related offtopicness: A couple of weeks ago I decided that my Zaffie Ddianc would look good in Grey and I am sooo GLAD I made that choice.

Originally I created Ddianc to zap into a Robot Zafara, a species/colour combo I've always loved. Never got lucky with the lab ray unless you count it zapping her into Ice. I stuck with Ice for ages because, well, it's beautiful and I've always liked Ice pets, too. In between then and now an amazing friend gave me Kimey.

Now, I may like Ice for its beauty but when you get right down to it the colour did not suit Ddianc. Ddianc's personality was rooted too deeply in the Robot concept; the story was, in a nutshell, that she hated her emotions and her weak mortal body as a Red Zafara and travelled Neopia in search of a solution. So originally she was supposed to be transformed into a Robot at the end of her travels. And then she turned Ice and I thought, well, okay, Ice might actually serve in place of Robot quite well in that concept.

BUT. Unfortunately, Ice Zaffies just look too happy. Ddianc might be content to have finally frozen out her emotions or something, but she's never going to be a cheerful soul. The only Zaffies that don't look happy are Ghost, Grey, maybe Halloween, maybe Magma, Robot and Zombie. Sooo I thought well, okay, let's do Grey, then - let's say she's miserable because she never did find that solution she was searching for.

As I said, I'm really happy with this decision. [=D] She finally looks like I've always imagined her, in a way that she never has until now.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Bling (Confession of a King)' by The Killers. ]

when I offer you survival, you say it's hard enough to live

11th January, '12 | 13:50 GMT

I never noticed this track was called Bling until I checked the album just now. [O.o] Usually I make a point of learning song names + why in the world is it called Bling anyway?

I'm back into Key Quest. Haven't played for ages, not because I went off it particularly but because I didn't have the motivation. I didn't have the motivation because I didn't really have any goals, aside from working on my gallery 2 Syllables.

What's changed? I recently set myself the goal of reaching 43,800,000 neopoints in the bank. 43.8 million is significant because it should produce a daily interest of 15 thousand for dumping into the stocks - at least, this explains why I picked 43.8 as opposed to any other large, arbitrary figure. While yes, making stock neopoints with a click of a button every day would please me immensely, in actual fact I don't think I'm likely to reach this goal in the near future. One trait I'm deficient in - which is evident in some pursuits more than others - is perseverance. Analogy: I don't do marathons, I do sprints. Making neopoints has never been very important to me so hasn't offered the motivation for overcoming this deficiency.

Plus the activity itself isn't right up my street: Unlike writing or maintaining my sites, it isn't creative. I enjoy Key Quest more than the regular gamesroom games because the powerups and multiplayer factors give me room to exercise the ol' strategy muscle a little, which is precisely what I need to stop me getting bored out of my mind. Restocking would frustrate me because, after you've memorised what items to buy or not buy, it seems very much luck of the draw. Or essentially so - in actual fact I guess it's down to the speed of your computer and internet connection and how alert you are, but in practice that would probably come across as luck. And really - how alert you are? Do I really want to be sitting here on tenterhooks, waiting for the restock so I can be the first to jump on the good items? No thanks (I get stressed too easily, besides).

So there you have it: Why Weapon can't do anything other than play KQ and the stockmarket.

You never realised I was so inept, did you? Oh, you say you did? [D'=]

In other news, I found a Patamoose in the Faerie Caverns this morning. That was a first. It's cute (the description reads 'What it lacks in intelligence, it makes up for with pink') but it did go straight on the Trading Post. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Bling (Confession of a King)' by The Killers. ]

you are the bearer of unconditional things

8th January, '12 | 12:05 GMT

http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=531867&issue=527

I don't do resolutions, but if there was such a thing as New Year Wishes then maybe... mm yes... I think a plot would be high on the list. Please TNT? It's been rather a while since TFR now. [:3]

...

How about I resolve to keep my sites' maintained to the same degree they were in 2011?

Really if I were to go, 'Right! I'm going to do X this year!' it would be finish writing a story of a decent size, but I have been attempting this for several years now and I don't think making an official resolution on the subject is going to bolster my continuing efforts. It's actually made progress lately anyway, all on its own.

AGFL is the only challenge when it comes to keeping it maintained as it is now, and it's a good challenge. It fills in the gaps, when I'm sick of writing. It works. [C:]

As for the other sites... It could be argued that I should put in a bit more effort with FAL and the Quiz (meaning I think I should sometimes) but I'm not going to make any promises on the issue. To be specific what I think it needs is more activity in the adding-screenie-pages department; I add people when they ask to be added, but I haven't advertised to garner more interest in ages. I expect I'll make time for that eventually... whenever eventually might be.

So yes. Basically, I think the level of maintenance is okay-could-be-better, but since my writing is more important I'll be happy to keep it up to where it is now.

So I guess that's my resolution?

[ Lyrics in header from 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette. ]

you'll say, the world has come between us

23rd December, '11 | 12:05 GMT

Hello, dear neglected blog.

http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=531093&issue=526

I feel the need to share this beautiful little comic from this week's Neopian Times. Because it's beautiful. (Sorry I can't do a proper link; it's the filters.)

[ Lyrics in header from 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' by Deep Blue Something. ]

and I said, well that's, the one thing we got

5th December, '11 | 17:10 GMT

Spent some time working on FAL last week because I decided to add new info to the screenie listings. They now tell visitors whether or not a screenie page includes illustrations. This didn't take too much time to do - or at least, not much more time than a regular link sweep, when I'm only checking for vanished pages.

I'm now also including 'likes' in the same list as new additions (just prior to the listings). This was designed to prevent me forgetting to input submitted likes properly, though on consideration I am now hoping it will also elevate the feature so that it gains more attention from visitors.

AGFL had a slow November. It had the lowest takens and addings since I started summarising the months, in July.

Sometimes I get the impression that more names get taken the more I add them. Which seems somewhat backward. I mean, yes, I can understand if 30-50 new additions might inspire some impulse creations, but I can't imagine that being a terribly common occurrence. Some weeks I will only be motivated to find new names if the takens are eroding large chunks out of the totals, in which case I'm not sure I'd like the idea that my adding new names is only going to inspire more and more to be used, haha.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' by Deep Blue Something. ]

we found love in a hopeless place

28th November, '11 | 17:35 GMT

I like what they've done with the Games Master Challenge this year. Brains vs Brawn. I have read on the Neoboards that some preferred to be trying to beat their personal bests to trying to beat the other team, but it isn't as though we as individuals can really see our own impact on the team score. If one isn't at all interested in the battle between Brains and Brawn then one can refrain from completing the bonuses; Neopets' info states that the bonuses won't affect which trophy we achieve.

Not that I mean to write off this opinion; I can understand the disinterest of, or indeed the dislike of, this new competitive vibe. I just don't find it particularly unlikable myself.

I can see it becoming unwholesome if repeated next year. While this year it has added a fresh spin to an event that has otherwise continued largely untweaked for five years, the novelty factor will naturally be lost once it is no longer novel.

I imagine the 'little to no impact' aspect of the team scoring would become 'stupid and annoying', rather than 'just how it works'. The fact that, as individuals, we can have no visible affect on the outcome is also a downside, after all. This is one thing I don't like about the Altador Cup; many have chosen their teams over the years and will stick to them. Plus, these days we know fairly well which teams are in with a chance of winning and which are not. I admit I don't think the Cup has been utterly predictable - we have had different winners every year. But it is mostly predictable. It isn't the only reason I have lost interest in the AC, but it is one of them; I found it vastly more interesting the first year, when next to nothing was expected.

In writing this I do, however, find myself wondering: The AC is one thing, but the GMC is different due to the fact that there are only two teams. If it were repeated, I could see continued interest being generated by the possibility of 'trying out the other side'. I for one would seriously consider joining Team Brawn (I was a Brain this year) purely to see if I could fair as well on action-related games as I did on puzzle ones.

So... yes: On consideration, I wouldn't mind seeing Brains vs Brawn return next year, if it did. I would probably rather see a different novel spin instead, if one were forthcoming, but if not you won't hear me complaining. Not until the third year at least. [C;]

[ Lyrics in header from 'We Found Love' by Rihanna, Calvin Harris. ]

it feels like home to me

15th November, '11 | 11:35 GMT

Six years ago today, a friend I was talking to over the Internet mentioned she was playing on a site called Neopets.com. Had I heard of it? No. Did I go and have a look? That would be a yes.

Five years ago today, or perhaps slightly less, I finally noticed that I had signed up on Neo's birthday.

Last year I celebrated half a decide; this year I get to be proud (or horrified, if you like) of the fact that I have been here for half the site's existence (Neo itself is celebrating twelve years today).

I'm really, really glad I found you, Neopets. [C=]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Feels Like Home' by Edwina Hayes. ]

i like your company, got a fresh philosophy

21st October, '11 | 12:30 BST

[-sigh-] The website on which I host most of my sites' images hasn't been working properly for the last few days. Meaning the images aren't showing up (happily, this isn't as catastrophic as it might have been; by chance Solution's layout is the only one really suffering from their absence). This has happened before once or twice, so I'm not particularly worried - I'm expecting it to be back up any time now. With luck.

Today I was startled to notice that The Expanded Calendar is over five months old already. It will have been around for half a year on the 7th November. Where does the time go?

I'm quite pleased with TEC at the moment. For a while there, the initial construction being complete, there was very little to maintain. And worse, I wasn't sure how I was going to get the word out about its existence because there are only so many times one can create a topic on the Help Chat asking if anyone can think of missing information.

That said, in the last couple of months I have made quite a few news posts recording minor updates. So there are things going on. As for advertising, it struck me that perhaps I could advertise the events TEC contains - but obviously not each and every one, because that would be spammy and tedious. So at the start of October (on the 3rd, I think) I created a topic on the HC listing all the events that were happening that month. I think that's going to be the way to go really. If all goes well people will find the notification useful in itself, as well as it bringing their attention to an informative new site.

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Don't Want to Be a Bride' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

18th October, '11 | 11:50 BST

Only about 16,000 Jetsam were released on Sunday and only 10,000 were created before the release cut off at the end of Monday.

I was away that weekend (attending my grandparent's golden wedding anniversary, as it happens) and so I couldn't spend the day bumping my usual 'untaken names' topic on the Help Chat. On Saturday morning I asked the HC if anyone would be willing to create the topic in my stead and Sleepingsheep101 volunteered, so if you were on the HC on Sunday you may have seen her doing my work for me. [n.n] At least she had some help in keeping the topic bumped.

I think in all this Jetsam Day took about 50 names from AGFL. Thing is I also wasn't around to check+remove names on Sunday morning, so names used on Saturday are in the same bunch. Taking the 52 names used on Saturday/Sunday and the unremarkable 10 used on Monday, I think it's accurate enough to approximate the overall as 50.

Last year took 71 but a larger 35,000 were released, so...

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on

21st September, '11 | 10:00 BST

Well, well. Poogle Day saw the largest release of any LE pet that I have yet recorded (since early '10) with a whopping 44,000.

The batches started at 12:53 on Monday, one hour after midnight. They seemed to be releasing 1,000 about twice an hour to begin with - whether they changed tactic at all I don't know, but after a while the available Poogles stopped running out between batches. By the end of the day the numbers on the Popularity page showed that the full 44,000 had been released but only about 24,000 Poogles had yet been created, meaning there were 20,000 still sitting in Create-A-Pet.

And they stayed available for the entirety of Tuesday, too, which was nice. About 7,000 more were created during that time. The release 'cut off' as we turned into Wednesday, just a few hours ago, leaving 13,000 unclaimed Poogles to mark the first significant difference between their created and released stats on the Popularity page:

Poogle: 572,217 (out of 585,400)

As for A Gift For Life, the Poogles took 270 petnames the first day and 53 the second. So, in total, 323. And do you know what the weird thing is? The I-checked-my-maths-three-times weird thing? [O.O] Well, hop down to the entry for 20th Sept '10 and see for yourself.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. ]

13th September, '11 | 14:55 BST

Hello!

I've finished my game plotting. Hurrah! Get to forget about it now until late October. [=D]

Not much else to report project-wise. I'm very very slowly bringing AGFL's Real Words up to 500, but aside from that I haven't really done anything on my sites. I keep getting twinges of guilt that I haven't added any new questions to the Triv' Quiz in forever and have to remind myself that, when there are 110 questions there already, it isn't the end of the world. It's just that I never intended (and still don't) to stop making new ones (at least not before Q1,000). I certainly don't need to introduce new ones every week or anything, but it's now been three months...

But I don't want to fill up this entry with my guilt! [C;] If it were bothering me that much I expect I would sit down and make some.

Something I found myself stewing on recently, regarding TEC, is what I should do with entries that aren't annual events anymore. TNT recently announced in the NT Editorial that the Style Showdown has been discontinued until it has been improved or replaced with something better, hence it not appearing this year. While I have updated the entry with this information, strictly speaking I suppose I ought to remove it entirely; it is no longer an annual event and does not belong on the calendar. On the other hand it's serving to inform visitors of why the Style Showdown hasn't happened this year. So I am leaving it be for now, but I'm still not sure when I should take it down...

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

there's no fundamental excuse for the granted I'm taken for

27th August, '11 | 21:45 BST

I wrote and published (in the Neopian Times) a guide about screenies around two and a half years ago. Last month I was rereading it and decided it was rather badly written in places - and besides which my views have changed somewhat - so I penned a new one. It got into the Mutant Day issue just out. Called 'A World of Screenies', eighth down under Articles. I love the image they did for it. [C:]

What else have I been up to? I've been blogging so infrequently lately! Sometimes I just seem to have less to say, you know?

In October last year I mentioned a 'lifesize boardgame' a few times; it was a game I designed for close family/friends to play on my birthday. What I did, essentially, was create a generic boardgame with event cards and dice rolls, but then I took a satellite picture of a particular location and superimposed the board's squares onto it, along the paths. So when the time came I had everybody walking around this location while they played the game.

I've already started making another game for this year. I'm trying to be well-prepared (looking back on those October '10 entries surprised me; I'd forgotten how last minute my final touches were!). This new game isn't a boardgame as such - it's more like a series of puzzles - but it will still have the team wandering around outdoors. So that's one thing that I've been up to: plotting.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Wake Up' by Alanis Morissette. ]

you ask how my day was, you've already won me over

23rd August, '11 | 13:05 BST

Voting for Turnip's Golden Sandwich Awards has come to a keenly awaited end and so the results are now in and you should definitely go see where everyone placed. I've recorded my sites' achievement below:

• A Gift For Life placed 1st in Best Untaken Names Site (10 votes).
• Find A Laugh placed 4th in Best Link Directory (1 vote)
• The Triv' Quiz placed 3rd in Best Site Idea (4 votes) and was also chosen for Turnip's Pick for that category.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette. ]

you ask how my day was, you've already won me over

8th August, '11 | 11:35 BST

For a while there I kinda didn't want to blog until I had some progress to report regarding Solutions's* layout. But I spent a week or so in Uninspired Land.

And then... Then it hit me. A chunk of Inspiration.

It isn't amazing or anything. I'm not even 100% satisfied with it, to be perfectly honest, although I'm terribly pleased with the title image (go look if you haven't already). Actually I think possibly the thing needs a fixed background image instead of the blank #000. Yeah. That would help. Would give it depth. Might try and find one later.

*Somehow two-lettered acronyms don't seem long enough and so it feels weird when I refer to Filter Solutions as FS. I toyed briefly with FilSol as an alternative abbreviation, but I think Solutions flows better even if the possessive Solutions's doesn't. (Solutions' isn't possible because when I hyperlink it the apostrophe gets eaten, being next to the HTML tag.)

In other news, point #4 on the 17th's To-Do list ('Secret Mini-Plot') can now proceed as soon as I've finished it. It was waiting on Solutions's new layout, you see.

In still other news, my sites received a very flattering splattering of nominations in Turnip's Golden Sandwich Awards. Somehow, unlike most awards sites, this one has gone high profile and is definitely worth watching.

FAL got one for Best Link Directory and one for Most Unique Site, Solutions got one for Best Guide, AGFL got twelve (!!) for Best Untaken Name Site, and I even got a nom for Favourite Site Owner. [n.n;] But only the top five for each nom category goes into the voting, so that's AGFL and (surprisingly) FAL. And I don't think it was nominated for by the general public but there's a Special Category called Best Site Idea and The Triv Quiz is in that.

But really the best thing about the GSAwards is that people are encouraged to submit comments while they're nominating and voting. So while I'd be joyous enough to hear that twelve (!!!!) people nominated AGFL, it's even more awesome to see ten remarks on why these people think it deserves those noms.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette. ]

sarah smiles like does / n't care, she lives in her world so unaware

18th July, '11 | 10:30 BST

Okay, I have four and a half sites.

Completed points #1 and #3 from last entry.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Sarah Smiles' by Panic! At The Disco. ]

and you say we're too young but maybe you're too old to remember

17th July, '11 | 12:20 BST

Decided to close I Just Won The Game this morning. I've been considering the phenomenon whereby some people would say I have six or seven sites while I would say I only really have three; in a way, it bothers me that I have sites that I don't give as much attention to as one might expect due to them being called 'sites'. I think it's time for some pruning.

Since there's nothing I can do to make IJWTG bigger or better in some way and - more problematically - since the page it refers to has been taken down, I think it's had its day.

To-Do List

1. My screenie page is going to receive a big 'ARCHIVED' sign at the top, since I don't update anymore (haven't for aaages).
2. Filter Solutions is going to receive a new layout* and probably some general TLC while I'm about it.
3. The Triv' Quiz is going to receive a 'Listers' section so that I can have it listed in directories, independent of FAL. It will still be considered part of FAL however and I definitely don't plan on finding it affiliates.
4. Work on secret mini-plot. Shhh!

*Poor FS has never had its own layout; the layout it's using at the moment was borrowed from my About Me page when it was first hastily created.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Who's To Say' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

and you say we're too young but maybe you're too old to remember

12th July, '11 | 09:30 BST

So I get on this morning and Krawk Island is being menaced by the kraken. (Or 'krawken', as someone put it.) Wouldn't it be funny if Krawk Island just disappeared? Without giving us any opportunity to do anything about it? Needs a redraw, after all.

Anyway, what I was intending to blog about was A Gift For Life's new layout.

I think it may be the most colourful layout I have ever created (well... excluding this one, perhaps). As mentioned in AGFL's news, the 'layout' of where different sections sit is much the same as in the last one. It's the graphics and styling that have changed.

I had been less than perfectly happy with the old layout for a while. I realised a couple of months ago that I didn't like the way the 'edges' of the layout were above the content (by 'above' I mean they had shadows so that they appeared so). I didn't think it leant itself to a clean and open atmosphere.

And then I finally snagged a review at The Teahouse. I think I had wanted to have Find A Laugh reviewed originally, but when Rica's 'Reviews Are Open!' neomail popped into my inbox a few days ago I didn't feel the need to have FAL looked at. So I thought it might be constructive to have AGFL reviewed instead. And it was. Rica's reviews are so well done.

Well, Rica didn't think terribly much of the old layout either. It was practical and organised, but the styling wasn't particularly cohesive and she didn't think it was eye-catching or memorable. Actually, it was the title's graphic that she didn't think was eye-catching. Which I had to agree with.

Having the confirmation that someone else didn't think the layout was amazing set me back on the 'I want to change the layout' path. I've been down that one before, with AGFL. Didn't get very far. But maybe that was because I always tried to come up with a better layout instead of just better graphics? This time around I was sitting here just wondering how I could make the title more 'eye-catching' and the idea of using blue, red, green and yellow - those four iconic colours - popped into my head. It had me in love from the first moment. What could possibly be more perfect for an untaken names site than a colour scheme that uses those four colours that (nearly) every pet has to start as?

I have played with the idea of having the different sections of a site coloured differently before, since discovering that it would be possible coding-wise. I remember trying to draw some kind of plant/vine thing that would gradually go through the colours as it wended its way down one side of the boxes or something, but that never worked out.

I am so, so pleased with the result. Too pleased to speak of really. It's like when I first made FAL's title graphic; I was so struck with it that I would just sit there admiring my own handiwork. Disgusting behaviour! [;D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Who's To Say' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

and you say we're too young but maybe you're too old to remember

2nd July, '11 | 09:50 BST

The Fantasy section at AGFL is still disappearing down a blackhole. Not that I mind or anything. I mean, I keep mentioning it but only because it's surprising. I had it boosted up to very nearly five hundred about two weeks ago; now it's almost dropped past four hundred again. I'm beginning to wonder if it's an illusion, actually; I have changed the way I add names, going from twenty a day to larger batches every few days. Maybe I'm just not achieving the same numbers.

I'm writing again, so apt to spend every minute of the day typing/thinking (pretty much what I did yesterday) but this morning I made up a small list of things that I'm going to do before I return to my story. It includes name-making, cleaning sea glass I picked up on Thursday, and going for a walk (gotta get those vitamin Ds).

[ Lyrics in header from 'Who's To Say' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

21st June, '11 | 16:50 BST

Not been the most frequent blogger lately, have I? Doesn't feel like it to me, at least.

Well, I have some news, even if it isn't relevent to Neo: I now have a little sister. [=D] Her name is River (second name Teagan) and she arrived the morning of the 19th. Generally I'm not one to get enthused over babies (well they don't do much, do they?) but looking down at her I couldn't shake a feeling of wonderment. They're pretty amazing, babies.

The Fantasy section at AGFL has been draining away at a rate of knots lately. It's always been most popular but I'm sure it's being depleted faster than usual. Today I've been making a ton to try to keep ahead of the black hole; they shall probably take me half the morning to add tomorrow.

Last week I came across something that needed adding to TEC but, unwisely, I did not even write a note to remind myself to do so. So, while I know I did find something, I have entirely forgotten what the thing was. Which is annoying, to say the least. It's been bugging me for days.

[ Lyrics in header from 'American Pie' by Don McLean. ]

nobody can tell you there's only one song worth singing

10th June, '11 | 18:20 BST

Hi! [=D] Guess which avatar I was blessed with a couple of days ago?

I've always loved that one. I've probably been visiting the Tomb for the better part of the five and a half years I've been on here; it's been a permanent feature in my dailies lists as far as I can remember and there have been few periods when I wasn't doing my dailies.

So, I just finished spending a few days redesigning TEC's layout. I know, I know - only a month since I opened the site! But I decided I wasn't using the space to its best advantage and from there the idea was unstoppable, despite the fact that it was very slow-going once I had started (unlike most of my layouts, I had more difficulties coding it than I had creating the graphics for it). I do think it's an improvement. At least one person prefers the old layout, but hey. We all have our own opinions, thankfully.

I'm stewing over whether or not to add a Public Calendar to TEC - which would be a section where users could add their own stuff, like their birthdays or whatever they wanted. But I'm not sure if it would be used or not. Another user - can't remember the username but they might have been known as Wizard unless I'm getting people mixed up - once had a calendar site that was first and foremost for this. But apparently not very many people were interested in adding anything to it. I can't know how much advertising the owner did, of course, but I can imagine this happening. Lack of interest. I mean, what's the point? Maybe one could hope for a bit of attention on one's birthday if the date was up there, but what else would anyone be inclined to add to the calendar?

If people did use it, however, that would be good. It would give me a better reason to spend time advertising it on the Help Chat ('Can you think of anything I've missed?' is bound to get old) and if the site as a whole serves two very different functions (the annual events and the account age stuff is informative, factual, like a guide; the Public Calendar would be more like... amusement, I suppose) then it would be of interest to a wider audience.

Of course I also have to consider the fact that if I try to get people to send in lots of stuff for the Public Calendar then it, well, will be more work. As I've mentioned in previous entries, I only allowed myself to make TEC because it would take time being made and then it would be done. It doesn't, at the moment, require much maintenance at all. The lack of maintenance almost bothers me, to be honest. It feels weird to just let a site sit and not be doing any work on it. But the point is: Would it be okay? I think it would. It shouldn't, in theory, be much of a toll to chuck new dates up there. It's more of a toll when I find an event I haven't covered and I have to go and research it, haha...

I might ask the Help Chat. See if anyone expresses any interest.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Make Your Own Kind Of Music' by Mama Cass. ]

you're listening to the sound of my breaking heart

2nd June, '11 | 10:00 BST

Courier has finished closing. Last ever tracking message was sent today and I've just spent the last half hour or so sending out notifications to Cour's affiliates and listers. All that's left up there is the 'why' explanation from the updates and a few words from Sariah, Cael, Marie, Tim and Edvin. I guess I'll take even that down eventually.

And, aw, I just removed Cour from the list of my sites on my userlookup. I'm feeling mildly melancholy. I don't think the existence of those five characters is making the parting any easier.

Speaking of my userlookup, I'm now keeping a record of my adventures with the Wheel of Extravangance up there. My intro could do with being rewritten actually. I haven't played Key Quest for yonks, for one thing.

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Really Want You' by James Blunt. ]

1st June, '11 | 10:00 BST

Okay, so, Koi Day. To quote what I wrote in AGFL's news for the 28th:

I think they released 20,000 but only about 9,000 were actually created. This going by the Pet Popularity page and my stats: before Koi Day they were at 389,306 (out of 401,500), now they're at 398,767 (out of 421,500).

I can only assume TNT decided to cut off the release, though we hadn't used up the full 20,000, to prevent them being available for days on end.

An odd thing: When they first appeared in Create-A-Pet I noticed a single announcement about it on the Help Chat and I checked the Pet Popularity page to see if it was the real thing or if they were just trying to wind us up. The release count (the one in parentheses) hadn't moved from 401,500, so at first I took it to be the latter. Only after a number of Koi appeared in people's active pet slots on the boards did I check the popularity again. The release count still hadn't moved at that point, but I did notice the created count (the first number) was going up.

The Koi remained available in Create-A-Pet since about 11:00 am NST on the 25th to at least 01:00 am NST on the 27th. So half a day on the first, the whole of day two and possibly some of day three (I only know for a fact that they had gone by 01:00 am on the 28th).

Reading over that last paragraph I realise it implies that they weren't released in staggered batches and just came out in one huge lot that sat there all day. I don't actually know. I wasn't watching the Pet Popularity page with much vigilance. But, as explained, the release count certainly hadn't moved when they first became available. As odd as that was, the fact that it didn't immediately go to 421,500 implies to me that there may have been batches.

One would hardly know they had been available at all going by the taken names though. Those three days took 15, 4 and 10 respectively. [o.o]

With my blogging being less than frequent at the moment I don't think I mentioned that I was interviewed the other week, did I? Stella interviewed me about my sites for Blank Canvas Magazine. The June issue just came out and so the interview can currently be found here, though I imagine that link won't work come the next issue. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Definitely the most entertaining interview I've ever been asked to participate in. [;D]

[ Lyrics in header from ' ' . ]

applause, applause, no wait wait...

26th May, '11 | 10:25 BST

Koi Day yesterday, but when I checked a couple of hours ago they were still available in Create-A-Pet so I won't be giving you the stats yet.

After last week's blog entry I had a good think about the situation with Courier and decided it's time to close it. I think the easiest thing will be to quote what I wrote in Cour's last news entry:

| 18th May

I have made the decision that I have been thinking about for some time. I'm closing Courier. There are announcements on Entrance and Send A Gift. After the 31st May we'll stop receiving requests and the site will be taken down a few days later (once any outstanding requests have finished their journeys).

| Why are you closing?

While there has been a gratifying ratio of positive, delighted responses to Courier's gift-sending service, there have been far too many instances of Neopians being spooked by the 'weird, random neomails' they have received. I have been blocked on several occasions and I think I may have been reported once or twice as well. I just can't continue sending out unsolicited messages if it's going to scare people as a result.

I don't consider Courier a failure that I am reluctantly being forced to take down. Courier was opened on the 10th August in 2009 - it's had nearly two years, has sent out nearly six hundred gifts and has on the whole received a great response. Without wanting to sound too phoney, I am very very happy with the time it's had. [C=]

I sent in 'sitely news' about Courier's closing to Soroptimist Directory and, as a result, have had a pleasant number of requests over the last few days. It may sound contrary - advertising when I'm about to close - but requests had been thin on the ground over the last few months and I really didn't want to 'slink off' without giving Courier's customers the chance to send a last gift or two.

I doubt it needs pointing out but my recently opening TEC has nothing to do with my closing Cour. The issue with people getting unnerved by 'weird, random neomails' has existed since Day 1; I've been trying to see my way around it for ages, but now I'm admitting that I've reached a dead end.

In other news, hey, the Altador Cup is back again. Per habit I've signed up to support Haunted Woods, not that I've been much help to anyone after ACI. I'm not encouraged by what I hear about Yooyuball's changes this year. Apparently it's insanely difficult to play now that we can't use the mouse. I almost dare not try it, haha. M-City likes his new Altador Cup Haunted Woods Frame though.

I slacked off on the Triv' Quiz over Cybunny Day and Hissi Day but I did some advertising a couple of days ago and made twenty more questions. My mind is reattuned to it; I stumbled across an idea for a new question while doing my dailies this morning. Must do AGFL some names today though.

Oh and I wanted to mention How To Offer Great Service. It's a guide, by Tloef, about service in site-making. To my astonishment I agreed with every word. This is surprising because I'm so used to finding at least a couple of points I could argue with in reviews and in those guides that Cass writes for Soroptimist's events.

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Only Difference Between...' by Panic! At The Disco. ]

and if the answer is no can I change your mind?

18th May, '11 | 11:30 BST

My timestamps being in 'BST' reminded me about the daylight saving time changes - something else to add to The Expanded Calendar. Which is going wonderfully, by the way. I finished the initial construction a few days ago, so it's officially 'open' if it wasn't before. Got listed in a bunch of directories, two of which featured TEC for that week. Job satisfaction.

I haven't run out of steam yet though. So I'm sitting there staring at the page trying to think of more things to add when most likely there isn't much missing. Hah. So much for it being 'a good thing' that it's a short project.

In other news I had a spurt of Courier requests after a recipient got panicky and posted on the Help Chat about this 'weird neomail' they received. Oh Cour. I think that's all I can say now; 'oh Cour'. What are we going to do with you, eh?

[ Lyrics in header from 'Change Your Mind' by The Killers. ]

suppose it's just a point of view, but they tell me I'm doing fine

9th May, '11 | 19:20 BST

So I kind of made another site. Guilty. Ahaha...

But actually it won't be taking up much time once I've finished the creation process. I wouldn't have let myself if I wasn't confident about that.

It's called The Expanded Calendar and is, as may be evident from the title, something to do with this. I've always felt that a Neopian calendar could potentially be about 500% more informative than the official Calendar. But it was only this Saturday that it really struck me that it was a concept fit for a petpage. And, while considering that, the layout design snaked into my head. It was too late by that point; no way could I pass up the opportunity to create that idea with that layout.

But yeah, TEC (ooh we have an acronym already) is still under construction. I think I've got the layout and title image down to my satisfaction (the seafaring theme is in honour of Scable/Mawf, whose father was a pirate). Compiling the information is a slow process though. Most of the entries there were basically pasted in from Neo's Calendar, so once I've finished them I'll need to see what else I can include. Will probably consult the Help Chat at that point; get some critique and advertising in there while I'm about it.

[ Lyrics in header from 'No Regrets' by Robbie Williams. ]

take a step and I'm on my way

6th May, '11 | 16:05 BST

Hi. So Cybunny Day and Hissi Day were interesting. Both, I think, tested the resolve of those waiting for releases. The Cybunnies only started releasing at about 09:00 am NST - nine hours into the day, essentially, this when people were hoping for a first batch immediately after midnight as TNT have been known to do on previous LE days. Fortunately I think most people were prepared for a wait after Lutari Day (01:00 pm) and Chomby Day (03:00 pm).

The Hissi didn't start releasing until about 08:30 pm (this I gleaned from a discussion on the matter the follow day, since I had retired to bed by then). One hundred and twenty-three names had been used from AGFL, although when I went to the Neopet Popularity page I found they had only released seven thousand! Admittedly, that was in only three and a half hours.

I soon realised batches were actually still being released, although there was barely a sign of enthusiasm about that fact on the Help Chat. Still, there was a steady trickle of people coming on and being pleased to find Hissi were available so I made a topic to alert people about it. I didn't keep it bumped up all day like Wednesday's topic but I did post whenever another thousand or two were released, since I was keeping an eye on the Popularity page.

From my 08:00 am to my evening they released about six thousand and when I got on again this morning the count had gone up by another seven thousand. There's actually still a bunch available for creation at the time of writing, though they have stopped being released. They are slowly being used up, as one can see from the first count on the Popularity page (while the release count is the one in brackets).

24/04/2011: 60 pageviews
25/04/2011: 60 pageviews
26/04/2011: 200 pageviews
27/04/2011: 730 pageviews
28/04/2011: 130 pageviews
29/04/2011: 80 pageviews
30/04/2011: 60 pageviews
01/05/2011: 120 pageviews
02/05/2011: 100 pageviews
03/05/2011: 90 pageviews
04/05/2011: 290 pageviews
05/05/2011: 100 pageviews

Cybunny Day took 216 names from AGFL with 20,000 released total. This surprised me by being considerably less than last year's 299 names (with a release of either 15k or 25k - I never found out for sure).

Hissi Day took 123 on Wednesday and a further 71 yesterday. Tomorrow I'll edit this to include however many get used today. TNT released a total of 19,000 of them in the end. Last year they released 30,000 with 219 names being taken.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Battle Frontier' by Pokemon. ]

22nd April, '11 | 15:15 BST

I have a lot buzzing around in my head that I need to talk about. So, kicking off with my usual Limited Edition pet day recap... Lutari were released on their day on the 19th - 14,000 of them to be exact. One hundred and forty names were used from AGFL (in return AGFL got 440 pageviews).

People were growing more and more sure that they weren't going to be released (weren't last year, after all) as the day wore on, until they finally made an appearance at around 01:00pm NST.

Find A Laugh. I have literally done very little but work on FAL over the last four days. I may have stumbled upon a bright idea late August last year in the form of the 'Like' system, but when I expected that brainwave to lead to plenty more improvements I was kinda disappointed. And then in March I started making some renovations, but I had to put it to the side because of college.

But now... I don't even know what happened. Did someone hit me over the head? I sat down on Monday to see what I could do about those renovations and suddenly everything that was wrong with FAL was blindingly obvious. I'm not even going to allow myself to start listing the changes I've made - it's detailed in FAL's own updates if you happen to be interested.

That said, one of the changes was to spend several hours buried in the screenie listings changing the 'pet' links to the actual title of each page. And swapping that and the 'user' around so that the title is at the top of its box. Cause my epiphany made me realise that it made absolutely no sense that the actual link to the actual screenie page wasn't the first thing you came to.

Not entirely sure why it was ever like that in the first place. I mean, okay, yes, at some point in the hazy past I made the decision to alphabetise the listings by username rather than petname, but why I never considered titles as a third option is somewhat puzzling. Puzzling but not an enigma. We are talking somewhere around four years ago, I'd point out; sites were different and less numerous. I can name more screenie directories than regular directories that were around then and I definitely don't remember any screenie directories listing by title. It was always username or petnames. Because - and this is still true - screenie pages are so informal and many don't have titles. So I can see why I, looking around at what site-making was then, might not have considered titles.

On the other hand, I'm now including titles and I think it is such an important improvement. It gives the listings their individuality back. Or their opportunity to be individual, I should say - I'd be the first to raise my eyebrows and grin at how the vast majority are called "[username or nickname]'s Screenies". But it's a name. Names are at the heart of identity. They don't have to be unique. Somehow, I look at all those uninspired titles on FAL and I feel they're far more important than who the page belongs to and what types of screenies it contains and when I added it to the directory. I'm really happy about it.

The other thing I need to get off my chest is Courier. Oh, Courier. I said, on the 8th of January, and I shall quote: 'I've decided for the moment that I am not closing Courier.' Well, that was very shortly before TNT ran a sword through much of our coding.

I've already complained endlessly about them taking away the ampersand that allowed us to create wonderfully preformed neomails for the ease of our visitors. I still don't understand how they can leave us without that piece of coding, since we also can't link to Neopian Times articles properly without the ampersand. I mean seriously? This is what I call 'the site not functioning correctly', TNT.

So yes, I complained. And eventually I realised it wasn't going to be fixed so I went around sorting out my sites so they functioned without it. I figured we'd just have to deal with it. But, you know, I'm not sure 'dealing with it' is entirely possibly. The problem isn't in that site-makers sorely miss their favourite piece of coding; the problem is that, thanks to its very widespread use, our visitors have come to depend on it in a way.

You'll find forms everyone on the Internet. Personally I've never been at a loss as to what to put in a neomail when someone hasn't laid it all out for me, but I have had cause to pause outside of Neopets. Just another site somewhere and I needed to request a new word because I had forgotten my previous one. There was no form, no detailed instructions, no special programming that could automatically send me a new one if I just typed my username into a box. It just told me the email address to write to to request the new word. I think it took me several minutes, thanks to my self-doubt and perfectionism, to write that email.

I don't think it's that people are dumb or something. It isn't that we're entirely incapable of thinking for ourselves. It's just that we get used to things. People got used to being able to report a site's error by finding a specific link that would lead them to a specific neomail with 'Error' already in the subject line. Because you can depend on something like that. If the site-maker has already got it set up how they like it, it's easier for everyone and no one's going to get cross about 'idiots' who leave out important information from their requests.

I wasn't sure at first. I would think it's all fairly 'Yes, nod, that makes sense' but I wasn't sure. Now, I have a poll up on AGFL at the moment. It's been up there for over two weeks and I have not received a single neomail about it. The last poll - which, if anything, was less relevant to AGFL - was up for only one week before I took it down, it having already brought in 20 votes. This was before the coding change, so visitors could click on whichever option they wanted to vote for and the neomail would have 'AGFL - Poll' in the subject line and their vote already in the message. All they needed to do was press send.

How does this long-winded expostulation relate to Courier? Well, guess how many Courier requests I've had since the 31st January when visitors could no longer just click on the gift they want and press send? Precisely one.

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

someone is trying to blow your mind away!

15th April, '11 | 13:25 BST

I should really have known making my pets petlookups would also entail time spent fine-tuning characters and customisation. Then again, it might'nt have stopped me had I realised...

Kel for one is very chuffed with her new gloves, which match her scarf and tunic so perfectly. [=D]

There have been a whole bunch of new and awesome np backgrounds released recently. [=O] Just got the Neopia Central Neohome Background for Zero, which is great since he is supposed to live in Neopia Central and it brightens him up a lot. With him being painted Shadow, I'd been struggling to achieve a customisation that made him look nice but I think I'm close here.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Best Of Order' by David Sneddon. ]

with a sense of poise and rationality

8th April, '11 | 10:45 BST

Dear Blog. Interesting day yesterday. Though I ought to be concentrating on my college photography project as it's due in Monday, I was distracted by how several of my pets' lookups are slightly broken (thanks to the latest filter changes). I went in search of replacements but all the premade sites I looked at were either:

• a) not updated since the filter changes
• b) not to my taste

It may come as a surprise that I don't design my own petlookups I suppose. I'd just never learned, much like how it took me so very long to get around to learning userlookup coding (and I'm still not confident with it). I fell for petpages and, by comparison, other areas feel stifling. You have to work around the modules. You have to know what you can and can't do to the modules. Modules modules modules.

Still, I realised at this point that if I wanted some petlookup layouts that I really liked I would have to do them myself. So I found a site that explains the modules and basically experimented until I'd achieved something satisfactory. It's turned out pretty simple looking but I'm going to brighten it up by making individual border graphics (along the lines of the multicoloured one here on this blog) for each pet. So far I've done Raydth and Zero. I have... lots to go. It's going to take a while. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' by Panic! At The Disco. ]

with a sense of poise and rationality

6th April, '11 | 11:05 BST

So I just realised the filter's are automatically stripping pre from coding. I guess it must be deprecated? Sigh. Better go find and fix those poems in previous entries.

Anyway, I just wanted to write about a little something I've been doing on-and-off the last few days. Here's a sample:

--- Kougra
150x150: 61, 28 - 110, 77

--- Lenny
150x150: 49, 15 - 98, 64

--- Meerca
150x150: 57, 55 - 106, 104

I realised a while ago that the Neoboard thumbnails (and by this I mean your active pet's image below your avatar) are in slightly different positions depending on what species your pet is. Well, that's not unexpected, is it? The thumbnails are positioned over the pet's face, so they'd have to be in different places for different species - and, of course, be different again for UCs, Baby pets, Maraquans, etc. But I'm not concerning myself with those last. The data I've collected is with Invisible pets in mind - so, if you had an invisible Kougra, an invisible Lenny and an invisible Meerca and you customised them all with the Lost Desert Pyramids Background, then what would you get?

I intentionally picked significantly different species for this example. The Kougra is probably closest to the 'average' (though I haven't yet applied my calculator to working out the mathematical average, I fully intend to~). Looking at the blue outlined square I would say it looks the same as the thumbnail M-City (a Zafara) gives me. Looking at my data I would say it's one pixel lower and one pixel farther to the right than the thumbnail M-City gives me. [C;]

I keep thinking there must be something useful I can do with this data. I mean, I worked out M-City's coordinates ages ago for when I was trying on BGs in the NC Mall. But short of gathering images of all the backgrounds in Neopia and sticking these little squares on them...! Which would be a never-ending task and would be far too image-heavy for a petpage anyway. Aside from that, I can't think of anything that would be useful to people. [=/]

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' by Panic! At The Disco. ]

with a sense of poise and rationality

2nd April, '11 | 15:30 BST

M-City and I knew we'd have to venture into NC trading again as soon as we laid eyes on the End of Battle BG.

Definitely worth the effort - and the trade, of course. I knew I loved it the moment it came out (much to my doubtful dismay, as it's one of the rarer items from the all new 'Blumaroll'). I think it might rank up there with the Sleuthing Background for me, which is saying something. It's got a great thumbnail for the boards although to be honest neither this userlookup pic or the sidebar module version do it justice. Since it's quite a busy image it really needs to be viewed in large. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' by Panic! At The Disco. ]

although, no one understood, we were holding back the flood

1st April, '11 | 10:20 BST

I'd been hoping for an April Fools' similar to last year's, since that was so much fun. My wishes have been answered with this epidemic. [=D]

M-City is nicely camouflaged and I just love those little slorgs, they're adorable. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Flood' by Take That. ]

although, no one understood, we were holding back the flood

29th March, '11 | 10:50 BST

I've been making a bunch of Fantasy names yesterday evening and this morning, since I just noticed how lamentably low that section has become thanks to Chomby Day (low for its usual standards, at least; I tend to keep Fantasy around 50 names bigger than any other section due to its popularity).

I'm pretty sure I've already remarked upon the Purge's highly visible impact regarding name-hunting, but this morning I caught myself feeling... a bit omnipotent, I suppose. And I know at least one person who will laugh if she reads this. But there are so many brilliant untaken names now. Of the names I type hopefully into the address bar... well, I don't have a ratio for you but I'm getting way more successes than before. It almost feels like I can invent a name and it will be untaken. I mean, it won't - not necessarily, yet so many times it is. I'm amusing myself.

On the flip-side, I'm wondering if this might affect AGFL's traffic. Or the traffic of untaken name sites in general, I should say. If people find a name they were hoping for is untaken five times out of ten (oh there's a ratio!) then surely they won't need to go trawling lists when they're after a nice name?

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Flood' by Take That. ]

but you, you're not allowed, you're not invited

27th March, '11 | 17:50 BST

Now I'm getting down the stats on Chomby Day, though this is rather tardy for me. As I mentioned on the 23rd, Chombies only started releasing at around 03:00 pm NST. And, as far as I've gathered, they were all released at once (by 'all' I mean all 30,000).

So, people being so used to the usual 'small batches throughout 24 hours' routine, I think we were all quite thrown by TNT's move. By 03:00 pm NST I had basically sat on my 'untaken names' topic most of the day feeling increasingly peeved that we were not, apparently, getting any Chombies this year. I went to bed, actually. It was only the next morning (the 23rd) that I learned of this abnormal release. And they were still there in Create-A-Pet, since so many had been released at once. Let's face it: Chombies aren't up there in popularity with Hissis, Cybunnies and Poogles. So - I had a second day of advertising, while watching the numbers on Pet Popularity.

I didn't check AGFL's names on the 23rd at all. It seemed practical and tidier just to skip a day and sort them out the next day, when the Chombies were no longer in Create-A-Pet. Those two days took 227 petnames and 11 usernames. Taking the liberty of assuming those 227 are all Chombies, that's 0.00757% of the release. If we may have a bit of fun and include the takings of Shingie's Classic Roots we can make 0.01017% (227 + 78 ÷ 30,000). Which is 0.01523 less than Poogle Day '10.

[C=] I'll round off that glut of numbers by giving you AGFL's pageviews for those two days and the week around them:

20/03/2011: 100 pageviews
21/03/2011: 60 pageviews
22/03/2011: 410 pageviews
23/03/2011: 250 pageviews
24/03/2011: 40 pageviews
25/03/2011: 50 pageviews
26/03/2011: 50 pageviews

[ Lyrics in header from 'Uninvited' by Alanis Morissette. ]

everything isn't meant to be okay

25th March, '11 | 17:25 GMT

Some of you may be aware that I've always been stubbornly keen on being the sole creator of the buttons on my sites. I'm pretty sure there's currently only one exception, which is the green button on AGFL that was made by my very good friend when that site was starting out. I wouldn't be surprised if I've mentioned this fixation of mine in a previous blog entry. My reasons have been threefold:

1. It's easier to keep the buttons themed and recognisable to do them oneself_ I like to think a recognisable button is an asset.
2. I make my layouts and other graphics, too. It's not as though I'm totally inept in the area of graphic-making, so whyever wouldn't I make my own buttons for my own sites?
3. That said, I actually don't think I'm very good at buttons. Yes, I've come out with some I'm happy with but the process frustrates me and I think I prefer larger canvases. This sounds like a con rather than a pro but I always figured I could do with the practice.

But perhaps the practice isn't pushing me very far. It doesn't feel like it is. So, to save myself continued struggles, I'm giving in. [;D]

I'm starting with one for FAL, since those buttons are already varied and potentially unrecognisable. It took me a while of browsing before I found a site whose requests were open and whose buttons I liked the look of. But it even looks like the site-owner gets through the waiting list quite fast, so I'm feeling happy. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'American Idiot' by Green Day. ]

we knew all the answers and we shouted them like anthems

24th March, '11 | 13:55 GMT

Having recently been instructed in a certain lesser known coding trick, I have discovered what is probably an entirely new trick based upon that. It is, quite simply, this. I'm going to call it... 'The Slider'. Okay okay, maybe not. I'll explain how it works now. [xD]

This explanation is going to be in two parts. The first part achieves an effect much like position:fixed except this method works in Internet Explorer. From there we can go on to making it appear and disappear.

This guide assumes a certain amount of familiarity with basic coding, particularly with how to code 'multipage' overflow:hidden layouts (for this latter you can see the tutorial at /~imgsrc), although I have tried at all times to explain how things work as well as how to do them.

The New Fixed

Firstly, you need to nest all your current content in an extra div ('nest' just means put inside of). For this example I'm calling the extra div #alt_body. If you'd like to bring up the source code for this blog page you can find where #alt_body is in the stylesheet and in the HTML. But basically, you just need to open #alt_body at the beginning of your HTML and close it right at the end. You do need to include style="position: absolute;" in the opening tag.

As for #alt_body's style, this is what you need:

The z-index is the crucial part. Z-index defines the order in which things stack. So, if you have one div with a z-index of 25 and another of 50 then the one with 50 is going to appear on top of the first. The rest of the style ensures that this div is big and all-enveloping. And because it's big and all-enveloping it won't create a secondary scrollbar on your page, despite the fact that it's set to overflow:auto. Yet it is set to position:absolute. You'll notice if your page has the '...much, much more at www.neopets.com' header on it that your content now slides right over the top of that header when you scroll down your page.

Now we can bring in a second div. On this page I've called it #slidr. #Slidr gets to be the only bit of content that isn't contained within #alt_body. I like to place it before #alt_body, just before the stylesheet, for easy access, but it doesn't really matter where in your HTML you put. Again, you need to include style="position: absolute;" in its tag (and don't forget to place its ending tag /before/ the starting tag of #alt_body). Here's the style:

You can adjust most of that to change what your box looks like. The overflow:hidden and the z-index:50 are the important parts. As explained, this box will appear on top of #alt_body because of the z-index. But because #slidr is only a little box and isn't big and all-enveloping, it isn't going to move when you scroll down the page. #Alt_body moves, behind it, but #slidr stays in exactly the same spot relative to the edges of your browser. This achieves a similar effect to position:fixed, except that people don't often use position:fixed because it doesn't work in Internet Explorer. This method, on the other hand, works well in all browsers.

You could do many things with that set up now. All that I just explained was the 'lesser known coding trick' I was told about. A lot of people position the box along the top or bottom of the page to turn it into a very handy navigation bar.

The Slider Effect

But we want to make it appear and disappear, right? [=D] The following is what you need to put inside of the #slidr div to achieve this.

The style for the #spacer div is:

And the style for #in_slidr:

This is why the original #slidr has overflow:hidden. It works just like any straightforward 'multipage' layout. We want the #slidr box to appear blank and empty (effectively invisible) to begin with, so we put #spacer in there. All #spacer is doing is giving us a safe one thousand pixels of blank, empty space. One thousand is overkill; it only needs to be a bit taller than the height of #slidr (which, in this case, is 300) but the extra pixels aren't hurting anybody.

The overflow:hidden means that anything that is pushed beyond #slidr's 300 pixels of height disappears past its bottommost edge and no scrollbar is allowed to appear to make that content accessible.

So here we can add in #in_slidr, immediately after #spacer, where it can't be seen. As those 'multipage' layouts make good use of, the only way to bring #in_slidr into view is through anchor links:

• The a name="show" is the destination for my this link back at the beginning of this blog entry. Placing a name="show" at the very top of #in_slidr means it will drag this visible div into #slidr's 300 pixels and into view.
• The 'hide' link inside #in_slidr takes us back to the a name="hide" placed immediately before the #spacer div. Clicking it drags #spacer back into its original position, pushing #in_slider back down again.

And that's it! Very long-winded but, once constructed, I hope you'll find it's actually fairly straight forward and it makes sense. [C=]

P.S. One thing to bear in mind when using The Slider is the simple fact that it's above your main content at all times. Even when it's hidden, it's still actually there. In some browsers this can make clicking links or grabbing scrollbars mysteriously impossible to do. Simply take care not to make The Slider too large or in a place on the screen where it's likely to cover things frequently and you should be okay.

[ Lyrics in header from 'It Can't Come Quickly Enough' by Scissor Sisters. ]

this is a public service announcement, this is only a test

23rd March, '11 | 18:15 GMT

I've been keeping some stats on how many LE pets get released each time their day comes round and how many names get taken from AGFL on those days. This goes back to Cybunny Day last year (though I have the latter numbers since AGFL began). Now that I have a year of stats I thought I might hustle them into presentability and put them up on AGFL, under Extras, since it might interest people.

But first! One thing I've never quite understood about the Pet Popularity page is why the parentheses alongside the LE and Restr. pets? I know the parenthesised number goes up when a pet is being released, reflecting the total number released into Create-A-Pet, but some of those numbers (all of them, in fact) are slightly or hugely different to the non-parenthesised numbers. i.e.: currently the Kiko stat says:

44th - Kiko: 1,136,331 (out of 1,136,400)

Yet there certainly aren't 69 Kikos available for creation in Create-A-Pet.

But that is a small discrepancy, as are most of them. I'm willing to ignore those in order to concentrate on the bigger puzzlers, like why there's a difference of 59,155 for the Tonu. I resorted to asking the Help Chat. The best theory offered me, though the facts seem to be known to no one, is that it's because the Tonu are released at times other than their pet day. There is some argument as to whether or not their release coincides with the omelette in Tyrannian running out, but that they are released quite often is in no doubt. The theorist, Schoolgirl31782/Cath, thinks that these extra releases may be timed. So if, say, TNT released 1,000 Tonu for one hour but there were still 200 uncreated by the end of the hour (or perhaps by the time the omelette regenerated) - then those 200 would be gone. They wouldn't be available for creation anymore, but neither would they be removed from the parenthesised 'released' count on Pet Popularity. This is different from the releases on pet days because pet day releases are allowed to run past midnight (we have a case in point right now with the huge batch of Chombies that were released yesterday, on their day, but which are still available for creation though we have passed midnight).

Of course, this is just a theory. But, I think, a very sound one, given the Tonu's uniqueness in having extra releases and being the most 'wrong' on Pet Popularity. If we like this theory then the other, smaller, discrepancies may be due to Neopets' 10th birthday in 2009. One LE or another was released in small numbers throughout the day. To stop their releases running into one another TNT could well have put in place a time limit, cutting off their availability before the numbers were actually all used up.

Now, why is the regular Draik count 1,223 bigger than the 'released' count? Don't know. Unless anybody can tell me it wasn't backwards before the 9th of September, '09, then I'm going to assume it's some bizarre result of the accidental release that went down that day.

Other info I wanted to ferret out on this theme includes whether or not Draiks and Krawks were /ever/ released on their pet days.

Draiks were once released as a limited edition Neopet during their first day in Neopia. The Krawk, however, was never released en masse. - Editorial #277

And what exactly is tallied on Pet Popularity and what isn't.

Only Neopets that are created are counted on the popularity page. That being said, "created" also includes hatching Draiks from eggs or giving a Krawk Petpet moss to turn it into a Krawk Neopet. Using morphing potions or the Lab Ray and that type of stuff is what doesn't count. - Editorial #396

Oh! Now /that/ would explain the quirky Draik count. Draiks created via eggs haven't, naturally, been included in the 'released' count.

And didn't Flotsam used to be Limited Edition or something? A little investigation on this one. Apparently Jetsam and Flotsam, around since the dawn of time, were available for creation any time at first. Then came March 2001 and Flotsam turned Limited Edition (allegedly hunted into danger by Jetsam). Come May it switched around (Jetsam population suffered from lack of food). I guess Jetsam have been the LE ones since then.

I feel thoroughly educated now, haha. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Warning' by Green Day. ]

don't take me up, I'll just fall down once again

20th March, '11 | 19:45 GMT

But me, I took ages to fully fix my sites and in the mean time have wrangled about the whole thing, repeatedly, here in my blog. Signs of acceptance? I don't think so.

I thought my disinterest in my sites of late was due to having other things on my mind. Photography, college, story writing, etc. By now I don't worry (and neither should anyone) if I fall into a puddle of disinterest, because it passes sooner or later. Disinterest isn't serious. But I have been dwelling on my frustration with TNT, which ain't so good. I wouldn't mind blaming their failure to reply to my ticket for protracting that a bit (replied to the first one, haven't replied to my additional information, oh well). What am I saying? Um, lost track of my train of thought for a minute there. Right! Point is, I was making some obligatory updates on FAL just now and, as I tend to do with FAL, I paused to admire its title graphic (not a habit I would normally admit to, but I made that thing ages ago and somehow I still think it's good = miracle). And I just felt proud of the site. No sour thoughts about what TNT had done to it with their changes: just pride and vague musings about potential improvements. I've missed that feeling. It was good to be surprised with it again.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Elevator' by Hot Hot Heat. ]

my heart is like an open highway

15th March, '11 | 18:50 GMT

[ Lyrics in header from 'It's My Life' by Bon Jovi. ]

my heart is like an open highway

14th March, '11 | 17:45 GMT

Oh, I just noticed Neopian Standard Time went forward an hour yesterday. Which means I wrote the wrong time of update on AGFL this morning. Oops. [C;] For a couple of weeks I'll be only seven hours ahead of NST instead of the usual eight.

[ Lyrics in header from 'It's My Life' by Bon Jovi. ]

3rd March, '11 | 09:05 GMT

I was a while fixing this virus. We ended up reformatting the harddrive to get rid of it, which was okay because I had my files backed up, but it did mean time spent putting various programs back on afterwards. There was a point when I thought I hadn't correctly backed up files relating to AGFL, but that was a false alarm and that site's updates are back on track now. [=3]

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

24th February, '11 | 09:40 GMT

So, again, borrowing someone else's computer and not able to update AGFL right now. [=(]

It's not completely cheered me up, but I was rather pleased when the very last quest from the Faeries gave me the opportunity to acquire the Inside a Clock Tower Background this morning, which I and M-City had been hankering for since the quests started.

And Kelly has tried on the wig but she's not sure about it yet. I like the design; it's the colour that doesn't really work with her outfit.

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

you can look back but don't stare

19th February, '11 | 17:55 GMT

When most of my sites were in their planning stages (FAL being an exception because it was a first stab at something completely new) I thought them through and only went ahead and made them once I was sure I could have them meet standards of functionality that I'd decided were necessary. If I'd found I couldn't have them do what I wanted them to do, I wouldn't have considered them worth the effort. So, when filter changes come along and zap certain super-useful codes into oblivion, it can feel a bit like my sites just get forcibly squashed down to below that standard level. It's a bit galling.

And I'm sure I'm not alone, much as that explanation contained a high level of rambling about 'my standards'. Because that wasn't the point. Point is sites have evolved to make efficient use of things like the & in urls (for neomail links, namely). We didn't used to use it so much, but then knowledge spread and it's really rather vital now. I think it's similar to how most of the world is rather dependent on the Internet and all that.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Eight Letters' by Take That. ]

you can look back but don't stare

17th February, '11 | 09:00 GMT

I can't update A Gift For Life until everything's back to normal, unfortunately and frustratingly. I've put up a news entry there saying so.

Not sure what more there is to say at the moment. 'Man, I really hate it when I can't update AGFL'? [xD]

Will tell more when there's more to tell.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Eight Letters' by Take That. ]

you can look back but don't stare

15th February, '11 | 10:50 GMT

Uh. Yeah. So, I've finished that college project that was demanding my attention. We're on the next one now, which we actually have less time to do but I think I can spread it out better this time around.

Earlier this month I was consumed with helping out on the Help Chat in the aftermath of TNT's latest filter updates. Filter Solutions got a lot of updating and many, many pageviews.

I haven't made names for AGFL in what feels like forever, but I've sat down to do some this morning and am not yet having difficulty getting back into the swing of it, so that's good. I'm not sure I'll be straight back to adding twenty names a day though, aha... But man, there are so many free four-letter names!! The effects of the purge are really visible now. [o.o]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Eight Letters' by Take That. ]

don't let the hungry serpent see you now, she'll let you fall asleep and eat you whole

18th January, '11 | 18:15 GMT

Pros:

1. I've been making a bunch of sites names over the last few days to gauge how much work it would be and the verdict is: It's incredibly easy (and fun!).
2. One step closer to tyrannical monopoly on all things name-related. Cue evil laugh.

1. Obviously there's no way to check them like I do the pet- and usernames, magically or otherwise. So I'd have to ask that people let me know if they use one, which:
   1. could confuse things and result in many neomails telling me about any kind of used name.
   2. makes me look less good. I mean, I have a record completely clean of having to demand notification from people. It would be a bit of a shame to mar it.
2. It wouldn't be as unique as my previous site names section, when the untaken site names also had to be untaken petnames. That failed; I'm not trying again.

So we're kind of balanced at the moment, except that Con #1 is multi-pronged.

[ Lyrics in header from 'SOS' by Take That. ]

the poison stops you looking old

17th January, '11 | 22:15 GMT

Entry 008. Click Where?

Something I used to use a lot when first making sites was the Click Here link. Like 'To report an error, click here!' or 'Please click here to reach my lookup.'

Nowadays I prefer the more integrated 'Report an error.' approach. (And although I expect one could argue that it would make more sense to make the verb the link, I think it's more intuitive to have the link towards the end of the sentence; the sentence has by that time conveyed its meaning. Plus I'd guess visitors are more likely to be looking for the word 'error' than 'report' if they've found one and are hoping for a ready-made neomail form.)

I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with Click Here though. The worst that it could be accused of being is a tad clunky or possibly overused. [C;]

[ Lyrics in header from 'SOS' by Take That. ]

the poison stops you looking old

15th January, '11 | 09:35 GMT

1. A Gift For Life with 600 views.
2. Find A Laugh with 230 views.
3. Filter Solutions with 130 views.
4. Courier with 70 views.
5. I Just Won The Game with 40 views.

_{*(As not all of my sites have hit counters I'm going by Neo's own stats, which include returning visitors).}

In other news, I'm still not making any names for AGFL at the moment. It's working, so that's okay. Oh and I just put a pole up. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'SOS' by Take That. ]

I continue to fight, I continue to fight

8th January, '11 | 09:55 GMT

Continued from last week's entry, a second look at my sites' stats. This is a week's worth of visitors*.

1. A Gift For Life with 640 views.
2. Find A Laugh with 160 views.
3. Courier with 130 views.
4. Filter Solutions with 60 views.
5. I Just Won The Game with 50 views.

_{*(As not all of my sites have hit counters I'm going by Neo's own stats, which include returning visitors).}

[ Lyrics in header from 'O2' by Orange Range. ]

I still believe, it's you and me til the end of time

1st January, '11 | 17:35 GMT

I do like a new year though. It feels fresh.

Although not resolutions and not really related to it being a new year either, I am hovering on the brink of a couple of changes:

1. A Gift For Life. Despite the fact that I have mounds of free time in my life, I haven't yet mastered the self-discipline to use it properly. Right now, I really ought to be concentrating on things other than churning out new names, so in order to make myself do that I'm probably going to stop adding names at anything like the frequency I am now. I think I could do with a short break from name-making anyway; I'll have more enthusiasm when I come back to it. This is only a small (and temporary) change though, obviously - I'll still be checking AGFL's names every day as per usual.
2. Courier. I have a horrible feeling I'm going to regret it if I close Courier, but... but it's doing my head in, as I discussed in more detail in my last entry. I don't want to do what I did with Find A Laugh in '09: take it down, get the guilts from the replies I received from affiliates and put it back up again the next day. Unfortunately, I can't simply remove a feature, like I did with FAL, to make Courier more bearable; the problem is caused by its main function. The bright side I am grasping at is that I have very very vague plans of creating a non-Neopian Courier at some point in the future. If it were its own website, unmarred by the preconceptions of Neopia, it might receive less of the 'Huh?' syndrome. However this is all theoretical and anyway I wouldn't be allowed to mention it on here if I did go ahead and do it. But that is my bright side.

In case you're drawing a blank trying think what could possibly be more deserving of my time than AGFL... [;D] Well, I suppose in the main it's that photography a-level I'm doing. It's not that it's gobbling up my time, it's just that it needs to be higher up my priority list.

Oh and I fancied doing a little curiosity sating like I did on the 10th and 17th of last January. This is a week's worth of visitors*.

1. A Gift For Life with 790 views.
2. Find A Laugh with 350 views.
3. Courier with 160 views.
4. Filter Solutions with 110 views.
5. I Just Won The Game with 60 views.

_{*(As not all of my sites have hit counters I'm going by Neo's own stats, which include returning visitors).}

[ Lyrics in header from 'When We Collide' by Matt Cardle. ]

caught between confusion and pain

26th December, '10 | 13:55 GMT

Never thought I'd say this, but my little Courier is wearing me down at the moment. It's not that it takes a lot of time or effort to run; it's that, however many adjustments and clarifications I've squeezed into the tracking messages and onto Cour's homepage, some people still don't get it. I still receive replies along the lines of 'Ummm.... thanks, I guess?' or 'What?' - which, though I don't want to sound melodramatic, give me a nice stab of failure every time. In the last few days I've even gained a couple of blockings to add to that list of bewilderment.

It just isn't working, is it? I can't say that Courier is a successful site if half its customers wind up thinking I'm weird or some kind of spammer. The other half, who think Courier is so inventive and cute and funny... well, they're great, but they don't make it okay. I wouldn't like to receive a very strange neomail out of nowhere if it didn't explain what it was about. The fact that Cour does explain what it's about, which might indicate that the people who don't get it also don't take the time to read properly... That doesn't make it okay either. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

I don't know what to do about it any more. It's a battle I've been waging since Courier started over a year ago and it's become clear that I can't win it. Though I love Cour, I don't know if I can happily keep it open.

Not the brightest thoughts for the day after Christmas, eh?

[ Lyrics in header from 'Separate Ways' by Journey. ]

caught between confusion and pain

24th December, '10 | 11:05 GMT

A bit irritated at people in general this morning, but I won't dump the why on you. I'll probably cheer up within an hour anyway. Just need to distract myself. [=)]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Separate Ways' by Journey. ]

12th December, '10 | 09:30 GMT

Entry 007. Beware The Acronyms.

I'd advise some site-makers to be careful not to overuse their site's acronyms. I mean, it's great to use the initials of your site's name when talking about it in your newsposts (who isn't going to work out what they stand for?), but when the full name of your new feature can't actually be found anywhere on your site then you've got a problem. [;)]

I was once asked to participate in a directory's Site Of The Month... except it wasn't just a SOTM; it had another letter as well. But on the site's navigation, in the section's header and in the newsposts it was only ever referred to by its puzzling acronym. Was there something different about this SOTM that I should be aware of, indicated by this additional letter? IDK.

Even when the full name can be found somewhere on your site, I'd caution against too much acronyming in your newsposts. If a new visitor has to hunt back through several entries to find the full name, it's not really worth whatever gain you have from not writing it out every time. It's not as though the visitors who already know what it means aren't going to mind; they will automatically skim read the name once they recognise it.

I came across Soroptimist's archived Global Site Improvement Month this morning. So far most of the tips I can agree with, in general, apart from bits and pieces. The thing is, it made me notice that my rants/advice-in-blockquotes are pretty much only about things I haven't seen anybody else address (whereas the GSIM is more 'back to basics'). It just doesn't occur to me to write about other points. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

8th December, '10 | 11:50 GMT

Man sometimes I really despise the Incorrections section on AGFL. [xD] It's probably the hardest to find names for at the moment. It just gets to me. I almost consider finding someone to manage it, but I don't even know what you'd call that. I mean, it's not like they'd be co-owning the site if they're only doing one section, is it? So what would it be? Besides which, I'm too much of a control freak.

Anyway. Going to grab some lunch and watch some Torchwood. [C=]

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

oh you can call me lazy, I think of it as taking my time

4th December (again), '10 | 20:30 GMT

[ Lyrics in header from 'Real Late Starter' by Joe McElderry. ]

oh you can call me lazy, I think of it as taking my time

4th December, '10 | 16:20 GMT

This discovery has actually got me itching to finish Aerogami, but I'm not going to. It's just because I want to be working on a site, which I'm not doing after you count name-making for AGFL. I try very much to direct my itch toward my current sites, but I'm a bit out of ideas lately.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Real Late Starter' by Joe McElderry. ]

oh you can call me lazy, I think of it as taking my time

1st December, '10 | 10:05 GMT

I'm a bit behind on name-making - dangerously close to running out of backup, though that's still an improvement to being dangerously close to dropping below 1000 like I used to do all the time. Heh. Trying to do some names right this moment.

Did anyone blink and miss the Games Master Challenge? I didn't quite, but it did feel like it went by extra fast. I don't know. I didn't put a great deal of effort in. In fact, I just noticed that on the first GMC I reached Level 8, on GMC last year I reached Level 7, and this year I only got to Level 6. Is that indicative of something?

I feel somewhat like I don't spend as much time on Neo as I used to. But don't let that sound ominous or anything - no way am I going anywhere. It's just that I don't do a lot of the things I used to; I don't help/chat on the HC much, I'm not active in a guild, I don't play Key Quest, I haven't worked on my gallery in ages... On the other hand, I have thrown myself into the current plot and I've also been playing the Habitarium the last few days. So really, I suppose the things I do on here have just changed, not lessened. [=3] And my sites are a continuing activity, of course.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Real Late Starter' by Joe McElderry. ]

I'm only a man, in a silly red sheet

19th November, '10 | 14:50 GMT

Do you think of yourself as a self-motivated person? I don't think I am on the whole, but my family disagree with me. [;3] They say all my self-appointed duties, like my sites on here, are built from self-motivation. But I do have problems persevering with things sometimes. On the other hand, I stick with some things like glue (and I don't know what makes them different...). So I don't know. I confuse myself.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Superman (It's Not Easy)' by Joe McElderry. ]

it's at times like these I don't want to be a superstar

15th November, '10 | 10:25 GMT

And you know what else? Today, half a decade ago, I joined Neo. What a long time.

And it's also Zero's birthday, him being the first pet I created, although 'in character' he is twenty-two today and not five. Mal, created shortly after, will be nineteen on the 18th.

I know the next was Kelly, in January, but after that I don't remember so well. I think it was Raydth (then Wraith778899) and Rogue778899, on my first side account, followed after another pause by Yellowace778899. And that accounts for the basics of this little family, as the first three are cousins to the second three. Nobody else who now lives with us is related, if they have anything to do with the family at all (Ddianc and Kimeyah being loosely connected by Ddianc's association with Zero, and Fhef and Mawf having nothing to do with anyone).

...But enough of my reminiscing ramble. [n.n] It's about fit for Syrus's page, heh. In fact, a timeline of how I actually came by them all might be a relevant addition... But maybe I should make a new layout first? I've been meaning to spiffy that page up for a while. Hmm. Something to turn my mind to next time I'm bored out of my skull (been bit of a dull day today).

[ Lyrics in header from 'Superstar' by James Blunt. ]

it's now or never, cause I ain't going to live forever

1st November, '10 | 10:25 GMT

Had an unpleasant surprise this morning when I discovered friend and fellow names-maker Shingie's accounts have been frozen/disabled. [=/] I asked the Help Chat, but no one knows what happened yet.

So. I'm a bit low on enthusiasm, but maybe you'd like to check out A Gift For Life's latest feature? I was trying to think of something new to bring to the site (the daily updates can get tediously predictable sometimes, at least for me, heh) and I thought of this: The Name Chain. A game, much like those where you must think of a word, on a theme, that begins with the same letter the last word ended with, but with untaken petnames. I've started it off with the first three. Slatework - Karmair - Relikks. So, hopefully, someone will find it interesting enough to play and submit the next 'link' in the chain, which has to begin with an S. [=3]

I also adjusted AGFL's Stats section a bit. Removed the 'Names are added on an irregular but frequent basis' line, as it's not true anymore. And the 'Past and Present' count is now 'Used Name Count', so it now only displays the used names (7906) instead of the used and the current names added together (9376). I've really no idea why I had them added together in the first place. Kinda pointless. [x)]

And hey, we're off Daylight Saving Time in the UK now - so blog entries will be in GMT instead of BST. At least until March. [;D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'It's My Life' by Bon Jovi. ]

fortune has me well in hand, armies wait at my command

26th October, '10 | 16:20 BST

So yeah. Nothing much going on, site-wise. [;D] Excepting A Gift For Life's second birthday on Sunday, of course, but that kinda snuck up on me; all I could think of to celebrate it was to add a few days' worth of names at once. Two years. Just saying 'two years' makes me feel like it's been longer than that - but really, on consideration, a year is a rather lengthy amount of time.

I'm really enjoying name-making at the moment. I mean, I always do, but sometimes a certain category slows me down. [n.n;] But right now I'm waaay ahead with the backup (the names I'm making today are likely to be added in two weeks' time). I'm thinking about doing a Forty Names Friday (working title [C;]) or something; Friday because AGFL gets increased traffic on the weekend, so it would be good for the extra visitors. But that's only going to work out for me if I keep up the pace.

On a completely unrelated note, grammar makes no sense sometimes. I just read over the previous paragraph and decided to change 'because I get increased traffic' to 'because AGFL gets increased traffic' ...Why does 'I' need a singular 'get' anyway? They get, we get. She gets, he gets. But I get? I'm only one person, y'know. [xD]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Everybody Loves Me, Baby' by Don McLean. ]

22nd October, '10 | 09:00 BST

^ Nice bonus from all this Wraith-whacking in the plot. I've always rather liked the design of this one, but never (being no Battledomer) considered myself in with a chance of getting it. Fortunately my pet Yellowace778899 knows more about Battledoming than I do. Many months of the Lab Ray supplemented with a Flying Scarab = not faring too badly.

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

I can't remember but it's all right I'm all right

19th October, '10 | 10:45 BST

• 71 names taken from AGFL
• 35,000 Jetsam released

And that's the last of the pet releases this year (unless they release some on Neo's birthday, but it's more likely last year's was a one-off for being the 10th). No more LEs until February and the Tonu. Ahhh it's a long time away. [-wistful-] And not from the psychological effect of it being in the next year; it is actually the biggest gap we have between LE days. Yes, I just realised that and had to look at my list on AGFL to check. [;3]

I haven't told you much about my 'lifesize boardgame' as it's got nothing to do with Neo, but I will note (for my own time-anchoring purposes) that it took place on the 17th and was, I'm told, a success. Sure looked like they enjoyed it. [=)]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Just Dance' by Lady Gaga. ]

I can't remember but it's all right I'm all right

12th October, '10 | 16:30 BST

So yeah, look: it's half past four and what have I been doing all day? A fair bit, surprisingly. I'm pushing myself to 1) finish this lifesize boardgame thing I mentioned in the last entry, and 2) do names for AGFL. I've been lazy on the name-making front lately and my backup is almost nonexistent, which I know isn't a wise place to be with an LE day coming up (Jetsam Day on the 16th - not the most popular, but still).

[-points to title-] I don't listen to Lady Gaga much, but what I like of her and Enrique Iglesias's work has been a mood-befitting soundtrack to my boardgame making. Dancey beats and easy to sing/shout along to. Stops me getting bored with the tedious parts (such as cutting out a million 'event cards'). Might turn them off now though; it's time to alternate back to a bout of name-making. [C;]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Just Dance' by Lady Gaga. ]

run your fingers through my soul

4th October, '10

[^__^] So even if I thought of something I could improve about one my sites, I probably wouldn't let myself get stuck into it just yet. Give it a couple of weeks, perhaps.

In the meantime, I hope you won't get bored of me. [;)]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Place Your Hands' by Reef. ]

28th September, '10

don't try to hide behind the cause, for what you fight

24th September, '10

But anyway, it's not all that important. I just liked the idea of it (I couldn't even manage to think of a less Stating The Obvious word to use than 'blog' - for shame).

[ Lyrics in header from 'Out In The Fields' by Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. ]

don't try to hide behind the cause, for what you fight

20th September, '10

You may or may not be aware, but these days when I make my advertising topic on the Help Chat I throw in the links to AGFL's Recommended as well, making it more of a general 'untaken names' topic than a 'A Gift For Life' topic. And up to now I've never found out what effect LE days have on these fellow names sites. But this morning, my friend Shingie of Classic Roots neomailed to complain that her names had dropped by 185. [C;]

P.S. Another useless factoid? Our sites together handled 0.0254% (508 ÷ 20,000) of the Poogles created. That's pretty tiny.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Out In The Fields' by Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. ]

don't try to hide behind the cause, for what you fight

17th September, '10

Not much to report site-wise. It's all trundling along and, in AGFL's case, anticipating Poogle Day (19th). You can probably expect me to blog on the 20th, because I'll doubtless want to blow off steam about the mountainous amount of names that will be taken after the Poogles have run rampant.

...Oh, I was asked to answer some questions as a site-owner at Lotte City. That was fun. Other peoples' answers were interesting reading, too. [:3]

And I may have found myself a new utterly time-wasting pastime. I started checking to see how many of the most unpronounceable four-letter combinations were untaken as petnames. Working my systematic way through 286 combinations yesterday, I found 66 untaken. Might seem like more of an interesting/worthwhile thing to do if I didn't know there were 456,976 combinations in total. So if I did 286 a day, it would take me 1,598 days. Which is over four years (so, if I'd been doing this since the day I joined Neo, I *would* be done by now...).

Anyway. [-puts away calculator-] If I get too engrossed in it, I'll consider putting it up on AGFL as a project people can help with. If, you know, they need something to send them to sleep of an evening. [x3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Out In The Fields' by Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. ]

I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky

10th September, '10

I'm eager to see how many names get taken. In 2009, Poogle Day scraped itself the place of most names taken with 127 (beating Hissi Day by 2). But of course it always depends on such things as 1) how well-known AGFL was at the time and 2) how many of the pet were actually released. Still, both Cybunny Day and Hissi Day outdid themselves this year, so I'm expecting the Poogles to take more than they did in '09 as well. We'll see. [=D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Paint it Black' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

don't tell me it's a worthy cause, no cause could be so worthy

8th September, '10

Entry 005. Response.

I hold replying up as very important in running a site. Of course, most people do. But sometimes it can seem perfectly logical not to.

I once came across a site that held polls, for people to submit their opinions, and as far as I can tell the owner never replied to these 'I'm voting for option xxx' neomails.

This never sat right with me. Why not? On nine out of ten websites, the poll would be automated and you wouldn't expect to receive a reply from someone, right? But that's because on these sites you /would/ receive a /response/. The poll would probably update itself immediately and you would see the effect your vote had - it might even pop up with a little 'Thanks for voting!' message.

But here on Neopets, there's no way for us to set up such automated systems. And we all know it's a human being who receives our 'I'm voting for option xxx' neomails... That is, assuming they don't get lost or forgotten about. However slim you might consider that possibility, it's still there when we don't see an immediate effect. We still feel the need for a response, because otherwise we can't be 100% sure our feedback reached its destination.

That's why I think it's so important to reply - respond - to every little thing. It doesn't need to take time (you can always pre-compose a message to copy and paste) and it makes sure everyone's happy.

Entry 006. Neoboard Signature Linking.

I'm not keen on this discovery that you can make a link to a page in your Neoboard signature that can be text other than the page's address. I mean, it would be great if we could do that, but at the moment the only method I've seen gives you a load of BBCode in your address bar if you click it. So I don't click them.

I kind of have two reasons. I don't click these links because I don't much like receiving a load of BBCode. And I don't use this method myself because it seems wrong. It's just not something I would do, because while it 'functions' it doesn't really 'work'.

Example: I might come up with a neat idea for a layout. I might then attempt to make this layout, but if it doesn't reach my expectations, if I can't get it to look decent as well as working in all the ways I want it to and just generally doing what any visitor could expect... then, in that case, I'm not going to use it.

So, these links don't achieve much from my perspective. They don't look good (the BBCode problem and the fact that it's actually hard to recognise one as being a link - due to lack of hover effects - outweigh the aesthetics of not having to put the whole address in) and they don't do what any visitor could expect (those two reasons again, funnily enough).

[ Lyrics in header from 'Everybody's Gone To War' by Nerina Pallot. ]

don't tell me it's a worthy cause, no cause could be so worthy

7th September, '10

I do find myself thinking very illogical thoughts when it comes to my sites. Like, I will add a name to AGFL that I think is great - if it gets taken I'm displeased because then it's not there anymore and I have to find more great names to display, and if it doesn't get taken I'm displeased because apparently the populace doesn't share my taste.

So really, a lot of the time it's best to ignore me. I ignore me, too.

I'm doing names right now. Browsing a dictionary. And I'm beginning to realise I've acquired some semi-slang terms when talking about names. 'Doing names' - finding/making names. 'Taken' and 'untaken' have evolved into nouns. Not exactly mindboggling, but what might possibly take a moment to decipher when bunched together in a short news entry on AGFL.

Anyway, what did I come here to talk about? Actually, I may only be writing this because it's been nine days since I last typed something interestingly boring. Not a lot to report really. FAL's new system of Likes seems to be working; I am, so far, receiving a more frequent smattering of submissions than the rating system induced. I am reading a good book (The Information Officer, Mark Mills). I'm getting my hair trimmed later and then I'm going to play badminton. Fascinating.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Everybody's Gone To War' by Nerina Pallot. ]

29th August, '10

Entry 004. Review sites.

Sometimes it feels like you can get beyond the help of review sites. It feels like mostly all I get is 'Love your site, but get some more affiliates*'. Which is all very gratifying, but still.

I think what a lot of review sites seem to be doing, as far as I can see from my outside perspective, is working with a bunch of point categories and a set of rules that siteowners would be advised to follow. And that's great and certainly useful for some people. But it means they're always looking for what's wrong with your site, and not for what could be more right. Because even after those 'Love your site, but please will you get some more affiliates already' reviews, if I stew on things long enough I can think of ways to improve.

But that's my job, right? As the owner of the site. I'm bound to be doing the creative work. The review is just a review.

I don't know. I don't think reviewers are doing it wrong, but maybe there's more ground to be covered in the world of reviewing. Maybe some people could do things a bit differently. Go for lots more suggestions. Offer multiple options for a change, even if the siteowner might not even want to change it at all. It might just get the creative juices brewing more than usual, on both sides.

(You're welcome to roll your eyes and tell me to go and make a review site myself if I think I know so much about it.)

_{*I'm terribly inept at finding affiliates. There needs to be a guide for dummies.}

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

she took the midnight train goin' anywhere

27th August, '10

1. The listing boxes' design has been slightly adjusted.
2. The Rating system has been replaced with a more straightforward Like system*.
3. Removed the 'About The Rating System' section.
4. Removed the 'Neopian Times' section.

_{*And I 'Liked' Aokajin's and Zbryant's.}

[ Lyrics in header from 'Don't Stop Believin'' by Journey. ]

23rd August, '10

I absolutely fell in love with this background when I saw it in the NC Mall the other day. Couldn't resist indulging myself and M-City and getting it. It puts me in mind of a Victorian London. I mean, I'm sure that clock tower could be any old clock tower, but it's definitely Big Ben in my head. [;D] I also bought those Sugar and Spice Wings for Kimey, who deserves some attention.

...

I don't even know what I was going to say apart from that. I'm having an odd day. Too many plans whizzing around my head, demanding total attention. I'd better go attend to them.

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

scream out, we having fun yet?

20th August, '10

I was planning on making up for my undramatic 'Hey... you know what day it is?' comment on the 10th, but the moment has passed. I suppose I'll return to that if I happen to think of anything to say about Cour's new layout. I did say one or two things on Courier itself though, in the news, if anyone's that curious.

You might imagine how glad I've been that I could continue serving all my Cour requests even while editing was down.

And how frustrating each passing day was with not being able to update AGFL. I mean, it *is* 'the site with 1000+ names that gets updated every day'. Kinda upsetting when I can't uphold that promise.

But heeey. What can you do.

Some of those things that I wanted to blog:

• I've been thinking about adding a sort of 'Bookmarks' section to this blog, but that would require adjusting the layout enough to make a sidebar. It would have Neopian sites, obviously - those that I use frequently, those that I think are interesting reading, etc. I just think it might be a neat little feature. I'd like to support the sites I'd like to support, if you know what I mean. [x)]
• My distance learning course on proofreading has turned up and it's awesome. [:3] Just saying, as I think I mentioned it about a month ago.
• A saying I came across yesterday: 'You're not weird, you're limited edition.' [=D]
• Whoever wrote up TNT's news for the 19th made me laugh with: 'If you ever thought of going to the Haunted Woods or Krawk Island, these brochures could help you make up your mind! *sigh* Who are we kidding? We've all been there! It is just that Neovia is behind the times and they thought it would be a novel idea to release these items. Please visit the Neovian Printing Press to keep them in business...' [xD]

When editing went down,
We all sat with a frown,
Then hurried over to the Boards.

Is this happening for you?
Is it true?
We can't update our pages today?

But it stayed a day more,
And then it was four,
Theories were many by now.

Then: Don't worry, we're just updating!
TNT's words calmed those that were waiting.
Oh they'll be back any moment for sure.

But sites were slowing to a standstill,
And how could we relax and chill?
When the days continued to pass?

We just sat around and talked,
To the Boards most days we walked,
For there was nothing else to do.

[ Lyrics in header from 'How You Remind Me' by Nickelback. ]

that I could make those people dance,
and maybe they'd be happy for a while

10th August, '10

It's kinda cute. The quilt, I mean. [=3] And I recognise some of the names, so yay! [xD]

[ Lyrics in header from 'American Pie' by Don McLean. ]

just a day, just an ordinary day

5th August, '10

/minipanic

[-shushes self-] It's only August, Weapon, calm down. [-.-]

...Hey, guess what? My beloved directory has hit 50,000* unique visitors. [-jawdrop-] I mean, that's such a big number. Wow. However, without wanting to repeat my guilty self too much, I wish I'd been giving FAL more attention lately. [=/] I may believe that it's a directory and thus doesn't actually need to have a high update level (endeavours such as the ever-happening Soroptimist nonwithstanding) but that doesn't excuse many many months of barely noticeable activity.

_{*According to rough calculations that my curiosity made me perform, this equals about 909 per month. Not figuring in the hiatus.}

_{**There's also tea for those who aren't keen on lemonade.}

[ Lyrics in header from 'Ordinary Day' by Vanessa Carlton. ]

and now let's see, what this new world will do for me

30th July, '10

Entry 002. Working For All Browsers / Professionalism.

I once saw someone advertising a site that had one of those 'Works in all browsers' buttons up. Then someone else came along and informed them that the layout did not work in Internet Explorer, but they were completely disregarded because 'they shouldn't be using IE, it's the worst browser in the world'.

So let's roll our eyes at the hypocrisy...

I can't deny that Internet Explorer's not keeping up with the standards is irritating. I can think of a million cool things I'd do if we could use position:fixed. But as it is, I just take it as The Limit. Yes, The Limit would be further away if IE didn't exist, but then I'm sure there would be another browser everyone would be blaming for holding us back. Like Opera, which, until recently, we were groaning about because it stopped us using overflow:hidden*.

Basically, if my site's supposed to be at everyone's disposal then I'm going to make sure it /is/ at everyone's disposal. I'll save the campaigning against IE for somewhere appropriate. Like a blog, for instance. [C;]

_{*Which isn't a problem anymore, though this news doesn't seem to be spreading as fast as it did when it was.}

Entry 003. Target="_blank".

To be honest, I was once very keen on using target=_blank* in links, to make them open in a new tab/-blocked- I've gone off it a bit. It seemed like a great way to stop my visitors losing my site's page while they clicked about on the links it provided. But then one time I was searching for coding-related answers offsite and read that a lot of people find it extremely annoying and that it isn't included on The Ultimate List Of Acceptable Codes.

How is it annoying? Well, people want to browse how they want to browse. If they want to open something in a new tab then they will right-click and select that option. Maybe one time I wasn't aware I could do that, but I imagine the majority of users are aware. I figure it's about on a par with how to find the address of an image. Fairly common knowledge.

I haven't removed all instances of target=_blank on my sites yet, but I probably am going to. I think I've finished deleting them from (most important) my affiliates and listers (and so I now smile a grim smile whenever I paste in a new affiliate's button coding and find they've included it).

Of course, on Find A Laugh I have my arrow system. Which, in hindsight, has likely been a waste of effort. But I guess it's kinda neat. [=3]

_{*Speechmarks only not included because the span eats them.}

[ Lyrics in header from Les Misérables. ]

and now let's see, what this new world will do for me

29th July, '10

Entry 001. Introductions.

I'm not terribly keen on narrative introductions to sites. You know, 'You were walking down the street when you spotted an interesting-looking new shop. You go inside and look around for the owner, but...' etc.

Partly because I'm a writer and there's usually something in these little pieces that my critical eye will pounce on, and partly because I'd rather know what kind of site it is first. The versions I like best are short, with the actual introductory paragraph immediately after and clearly separated so it's easy to skip to.

I don't think most visitors want to be thrust right into tasting the concept and character(s) of a site; all they're after in the first few seconds is what it does, what it can provide them, and maybe who runs it.

[ Lyrics in header from Les Misérables. ]

if your home's full of worthless aggravation

22nd July, '10

Courier's up to Part Four of its story, by the way. I didn't mention that this Tuesday, but I guess those who are interested will be checking /~Rebme rather than here anyway. [n.n]

One thing I've been meaning to do for a while is write some new journeys for Courier parcels to go on (because I don't think the first couple I came up with are so amazing anymore) and I've managed to do one just now so it's a good day so far. [=D]

Well, that went well. [=D] Three new journeys have now replaced two old ones, and the news has been posted. New customers will now be started on 'Journey I' instead of 'Journey F' and will work back from there if they send more. That's how it works, see? Sneak peak into my procedures. [C;]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Singing For The Lonely' by Robbie Williams. ]

just a little bit weird sometimes

11th July, '10

Not that I'd say there's anything wrong with Pokémon fanfiction. [;3] It's just... I haven't really written fanfiction before, unless you count my Neopian Times stuff. I'm doing lots of original characters though, which I gather is not typical.

Incidentally, I'm also going to be starting a longdistance proofreading course sometime soon, but I gather it's 'in your own time' style, so shouldn't be any issues there.

Oh, and I just changed the blog's colours. The 'Evil Eliv Thade' avatar contains some of my favourite colours - lovely shades of green, cream and blue. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Weird' by Hanson. ]

just a little bit weird sometimes

6th July, '10

I'm having a satisfied moment. [^__^] Just finished making forty names for AGFL - twenty to add on tomorrow's update, twenty to keep in reserve in case I don't make any more for the day after... or something like that. I'm not sure how long this 'reserve names' idea will last; I'm not sure I'm organised enough to keep it up, eheh.

What have I been up to? Not a lot. Awfully summery weather we're having. (My nose, annoyingly, is stiff with sunburn.) I managed to play enough Yooyuball in the last few days of the tournament to satisfy myself, though it looks like Haunted Woods have lost their hold on ninth place. [=(] Ah well.

Something that may be distracting me from my Neopian pursuits: dollshouse renovation. I have this dollshouse and I've decided to turn it into an art gallery instead of an actual house. It's been gutted down to bare walls and I'm now working on planning out wall and floor colours. [8D]

...I just realised I haven't used the 'Blumaroo - Fire!' avatar in ages. Maybe this blog's due a change of colour scheme?

[ Lyrics in header from 'Weird' by Hanson. ]

people gonna tell you lies, don't let it come as a surprise

29th June, '10

Well, I guess I can't go back on my word. At least, not again. So how about a nice story? [=D] Courier's Story. Also known as If Undelivered. Six parts, starting now, updates on Tuesdays.

This would be New Thing For Courier #1, in case you were wondering. New Thing #2 is still up here in my head, but Cour's new layout is still on the cards and I do hope to have it finished sometime fairly soon.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Daddy's Eyes' by The Killers. ]

society, you're a crazy breed, I hope you're not lonely without me

26th June, '10

26th June: Updated sent counts. It's, um, been a busy few days on the requests front (and an illness running around the office didn't help). [n_n;] We've just finished tracking about 60 gifts that have been wandering Neopia since the 24th. Requests we've received on the 24th and 25th should begin tomorrow, on the 27th (probably along with any that come in between now and then). Sorry we've had to push things back so much - normally we'd try to get all gifts out immediately, but it just hasn't been possible. [=(]

Happily, I know why. I got into conversation with the girl I've been assuming was the same one who created that topic the other day. I asked her if she /had/ made any boards about Courier, and she replied:

Yes, actually xD. I've been advertising it in my siggy. I came across it in a directory and decided that it was awesome so I wanted to "promote" it, in a sense.

Is it bothering you? If so, I'll just take it off and thank you for making the page and bringing joy into people's lives. I'm confident that this has given people a smile on their face =D.

...This has all been so odd, I feel like I can do nothing but grin bemusedly. At moments it's been slightly irritating how many requests I've had, but then it's also awesome to think it's /possible/ to pull in that many if I only did more advertising - awesome that so many people think Courier's interesting.

On an entirely different subject, who likes the new 'smilies' TNT gave us?

[ Lyrics in header from 'Society' by Eddie Vedder. ]

society, you're a crazy breed, I hope you're not lonely without me

24th June, '10

Let's see...

Tuesday. Ill. Ill, as in, in danger of being sick if I dared move from a horizontal position. I put a note on my userlookup that day explaining that I was 'off sick' and wouldn't be updating A Gift For Life or beginning new Courier requests (of which, explicably, another giant number had landed in my inbox), but that I would be continuing the already in action requests (but I didn't end up managing to do this).

Wednesday. Much better, but dead tired and feeling queasy whenever I stood up. Updated A Gift For Life and continued those Courier requests. I started putting the new requests into my 'system', but I didn't manage to finish - I plan to attend to them today (apologies for their very delayed beginning, guys).

And Thursday. Today! Practically bounced out of bed. [;D] Only thing that ails me now is hunger, heh.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Society' by Eddie Vedder. ]

and I said, well that's, the one thing we got

21st June, '10

Someone's board title was OMG o.o;;;(plus about a hundred more) and inside she apparently got a neomail from TNT saying something about someone feeding a gift to the Poogle Racers in Faerieland, I think, and it was signed with ,Courier. Everyone told her it wasn't TNT, it was weaponstar/courier//~rebme, but she put up a screenie on her lookup (wish I could find it for you) that had theneopetsteam and the Asplode avvie pasted over what I assumed was yours. Again, everyone told her that TNT wouldn't sign their messages with Courier, but she poofed ;D It was on the Help Chat. Not like it would happen on any other.

As I said before, bizarre. [xD]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Deep Blue Something. ]

and I said, well that's, the one thing we got

19th June, '10

19th June: Something happened last night. I don't know quite what yet, but Courier is up about 200 unique views and 30 gift requests. [o___o;] Awesome. I'm just updating the sent counts as I write this. Smiles have gone over 100 total requests now - that's a lot of smiling. [=D]

Quite bizarre. Someone neomailed me a link to a topic that, I gather, was about Courier in some way, but the topic was gone by the time I went to look at it. So I don't know why it all happened yet, but hopefully I'll be able to update with an answer as soon as this person receives my reply. [=3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Deep Blue Something. ]

now believe, that magic works, don't be afraid, of being hurt

15th June, '10

[ Lyrics in header from 'Magic Works'. ]

go walkabout, I've got the bends from pressure

9th June, '10

I'm currently doing names for AGFL. Seeing if I can finish up my daily 26 before I leave for the tv (39 minutes and falling, and I'm about halfway done). I could if I were doing Fantasy, but there's a lot of that on AGFL at the moment so I'm trying to do a combination of Real (English) Words and Incorrections.

...Thirty-two minutes...

...(I'm not helping myself by writing here, am I?)...

...I briefly learn (and then forget) words while doing this. Xenonym is a good one: 'A name for a people or a language or a city etc. which is not used by the natives themselves.' And an 'agrimi' is a kind of goat. I've read many 'epigraphs', but only now discovered the name for them.

...Done! Ten minutes to spare. Time to make myself a mug of hot chocolate, I think. [;D]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Come Home' by James. ]

go walkabout, I've got the bends from pressure

4th June, '10

Things I'm doing:

• As always, making names for AGFL~
• Still working on the new stuff for Courier.
• Playing Yooyuball for my team in the Altador Cup.
• Having a bit of a personal Pokémon revival (this involves working on my card collection, rewatching old episodes of the anime, listening to music from the series, and replaying Sapphire). Yes, this is taking up a certain amount of my time. [D=]

Oh, I forgot to mention - a couple of days ago, AGFL got an adjustment to its recently added names. A link above the marquee now leads to a stationary section where you can view the added names of the past few days.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Come Home' by James. ]

on the right track, yeah, I'm onto a winner

27th May, '10

In other news... well, Tarla's Tour of Mystery has drawn to a close. M-City is pleased with the nice new background he got, though I hear most people are disatisfied with their handful of wearables. Not quite worth the effort, kind of thing. Myself I'm not too bothered, but then I tend to like tedious activities. [xD]

Aaand the Altador Cup blasted into action yesterday. [=D] I had a fun first day. I'm liking these 'Achievements' they've brought in this year. As is possibly indicated by my near lack of participation the past three years, I can suffer from a lack of motivation. [;D] Besides the fact that we're now on AC 'V' and I figure it's about time I get off my behind and help out my fellow HWers.

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Fear' by Lily Allen. ]

the day and the night and the carwash too

24th May, '10

[ Lyrics in header from 'All I Wanna Do' by Amy Stut. ]

the day and the night and the carwash too

21st May, '10

And the Altador Cup is nigh! [=D] Haunted Woods supporter here, though M-City has other priorities as you might guess. I might try and get a-hold of an 'Altador Cup Background - Moltara' for him, but for now he's enjoying that which is pictured above.

[ Lyrics in header from 'All I Wanna Do' by Amy Stut. ]

weee'll beee all right!

17th May, '10

Cour's origins...? Yes, This would be that New Thing I've been whispering about, which is now very nearly finished. [=O!] Will probably (hopefully) appear very very soon.

AND yes you did see me commit to making a new layout. [;D] Something I've been wanting to do for a while really, just hadn't come up with any ideas that were actually better than the current job.

...Okay, I may have more to blather about, but I need to go right this second so hopefully I'll sneak a few minutes later. See ya for now.

That was grandparents arriving, though you might have put two and two together there.

Okay, I just wanted to add about the new layout for Courier: I've actually found myself thinking about it the last few days, what with having been working on this other thing for the same site, and last night I had an Idea. [n.n] With a capital I. It's going so well that, unless I encounter any inexplicable browser issues, it might also be done 'very very soon'. [:3]

So I'm pretty excited about all that. It feels good to be doing stuff for a site other than AGFL for once, heh.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Brotherhood' by B'z. ]

weee'll beee all right!

14th May, '10

It hasn't been so bad, to be honest with myself. I've been doing names for AGFL daily - enough to be more than what's taken, but small enough to be easy to come up with. If I can keep this up... well, it'll be good. [=3] And I've been making slow progress on the New Thing for Courier, which I suppose is better than no progress at all.

We have visiting grandparents next week (17th to 21st 20th, I think). Shouldn't be too disruptive, but you never know. Thought I'd at least warn you.

That's all for now, I think. [n.n]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Brotherhood' by B'z. ]

calling come on thunder, come on thunder

8th May, '10

The most prominent things on my bookshelf are probably the longstanding series: the Discworld books (determinedly collected), The Mennyms (timeless), Artemis Fowl (just hanging in there), and the Pellinor books (reread about once every two years, because they're beautiful in many ways). These I showcase as my 'favourites' when people ask, along with Jodi Picoult's books, of which I have just the one as my mum got there first [;D] (and which I frequently borrow from her shelves).

I could go on and on. I mean, I've read loads of great stuff (Inkheart, The Time Traveler's Wife, Catherine Webb / Kate Griffin) but I try to keep my favourites limited to just a few, so I'll stop here before I become boring. [;3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Sometimes' by James. ]

calling come on thunder, come on thunder

5th May, '10

I think the blog's done its job. It's hard to know whether people do come here to read the extra info about my sites, but, as far as my 'To Do' and 'Working On' lists go, I think they've helped me. I was reading back over some old entries the other day; about half the things on those lists I've finished and the other half I've since decided not to do. [xD]

So, this time I know how many Hissi were released. Going by this page and my record of the 28th, they released about thirty thousand. Opposed to Cy Day's fifteen or twenty-five thousand?

And here's AGFL's pagestats of Cybunny Day and Hissi Day:

So... what, they released a lot more Hissi than they did Bunnies, but less names were used from AGFL, and half as many people even viewed the page? I see no obvious sense in these results, personally. I'd welcome any theories. [x)]

Kelly: Can we get one of these for the neohome? [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Sometimes' by James. ]

questions of science, science and progress

30th Apr, '10

I know the names have changed. I'm now far better at knowing which names will be used and which will sit on AGFL forever - from experience, naturally enough. I don't really need confirmation beyond that the names do keep being used up, but sometimes... sometimes I get these little insecurities, you know?

For example, I think lately I've been more adventurous with the matter of short names in the Fantasy section. Short is commonly considered good, but only if the name is still nice-sounding and all that. So I was always a bit wary of squishing them down too much, but my recent experimentations with unusual letter combinations (the only way I can find reeeally short untakens) seem to be proving successful. And when I say short, I'm talking about five or six letters long and much effort to avoid the extra length brought on by wide letters.

...That was a long example, sorry, and I haven't even gotten to the point. The Point... is... Well, the point is that while those names are going, their presence may be displeasing to other people. Obviously I try to keep a balance of all lengths, but I'm not perfect (sadly). So yeah. I guess, deep inside, I kind of want people to give me a poke and speak up if they don't like the way the names are leaning. [xD] I don't know. It's all silly insecurity really. Good to get it off my chest though. Thanks for listening. [;3]

Anyone who's been to AGFL since The Day of the Bunnies will know how speedily the names are rising back to 1000. It's probably a shameful thing to say, but I do think I've outdone myself. [xD] Sorry! But you know me; I'm such a procrastinator and the boards distract me so easily... This is truly unusual!

I've also been caught up in hunting Tar- Oh wait, I mean visiting Tarla on her tour. [-coughcough-] I even made a new siggy for the occasion (below), which you can drag to your address bar to view in full size.

And as you can see, M-City is enjoying the background from the latest New Game Challenge (Ugga Drop).

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Scientist' by Coldplay. ]

nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard

28th Apr, '10

...names taken from AGFL during Cybunny Day yesterday. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, it's insane. [xD] I'm still recovering from the shock. This beats last Hissi Day's 125 by a mile (and I dare not imagine what this Hissi Day is going to bring - in only six days' time).

I've been asking the Help Chat if they know how many Cybunnies were released. Some say 15,000, some say 25,000. No one seems to know how many were released last year, sadly. I'm going to have to start taking note myself, I think. It could be interesting. So, as of today, Hissi are at 51st with '266,501 (out of 266,500)'. Now I'll be able to tell how much they go up on the 4th. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Scientist' by Coldplay. ]

sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out

26th Apr (again), '10

The first was just a fragment - in it, I was telling my mum that I had gotten the time of Neo's scheduled maintenance backward. In my dream the maintenance ended at midnight, but started six hours before. In this scenario, I would have been asleep the whole time and it wouldn't have effected me. Wishful thinking, eh?

Second, fuller dream. This time Neopets was some kind of 3D, virtual reality setup. Users were wandering around this huge building (not actually Neopia, but the Neopets.com interface). I saw people gradually signing back on after the scheduled maintenance was finished... and there was a new 'layout'!

The building's rooms and corridors were nicer-looking and more futuristic. Also, the Neoboards had been redesigned. Each board was in one of these round rooms and I think posts and topics appeared holograph-style on the walls. But the redesign had made it much more inconvenient to use. You couldn't simply skim down a list of topics anymore; topics floated in and out of each user's view, using some kind of system that was supposed to figure out which topics you would be interested in or something.

My memory's a bit vague on the details here, but it was something like that. People were already protesting and sending in complaints.

P.S. Typically, the particular board 'room' I walked into in my dream was the Help Chat. [xD]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Anything But Ordinary' by Avril Lavigne. ]

sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out

26th Apr, '10

Midnight to 06:00 am NST is 08:00 am to 02:00 pm here. This morning I was up about 20 minutes before 08:00, in time to send today's Cour tracking messages off and to watch Neo go offline (and man, they were precise on the clock!).

...Oh LOL. I was just about to write about what I plan to do when Neo's back up (update AGFL, answer neomails, play some games) but then on a whim I opened up Neopets on my browser and IT WAS BACK ALREADY. [XD]

Imma go post this entry now. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Anything But Ordinary' by Avril Lavigne. ]

sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out

24th Apr, '10

And. I have started work on New Thing For Courier #1. Oh yes. [8D] I may drop hints about what it is once I'm nearer completion. It will probably be an anti-climax though, with all this suspense I'm encouraging.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Anything But Ordinary' by Avril Lavigne. ]

if once you aren't shiny and perfect

21st Apr, '10

So what are these new graphics? Well, a couple went to AGFL in order to split the Extras section into two (Extras and Sitely, for more space and more relevant categorising) which I'd been meaning to do for a while. [C=] It probably still needs some tidying up, but at least it's done now. (And AGFL has a new poll, by the way.)

Secondly, Courier has a new gift! It's a Hug, as I mentioned a couple of entries back, and was suggested by Khirrna. We both think it could be destined for popularity. [^-^] And to forestall any possible confusion, this was not either of those New Things For Courier I mentioned last month. They're still on the ethereal Coming Soon checklist.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Ladder in My Tights' by Amy Stut. ]

but he sang la la la la inside the house

17th Apr, '10

And then, of course, we've got Cybunny Day on the 27th.

And then Hissi Day on the 4th of May.

Talk about no time to breathe. [;3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Bird Song' by Florence + The Machine. ]

I don't know where I'll be tomorrow

16th Apr, '10

Summary: Five days since my last entry - where do they go? Been working on my gallery the last couple of days. Done a load of names for AGFL today.

Quick reminders for myself, stuff I ought to do relatively soon:

• Add Hug as a gift option to Courier (suggestion of Khirrna).
• Finish poll-mentioned graphics for AGFL.

Rusty Arthur
Rusty Arthur is my friend,
Though he drives me round the bend.
He grumbles at home,
He whines on walks,
He doesn't think much of my best shorts.

I think him mean;
He thinks me lax.
Maybe we need to both relax.
But if I could,
I'd throw him down,
And leave him to hop right back from town.

Rusty Art's my enemy,
From whom I won't be ever free.
He can't sit still,
He won't just stand,
He's not the side on which to land.

He's best asleep,
From counting sheep,
In silence our quarrels keep.
Come the morning,
Grudging smiles,
We'll stick together for a few more miles.

Rusty Arthur is a knee,
One that's firmly attached to me.
It's quite a shame,
He's such a pain,
I'd like to drop him down a drain.

I tell him he's dispensable,
His reply is reprehensible.
He don't believe me for one second,
Though the thoughts do brightly beckon.

But I couldn't do with just one leg,
Even were they to install a peg.
So I guess we'll agree to disagree -

Don't give out on me, you defective knee.

...I, uh, didn't realise it was so much longer than the last one I posted here. [n.n;]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Wheel In The Sky' by Journey. ]

all the young dudes, carry the news

11th Apr, '10

[ Lyrics in header from 'All The Young Dudes' by Mott The Hoople. ]

answer to all answers I can find

8th Apr, '10

Did some more AGFL names yesterday, as well as on Tuesday, so I get to feel good about my activity there. Just this morning I spent about an hour whizzing through the screenie listings on FAL, removing the (17) closed ones.

As I write this, I'm giving my arm a break from the mouse ([;3]) and watching a documentary called Beautiful Minds. It's about fundamental changes of understanding in science.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Could It Be Magic' by Joe McElderry. ]

and most of every day, is full of tired excuses

6th Apr, '10

[ Lyrics in header from 'Other Side Of The World' by KT Tunstall. ]

and most of every day, is full of tired excuses

3rd Apr, '10

Starting with the obvious: Finding a bunch of names for AGFL.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Other Side Of The World' by KT Tunstall. ]

wouldn't you like to rock this town?

2nd Apr, '10

You might have guessed it already, but yes, the reason interesting site-related updates have been dead on the ground the last week is because I'm writing. Gasp shock. [=O]

And on this occasion it is very much using all my time. So, though I'd like to be able to promise you something interesting (perhaps more on those News Things For Courier?!), I'm really not sure I'll be getting to anything on that list amazingly soon. [=(]

I will eventually. Just... I don't know when. [n.n] Regular site maintenance is, of course, still chugging along per normal.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Best Of Order' by David Snedddon. ]

26th Mar, '10

I seem to have a lot of things vying for my brain's attention at the moment, so here's a list of what I'm working on or planning to work on (in no particular order):

1. Graphics that will answer the current poll on AGFL.
2. New Thing For Courier #1.
3. New Thing For Courier #2.
4. Maintenance/attention for FAL (the NT section and possibly a second Rate Me button).
5. Aerogami.
6. My gallery.
7. Names for AGFL (as always).

I'm not telling you about the New Things For Courier until they're nearer completion. [;D]

[ Lyrics in header from ' ' by . ]

and he's tumbling into his thoughts, his memories are tied up in knots

25th Mar, '10

• Do some work on FAL, specifically the NT section.
• Make a second attempt at the graphics that will answer the current poll on AGFL (first attempt was yesterday and did not go too well).
• Think some more on an idea I just had relating to Courier.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Stop Living The Lie' by David Sneddon. ]

once upon a time not so long ago, this boy he took to the stage

23rd Mar, '10

Happy day today. The latest Opera update fixed its troubles with overflow:hidden. Opera is now compatible with what is really the neatest thing, especially for petpage sites with a lot of content. [=D]

I'm planning on splitting AGFL's Extras section into two (Extras and Sitely), so I'll probably be whipping up the graphics I need for that today. No other plans in particular.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Best Of Order' by David Sneddon. ]

may your mind be wide open, may your heart beat strong

21st Mar, '10

I've started something which I'm considering more of a personal project than a site. I'm not going to let it become a fully-fledged site until it's finished and won't need much more work. I'm using psychological tactics on myself, see? [;D] It's called Aerogami, and currently you can check it out here (but it may soon/later be moved to somewhere more permanent). Now here.

So yeah. It's not a site. It's more like that secret project I had; that one which turned out to be about Rock Paper Scissors. It's not going on my lookup either. I probably won't even mention it here very often.

Oh by the way, AGFL has a new poll up. [=3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Waltzing Along' by James. ]

may your mind be wide open, may your heart beat strong

17th Mar, '10

Haven't been writing the last few days. Concentrating on raising AGFL's name count back to a comfortable height. I think I need to work out a balance though, because doing wholly one or the other isn't really the best arrangement.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Waltzing Along' by James. ]

I like to sleep beneath the trees, have the universe at one with me

14th Mar, '10

I'm adding a new (small) feature to AGFL tomorrow. [:3]

I think I must be tired; I'm having trouble pinning down what I've done today. [x)] Perhaps I did nothing.

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Road to Mandalay' by Robbie Williams. ]

don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep

8th Mar, '10

Sadly, Secret Show has closed. My Sprung button is disappointed that it never got a shot at fame, haha. [^.~]

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith. ]

don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep

6th Mar, '10

I've been writing. Again. I do hope no one comes to resent my writing; it does tend to make me inactive. [;D] Not doing much on Neo but for playing the Daily Dare. I do need to do some names for AGFL soon though; we're getting low (possibly not happening today as I'm going out).

[-points to header lyrics-] I do get this irrational worry that I must be missing out on happenings when I'm not very active. [;)]

[ Lyrics in header from 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith. ]

I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like

28th Feb, '10

[=3] Cour is also entered in the SOTM, but I'll go and plug about that on-site...

[ Lyrics in header from 'Grace Kelly' by Mika. ]

I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like

27rd Feb, '10

• The IdeaList
• Project Clearlight
• How To Write For The Web
• Boxes For Everyone
• Straight Forward Tips to Designing Better Petpages!
• Hue No
• The Debate Etiquette Movement

Haven't done a 'currently working on' list in an age, so here goes...

1. Getting used to AGFL's new layout. [;3]
2. Idly trying to think of interesting things to do for FAL and Cour (FAL is awaiting a review, so hopefully that will help).
3. Slowly working on my gallery.
4. Writing stories (Earth - or elsewhere actually, just not Neopian)

P.S. M-City is pleased with the new background he got from today's Daily Dare. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Grace Kelly' by Mika. ]

and that's a good line to take it to the bridge

25rd Feb, '10

As I remarked over at AGFL, when I say I'm going to do something 'soon' it will either be rather a while or pretty immediate. I think this may be because saying it really sets the wheels in my head to turning, so then I start working on it... and it either goes well or doesn't go well, deciding how long it takes. (Real fascinating, right? Har har. [u.u])

Yes, so. A Gift For Life has a new layout. [=O!] I hope people like it. I think it's a lot more organised than the previous layout. And the title banner is more attention-grabbing. And The Notebook can now be used by everyone (no more shunning of IE-users, hehe!). And (something that especially cheers me up) the space is more flexible, so I can easily add new stuff when I want to.

...I just need to get used to the new order of doing stuff every day. Make a new routine. [x3] It goes something like this: Write in Today's News. Copy written news to clipboard. Adjust the Statistics. Make my way down the page, removing taken names. Paste news into the News & Updates. Nip back up to change the time of update, then save page.

I don't know where adding names are going to fit into that yet. [;3]

Excuse me, I need to go and send off Cour tracking messages. Later~

[ Lyrics in header from 'Strong' by Robbie Williams. ]

nothing left to make me feel small

23rd Feb, '10

This is not due to a bandwidth problem, but the fact that the site I host my images on has gone down for some reason. It has had hiccups like this in the past, so hopefully it will return pretty quickly. [=3]

Apart from wait and hope though, there isn't much I can do about it. All those images are too much for regular image-hosting sites, so I can't just go and reupload them elsewhere.

I'll try to update here if anything changes. [=)]

Aaaand the images are now back. [=D]

Aaaand the stupid things are gone again. [Dx] Sighsighmoan.

Well. They, uh, appear to be back again now. I'm going to bed soon, so I guess if they're still with us by tomorrow then we're probably back to normal. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Gold' by Spandau Ballet. ]

22nd Feb, '10

Not much else to report.

[ Lyrics in header from ' ' by . ]

gonna jump at all those many chances that I miss

17th Feb, '10

The image is of the Rainbow Fountain Background in the NC Mall, and I don't think I could have got those stills without the help of my wonderfully Invisible M-City. [:3]

I think I must be in an AGFL-phase. Been doing various tweakings - some so tiny that it might be simpler to direct you to AGFL's news and updates rather than go into detail here. [x)] Most mentionable is the new poll feature, which I'm really hoping people will use.

I've made a set of shiny new buttons for it today, but I'm not sure if they're very good. So I may be stewing on whether to put them up or not.

[ Lyrics in header from 'My Declaration' by Eliza Bennett. ]

can't think of any lyrics today, yeah, oh yeah

15th Feb, '10

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

can't think of any lyrics today, yeah, oh yeah

15th Feb, '10

I think I might add a box over in that empty bit to act as a navigation of my sites and stuff... (This is basically a note to self.) Now done. May need to fiddle with it a bit. (P.S. I believe things are a little wonky for Internet Explorer users, but we'll just have to make do until I get around to creating an original layout for this thing. I have ideas. [:3])

I went through both FAL's and AGFL's affies and such yesterday, and I discovered they needed a button to replace the poofed ones of closed reviewers. So I made the above. I'm rather too pleased with it. [:3]

[ Lyrics in header from '' by . ]

you'd think me rude, but I would just stand and stare

13th Feb, '10

[ Lyrics in header from 'Fireflies' by Owl City. ]

they know that they can't dance, at least they know

12th Feb, '10

Guess what? I've finally gotten around to finishing putting links to here on my three major sites. Oh yeah! [8D] Tiny little thing = so much procrastination. Anyway, this means I had better make sure I don't fail to write here for 12+ days again. 'Cause that would rather defeat the point.

Oh, and I am delighted to report that the rating system on FAL has grown as hoped and is now bringing in a steady trickle of submissions. I may no longer call it the 'new' rating system. [=3]

I think my gallery is actually receiving the most attention lately, eheh. I've always promised the poor thing that one day I'd sit down and improve it, and its day did come.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Vertigo' by U2. ]

don't wake up, can't wake up, no, don't wake me up

31st Jan, '10

Nothing huge happening around my sites, just the usual smattering of names for AGFL, adding pages and ratings on FAL, and some affies and listings all around.

[=O] Cass at Exclusive has dedicated her latest premade to little me. Wow. [='D] Go look - it's the Courier-coloured one down the bottom of the Second Helpings.

[ Lyrics in header from 'By The Time' by Mika. ]

what a day, what a day

29th Jan, '10

And I did something I'd been stewing on for a while, which was close FAL's greeny offshoot, Life's A Game. Quoting from my blurb there, 'I found it the most dull out of my sites and felt my patience could be directed more usefully elsewhere.' Just spent the last few minutes sending out notifications.

I am actually considering making a new site... But shhh, it's a secret. [n.n] Anyway, if I do it will be one that doesn't entail much work beyond the initial creation (like IJWTG).

[ Lyrics in header from 'Bodies' by Robbie Williams. ]

26th Jan, '10

[ Lyrics in header from ' ' by . ]

we are strange, in our worlds

17th Jan, '10

1. A Gift For Life with 600 views.
2. Filter Solutions with 370 views.
3. Find A Laugh with 260 views.
4. Courier with 210 views.
5. Life's A Game with 120 views.
6. I Just Won The Game with 40 views.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Alright' by Supergrass. ]

16th Jan, '10

1. Make a second Rate Me button for FAL.
2. Make more space in the wider section at AGFL for better arrangement. Possibly include a poll (?).
3. Write more journeys for Cour.

[ Lyrics in header from ' ' by . ]

I know a place where the sun hits the sky

13th Jan, '10

1. Working on my poor, neglected gallery.
2. New (small) Special up at AGFL today.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Sun Hits The Sky' by Supergrass. ]

so dependable, oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical

10th Jan, '10

1. Filter Solutions with 630 views.
2. Find A Laugh with 410 views.
3. A Gift For Life with 380 views.
4. Courier with 260 views.
5. Life's A Game with 110 views.
6. I Just Won The Game with 60 views.

Surprisingly, FAL is ahead of AGFL. Interesting. I thought FAL's lengthy hiatus had dealt a heavier blow than that. [C=] And, happily, FAL's unique pageviews go up by about 200 in a week - meaning there's a lot of returning visitors, which is always lovely to think.

LAG and IGWTG don't surprise me either. [x)]

I might do this again next week to see how average these numbers are...

[ Lyrics in header from 'The Logical Song' by Supertramp. ]

where we will, we'll roam

8th Jan, '10

Oh gosh yes, and the guild activity is finally underway~ [8D] It's going well so far.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Hoist The Colours' by Hans Zimmer. ]

skyscrapers rise between us

3rd Jan, '10

Dear Inner Critic
Follow me once, follow me twice,
Do it again and you will pay the price.

I thanked you then; I'll thank you now,
But more of this I will not allow.

You were good to me and I good to you,
But don't you see that we are through?

You sniped at this, you griped at that,
You were like the most stuffy, superior cat.

I'm better now; I stand alone,
I could do without your daily moan.

Follow me once, follow me twice,
I tell you now: I'm more than Miss Nice.

Because she's very annoying, that girl inside my head. [x.x]

Previous to yesterday, I guess I spent most time working on FAL. Went through the screenie listings, removing poofed pages.

I've finally put the finishing touches to that guild activity I've been on about for a while. It's due to begin on the 5th, and I am a little excited. [=3]

Courier is chugging along nicely, A Gift For Life is draining the life out of me, and Life's A Game has been woefully neglected and badly needs the statuses updating.

And I created a new pet, Spellcheckers. Couldn't resist the name, though I've no idea what I'll be doing with her. [Px]

[ Lyrics in header from 'It Can't Come Quickly Enough' by Scissor Sisters. ]

then have no fear; the camera's here

29th Dec, '09

Tricky? [x)]

It's official - I am never going to try NaNoWriMo. I just wrote a short story in five days and did not even make the 1,666 words a day count that I would need for that thing. Not that I really want to; I'm confident in my inability to ignore anything I want to fix, so I don't believe NNRM would work for me.

And yeah, there's the latest reason why I haven't blogged. Far too submerged in another world entirely.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Superstar' by Lupe Fiasco. ]

and now you say you're sorry

20th Dec, '09

We have snow here. A bit. [:3] Dragged myself out of bed this morning and caught sight of the stuff on the roof out my -blocked- Amazing how it improves the mood.

I am actually making progress on the new-layout-for-Cour front, although I don't like to commit to 'It's going to be brilliant' or anything yet in case something goes wrong. [xD]

I'm also spending essential time with my nose buried in Terry Pratchett's latest Discworld novel. Essential, I tell ya. [^.~]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Cry Me A River' by Michael Bublé. ]

way down inside, what more, can, you, need

12th Dec, '09

[ Lyrics in header from 'Whole Lotta Love' by CCS. ]

way down inside, what more, can, you, need

12th Dec, '09

Amazing day yesterday. I don't know why I'd never been to the NC Mall board before, but I went and lurked there in the morning and I am so glad I did. They were very friendly and helpful when I ventured to ask some questions about trading. [^.^] And I'll soon be getting my hands on a retired item I've been wishing after. (And I've added an NC Mall section to my About Me page, though I suppose it needs a little updating now.)

Speaking of the NC Mall, only three more days and I shall in theory be getting access to the Elite Boutique. -shall be a 1337 Weapon-

A couple of small self-reminders:

1. Add link to blog on sites near updates.
2. Advertise Cour?*

[ Lyrics in header from 'Whole Lotta Love' by CCS. ]

hey! dudes! where are ya?

9th Dec, '09

Speaking of disappointingly blurry, the Keyring Case just pulled that trick. [=(] Looks stunning if you go to City's lookup and zoom in a bit though. So much detail on the keyrings, and such a lovely candle in the foreground. [8'3]

But in order to stick with my original plan of going wintry, I'm settling on a cluster of stalagmites from the Ice Caves Background. [=3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'All The Young Dudes' by Mott The Hoople. ]

you've already won me over, in spite of me

7th Dec, '09

1. Finding lots of names for AGFL. (Kind of done... we're back above 1000, but they're being taken fast at the moment.)
2. Implementing new feature and minor edits on FAL. (Mostly done, would check as done.)
3. Plotting new guild activity for No Time For Play. (Nearly done.)
4. Creating a nicer layout for Courier. (Zero progress.)
5. Writing book. (...)
6. Occasionally doing some secret research. (On the back burner.)

Today I am happy because I finally have my maraquan Kyrii, Raydth. [:3] It's his 18th birthday today, and kind of his 4th Neo-birthday, because in fact he used to have a different petname. But he needed a change, so I was waiting until today to create Raydth, so that he still has the same birthdate.

I need to answer neomails today. I've been neglecting anything that I don't consider priority one for a few days now. [=X]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette. ]

and yeah I really do think

3rd Dec, '09

1. Advertised FAL a bit yesterday and received first ever submitted rating.
2. Lots of names to add to AGFL tomorrow morning. [:3] Should be back above 1000, assuming not too many will be taken today.

Feeling good about myself for once. [xD] And I'm really enjoying having MoltaraCity on my main account (Transfered as planned on the 1st). I've painted him invisible (always wanted to have an invisible active pet) so hopefully there'll be a cool Moltaran background available soon, because that would be wonderfully appropriate. [C=]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette. ]

in my mind and in my car

30th Nov, '09

Earlier I was struck with the idea of turning one of my favourite of TNT's avatars into an 88x31, and here's the result alongside the original.

1. Created and uploaded new Courier gifts
2. Minor updates to FAL and LAG

[ Lyrics in header from 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles. ]

oh could this be the magic, at last

29th Nov, '09

It just occurred to me that I don't like the word 'perseverance'. I don't like how it sounds. [=/] Let's go for determination and motivation instead.

Today I made good progress on the guild activity, but I feel like I wasted the whole day. I need to get over that guilt. It's crazy. [x.x] I'm growing up too fast.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Could It Be Magic' by Barry Manilow. ]

english summer rain, seems to last for ages

27th Nov, '09

I still have a little list of other things I'll doing to FAL in the days to come.

Today I really ought to do some untaken names, since I did none yesterday and therefore had none to add this morning when I updated AGFL.

Also, must create graphics for new Cour gifts soon.

And yeah. [-prods lyrics-] It's been raining persistently here, although 1) it's Welsh rain and 2) it isn't summer. On the plus side, I saw the most brilliant rainbow yesterday. Vibrant.

*Because that used to do my head in and is what induced the six-month break from FAL.

[ Lyrics in header from 'English Summer Rain' by Placebo. ]

you're far too pure and bold

25th Nov, '09

1. Finding lots of names for AGFL.
2. Implementing new feature and minor edits on FAL.
3. Plotting new guild activity for No Time For Play.
4. Creating a nicer layout for Courier.
5. Writing book.
6. Occasionally doing some secret research.

See, when there're that many I need to write them down. Otherwise they get lost inside my head. [e.e]

I'm off to bed now.

[ Lyrics in header from 'Neon Tiger' by The Killers. ]

now my phone's on silent, I'm here for life

24th Nov, '09

1. A Gift For Life:
   1. Possibly do something interesting to title banner,
   2. Return the name count to 1000+ and keep it that way,
   3. Improve the Real Words section.
2. Courier:
   1. Make new and more aesthetic layout,
   2. Write more journeys.
3. Find A Laugh and Life's A Game:
   1. More listings, I suppose,
   2. Consider moving more game-oriented stuff from FAL to LAG?
   3. More prominent links from one to the other.
4. I Just Won The Game:
   1. Do something for?
5. Other Account Aspects:
   1. Gallery: learn how and make new layout,
   2. Neohome 2.0: finish,
   3. Pets: paint and Customise to perfection.
6. And finish super secret research project. [;3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Nine2five' by The Ordinary Boys. ]

anyone but here, anyplace else but me

24th Nov, '09

1. To do: Rewrite to-do list.

Also:

• (Dec 1st) Transfering MoltaraCity to Weaponstar, to either be Invisible'd or kitted out in Moltaran gear.

Oh yeah, and something I was meaning to stick up here is my entry for Exhilarating*'s first ever button contest:

It is imperfect. [=/]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Already Over' by Orson. ]

running around like clowns on purpose

8th Nov, '09

1. Finished Scavenger Hunt for guild. Should be underway any time now.
2. Finished 'The Staff' section at Courier. Yay~
3. Still doing that secret research though. [Px]
4. Had some ideas for a better layout for Courier, thanks to some great thoughts I received about it at Ask Purple.

[ Lyrics in header from 'We Are Golden' by Mika. ]

we knew all the answers, and we shouted them like anthems

7th Nov, '09

1. Whee!
2. What fun~
3. Boo!

• Whee!
• What fun~
• Boo!

Now I'm having fantasies of people regularly stopping by my blog to see what interesting codes and thoughts I come up with. [Px] Can't see it happening.

1. Made more progress on the three things mentioned yesterday under point four.

[ Lyrics in header from 'It Can't Come Quickly Enough' by Scissor Sisters. ]

in love in fear in hate in tears

6th Nov, '09

1. Moved this to a labrat's page on my main account. Will probably move again in future.
2. Added an intro box, as you can see.
3. Scanned in the drawing project and made a passable attempt at improving it digitally. (Why doesn't 'improvisation' mean the act of improving something?) For the moment, you can find the can't-be-bothered-to-perfect-so-it-is-finished products here (sorry, page not available anymore). You're looking for the black and white squiggles.
4. Made satisfying progress on:
   1. The guild Scavenger Hunt that those images are related to,
   2. A new section at Courier,
   3. And some super secret research I'm doing for a Neo article. [;3]

[ Lyrics in header from 'Sit Down' by James. ]

it begins

5th Nov, '09

I'm hoping it will actually help me, because I suffer from an acute awareness of exactly how productive I've been each day - recording things I do that might otherwise never be mentioned to anyone could help. And man, that sounds perfectly pathetic when I put it into words. [xD]

But anyway. Here's some stuff I've done today:

1. Managed to code a pretend module on my userlookup to display the pets that are on my side accounts.
2. Finished a small drawing project.
3. Started this.

I have a physical list of other tasks I intend to accomplish. You might be hearing about them.

I've a threatening headache, so I'll be heading to bed now. See you tomorrow, hopefully. [=3]