Jump... for your love...
It's interesting to watch how quickly you can fall behind on different Web sites in such a short period of time.
Yesterday, I spent some time on my day off figuring things out with my site. As I had announced, I'm killing Fun With Dead Trees, so I had to port all my reviews from there over to my GoodReads account. They're all done... finally... and I had a ton. I think I'm up to like 180+ reviews or some such. I've also tied it into my Facebook account, which is kinda cool.
I also went in and signed up for BlogTalkRadio. Up to this point, all I'd been doing was subscribing to the feeds through iTunes so I could have them download to my iPod on Monday morning and I could get my fill of Karl and Hilly during my commute or at my desk at work (note: listening to Hilly is NSFW; I learned that the hard way, no pun intended). I figure if I ever hope to go beyond just an "archive listener" as they call it, I'd better get an account established, right?
Lastly, I also started the process of getting a WordPress blog set. I was talking to several hosts about plans they offer and migrating my domain name out of Yahoo to them. All of them said they could do it for me if I provided them with some code they needed acknowledging that I was, indeed, the owner. So I start sifting through Yahoo's crapload of crap to find this code and I couldn't. That was when I found out that Yahoo now offers WordPress functionality to people with hosting plans.
Hmmm... I already have Yahoo hosting and my domain is registered through Yahoo... why the hell not? So I clicked the button and it was set up. Now I have a WordPress blog and I'm playing with themes and plug-ins and, when I like what I've designed, I'll make the jump. Not sure how long it will take me to figure it all out, but at least I'm well on my way. Oh, and I already made an upgrade in the WordPress system files to v2.5.1 so I know how to do all that jazz, too. And it's fun using FTP again for a Web site. I've missed playing with Fetch (my FTP service); I haven't really had to use it much since my old static blog days from '98-'05. Such a fun little program.
The real problem I'm having now is figuring out the WordPress UI. It's such a far cry from TypePad that I'm having difficulty adjusting and finding things. I need to do a lot of work to my sidebar and, after all the time I spent perfecting the one I've got now, it's frustrating not knowing how to achieve similar results immediately. Maybe I should just start it all anew and kiss this stuff good-bye entirely. Wouldn't be too terrible except I would miss my dynamically generated "Hear Me" music links. So easy to do. I wonder if there's a plug-in for that.
So, um, yeah, be on the lookout for some new stuff around here sometime in the near future.
Totally Unrelated Aside (TUA): Yeah, yeah, I'm about to talk some sports. But it kinda goes beyond sports to civic pride and stupid people and the like. So please don't give up on it already.
Katie was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about the possibility of a Cubs vs. White Sox World Series in Chicago and how cool it would be. She asked me what I thought, and after careful consideration (I had thought about this in the past, too), I told her.
First off, I explained that I don't think it will happen. One of them will screw it up (hopefully the Sox, heh). But, in case it did happen, I told her I don't think our town could handle it. If it happened, I would likely not wear any gear in support of one team or the other or display any flags or logos on our house or any stickers or hats in my car or at work.
To be honest with you, I have absolutely no faith that the people in this city and its suburbs (or anywhere in the modernized world, for that matter) can treat this as the mere sporting competition that it is. People will yell and throw shit and start fights and damage personal property and everything else that you would hope we, as human beings, would be too advanced or civilized to resort to, but, in reality, are not. And these are unfortunate side effects of fandom that I want no part of.
Call me a pessimist if you must, but I've seen the competition get heated over just our crosstown classic and those are simple regular-season games. I've had Sox fans get pissed at me because I, a Cubs fan, expressed my support for the Sox in their World Series bid a few seasons ago. I was just happy for Chicago as a whole and they were dissing me for being a fair-weather fan. I was not. I was supporting them for the sake of our city, which was desperately starved for a Series title. That's all. I did what most people do during a sports championship run, I chose a side, even if my team wasn't one of the options.
And just these two incidents have completely soured me on the concept of a crosstown World Series. I'd hate it, plain and simple, and I don't want to see it.
Maybe humanity can prove me wrong, but I doubt it. They haven't yet.
The move to WordPress should be good. And you should have an option for importing blog entries from previous blogs into WP. I did it from Blogger.com on a couple of my older blogs into my ChillyWilly.org site. I would hate to see all of this go away.
Posted by: martymankins | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:03 PM
I have mixed feelings about my move to WP. My traffic quickly doubled when I moved, and there are a lot of great features, but without a professional webmaster on hand (I have two, one a relative and one a friend), you're pretty much lost at sea if you want any kind of customization. Without enormous amounts of help I'd have gone out of my gourd and gone back to Blogger.
Posted by: Memarie Lane | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:14 PM
You know, I have tried repeatedly to get into the radio shows. I'll put one on while I'm working and then inevitably 1/4 of the way through the phone starts ringing off the hook & I have to turn the show off. I've yet to even get halfway through anyone's radio show.
If only I had a commute... ;)
Posted by: diane | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:21 PM
As you've seen me mention on my blog I'm making changes to it too but I'm such an amateur compared to what you are working on. I'm still trying to learn stuff on my own so any material you would suggest for reading on web stuff I would actually greatly appreciate (yes, I know I'm a nerd).
As for the Sox vs Cubs in World Series, I would agree with you in that it would be disastrous for the whole city. I can guarantee you that fights WILL break out and there will be lots of violence. As a Red Sox fan myself (yeah, I know you probably hate me now) I saw first hand how crazy it was in Boston when the Sox won the '04 series.
Posted by: Marie | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:25 PM
As you know, I love WP and am so glad i moved...but yeah, I did have a webmaster so it was easy on me. My stats have almost tripled since I moved as well; I have no idea why that is either.
And are you suggesting that I have a potty mouth or yanno, that we are risque on my show?
;)
Posted by: Hilly | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:30 PM
Sox vs Cubs World Series would tear the city apart... but be quite amusing for someone like me who doesn't root either way! :)
Posted by: kilax | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 01:35 PM
LOVE WP. It's awesome.
Posted by: sizzle | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 02:37 PM
Blah blah blah....I didn't understand anything in your post til I hit the TUA.
You won't see this Sox fan fighting you about it. I remember the craziness of the SouthSide after the Sox won the World Series. It was pure pandemonium, of the good kind, but still.
Chicago has enough violence without anything else adding to its statistics. The Cross Town is inspires enough rivalry.
PS: You're a better man than I. I don't think I could never suck it up enough to wish the Cubs good luck if they made it to the World Series. It must be a bitter Sox fan thing.
Posted by: Sheila (Charm School Reject) | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 03:00 PM
marty, I already made sure the import function was there. It will pull in all posts and comments. Just no categories which will suck. But are categories all that important anymore?
Memarie, it seems to me that the dashboards in Blogger and WordPress are actually somewhat similar, unlike in TypePad which is a far cry from either. I used Blogger as a contributor to a couple blogs some time ago.
diane, that's why I podcast it. No need to worry about streaming and buffering and all that jazz. Just play/pause on my iPod.
Marie, but at least as a Bosox fan, you didn't have to worry about the town splitting and taking sides. You're safe in that regard.
Hilly, I gotta know why the stat tripling? That makes no sense unless WordPress has some sort of directory they use. And you risque? Never!
kilax, I think it's that battleground neutrality that I'm aiming for.
sizzle, that's what everyone says. I hope you're right! ;-)
Sheila, while I'm a Cubs fan, I don't find it tough to wish the Sox well (unless they're playing the Cubs). I guess I'm just a fan of sports in Chicago more willingly than I am to take sides in a rivalry.
Posted by: kapgar | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 05:17 PM
"Sox vs Cubs World Series would tear the city apart..."
Isn't that enough reason for one?
Dare to dream...
(I keed! I keed! ;))
Posted by: BA | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 05:37 PM
BA, well, the good thing is I live in the suburbs, so I should be spared of most of the fallout and I believe the prevailing winds will carry it east. That's a plus.
Posted by: kapgar | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 06:00 PM
Having been playing with WP for over two years I consider myself to be quite good... at the help forums! Give me a shout if you need to know anything and I'll wave my arm in the general direction of an answer!
Posted by: Bec | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 07:09 PM
I would think Chicago would be very PROUD to host an inter-city Series. But sadly, I know you are correct about the behavior. Did you happen to catch Real Sports on HBO with the "fans at professional sporting events" profile? Abominable fan conduct has become so ubiquitous that a pro sporting event is hardly a place to take a kid anymore. Sad.
Posted by: John | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 09:04 PM
I followed the GoodReads link. Is the Jenna Bush book any good?
Hilly NSFW? Shocking.
Posted by: kim | Thursday, 19 June 2008 at 10:52 PM
Bec, I will take you up on your arm waving. You sound like the French tower guard in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "I fart in your general direction!"
John, it's disgusting. Pride would be overwhelming until you read the front page of the paper. You'd think we could just be proud and happy that both our teams were in it and one was guaranteed of winning it. But no. Oh, and I hadn't seen that Real Sports. I forgot all about that show. I may have to look it up online.
kim, totally shocking, I know. ;-) The Jenna Bush book was pretty decent. I enjoyed it. But it is a young adult book, so you have to set your expectations a bit lower than if it were an adult novel. I was reading it because she was coming to town for a signing and I thought it'd be best to have some idea what she was writing about before asking her to sign the book. Good idea, eh? ;-)
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 05:46 AM
*sniff!* *sniff!* no more Fun With Dead Trees?? :( I agree tho, ever since I signed up with Good Reads, I've been neglecting FWDT. I wouldn't think twice about typing an off-the-cuff review on GR but I'd want to sit and do a"proper" review for FWDT... and such "proper" reviews just didn't happen :( Thanks for the heads-up, I think I've moved all my reviews (I counted a whopping 7!!) over to GoodReads already.
Posted by: *lynne* | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 09:06 AM
Kev, this is the first time I want to hit you since discovering your blog. And, it's not about the Cubs/Sox thing, either. It's regarding your choice of lyric. Damn you! That crappy song is stuck in my head, now! Evil, evil man!
Whew.
Wordpress.com is great. I imagine you're migrating to Wordpress.org, though. I have no knowledge of that, as it's WAAAAAY out of my league.
Cubs/Sox. I want to see it happen. But I want to be in Europe when it does. Or Outer Mongolia. Or the moon. You're exactly right - and I made the same point a week ago. I would LOVE to have a Chicago World Series, but Chicagoans would end up killing each other, leaving the city to be repopulated by Canadians or something. Boo hoo.
Posted by: Krys Slovacek | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 09:28 AM
lynne, good. I'm glad you caught this. I was going to e-mail everybody soon. And thanks for your help over the last couple years.
Krys, you don't like the Pointer Sisters? Blasphemer! I have no idea which Wordpress I'm using. Just the one that Yahoo offered up in their service plan. Not even sure how I'd find out to be honest with you. Oh, and if a Series happens here, save a couple seats on that moon shuttle for me and Katie, will ya?
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 11:00 AM
'Tis the season to make changes. I'm pondering some possible revamps on my own site.
Posted by: Dustin | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 04:05 PM
Sticking with Blogger or moving over to Wordpress?
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 20 June 2008 at 04:36 PM