It's all fixed

Ok, now that I can use FrontPage with my new computer I'm putting this blog to sleep for a while. 03-28-08: Computer wrestling. has a mess of nattering about it.

New Computer no FrontPage

It started around Valentine's day and with some difficulty I have my new computer up and running today, (03/28/09). What a PITA.

I exported my bookmarks to an external HDD and imported them to the new box. I had already copied PhotoShop to the external but didn't know if it would open so I tested it and I can open my PhotoShop! Yeah!

But my FrontPage isn't buying the new OS (Vista). Good thing my old computer isn't dead, it's just old and wheezy. Updating my website (norajean.com) is going to be slowed down since I have to unplug 4 plugs and plug them in do edits and switch plugs again. My worktable looks like a geek's dream date, computers, wires, externals, piles of software to be loaded up, notes on transfering data.

I don't like the new keyboard but my old ergonomic keyboard isn't a USB plug and it was starting to skip letters so I'll have to get used to using this one. If I ever get tested for typing speed they use these little rectangle jobs anyway.

The new computer came with 60 days of MicroSoft Office Suite to goof around with. I updated my resume at Monster.com. I had been wanting to do that but my Word files were on the D drive that died, prompting me to barter astrology for this external HDD, and I couldn't update my resume. Not much to add by way of job experience: four years of volunteering to teach art online and goofing around with my website. If someone finds that amusing and offers me a job I'll fall off my chair.

What else is going on... Oh I've been answering astrology questions on Yahoo Answers, there's a link to it on my website's home page.

With this new computer I am obligated to set up an e-commerce section on my site. I figure that astrology consultation has always been one of my "products" over the years so I'm adding that as what I have up for sale.

It couldn't hurt that there's over 1,800 list members at CITY-o-Clay who might be interested in having me read their charts since they know me already.

There's a couple of things I've been being told by family about marketing: I am not the best one to toot my own horn, I don't take my skills seriously, that I am my own art project, that there's got to be some inexpensive things as well as expensive things, etc.

Yeah, but I'm thinking that there's a couple of things I have done: established a web presence, built a fan base, and established a brand. This astrology answering stuff is a brand building that's deliberate.

I've already consulted young adults in India, competing with the Vedic astrologers. Russia is the leading country visiting my site. I'm thinking that maybe my Russian visitors would like to have their charts read by their favorite polymer clay teacher. With the internet anything is possible. The days of walk in traffice has been replaced with hits and eyeballs to the website.

So we'll see if I can parlez astrology readings as part of my earning potential. I could fold in some astrological polymer clay things while I'm at it. That would be hip. Individualized charts done as key chain fobs.

I'll be linking this blog to the site's home page when I give the home page an update.

What I have to figure out is since I'm a legit customer of FrontPage, I want the $99 upgrade to Expressions, but the FrontPage is on my old computer and I need the Expressions to be loaded on my new one. Can it happen? That's the big question. If I can't figure that out then it's hundreds of dollars for a new copy of Expressions.

Gave up on WordPress

Yahoo mail is down and it's made me realize how much email I have stored on Yahoo's servers. It's scary. I grew dependent on Yahoo through the Yahoo Groups and Yahoo email, that when there's an outage I'm dead in the water. Looks like I need to do an archive through Outllook sand store it on my own HDD.

I had a WordPress blog, it went wonky and I figured it was the old web host . I got a new webhost and have been spending the last couple of months updating my website, copying thousands of pictures off of Epson because that's closing down April 2008, I got a Valentines's gift of a new computer from my estranged husband and it came in broken. It should be arriving at the ACER repair as I type. So that's where I've been lately.

I also started up a wee prefab websection that's going to be my blog area on my website. This space is a back up, something that's needed when switching webhosts. Or when Yahoo Mail has an outage and I'm jonesing.

I didn't blog while I as gone

12-05-07: The Texas Thanksgiving Tour "I'm back" post to CITY-o-Clay.

I didn't blog as I had intended while out on the Texas Thanksgiving Tour. It's a little weird to use other people's computers, especially as much as I'd have to in order to blog regularly. I found myself being shy about asking for computer access and when I got it I kept the usage time down to a minimum.

I did have a great time and got some good feedback. As soon as I get pictures from the Ladies who attended the workshop I'll share them. My camera was acting odd while on the road so I didn't take but a handful of pictures. I need a new digital camera and a laptop with WiFi and that's on my wish list for 2008.

I realized how much fun I had when I was flying back home. I found myself feeing blue. I wasn't ready to come home I wanted to keep on traveling. It took me a week to get the apartment cleaned and all the laundry done. Back to "real life". I'm still not on schedule with going to the gym but I only gained 4 pounds while I was traveling and that was a miracle because I was being fed very well by my hostesses.

My WordPress blog on my website is still on the fritz. Something about the database being crashed. I'm in communication with Ipower Customer Support and I hope it gets fixed soon. I don't want to depend on blogs that are off of my website. Not that I don't appreciate this blog as back up, mind you, it's just that I want the blog that's on my website to work.

It's hard for me to believe that it's taken me as long as I was gone to get back into the swing of things. To begin to clay again. To update my website. To post in the blog. I'll have to remember that when planning my next tour and how much time it takes to turn around and head out again.

Two days to Christmas and I find that I'm always a bit blue around this time of year. I'm keeping a low profile. The frenzy of consumerism gets in the way of remembering it's supposed to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

There's a dilema in this with my wanting to set up an e-commerce section of my website. Should I feed into the frenzy of conspicious consumption by making things just for the holiday season? Or should I just make what I want to make and people can buy what they want to buy without any indication that the items are seasonal? I'm leaning towards the latter option. Most people making things for Winter Holiday sales start in July. That always made me feel weird. It's hard to be inspired to make winter things in summer.

I think what I could do is make things inspired by winter in winter, just sell them the next year. Make things that are summer inspired in summer and sell them the next year. That makes more sense to me because it gives me lead time to build those e-commerce web pages.

I still need to get a business license, sign up for a reseller's license. Remove the OScommerce section off of my website and download Mals-ecommerce software to my computer and work with that. Seems easier to use and leaves me the option to customise the shopping cart page to match the rest of the site. I'm just thinking outloud really.

I just want the next few days fly by while I watch Bible Documentaries recounting the birth of Jesus and to eat the foods that Jesus must have eaten in his day: pita bread, fetta cheese, dates, black olives, a bit of fish. I want to throw a blanked over my head and stay quiet the next few days, dodging phone calls.

The reason why I can't get into the "Merry" mode is with the birth of Jesus there is his fate to die. When I sculpt Mary and Jesus figures I make her look loving but sad. It's bitter sweet that look of love, knowing that he is to be sacrificed.

But maybe it's the lack of sunlight or Capricorn transiting planets opposing my Mars in Cancer. All I know is I want to hide this time of year. I hope all of you who are reading have the type of Christmas you wish to have. I know I will: quite, contemplative, and low key.

Texas Thanksgiving Tour

There's something broken with the WordPress Blog on my website http://www.norajean.com/ and I can't post to it. Something to do with the SQL database and I'm not able to access it to repair it. I sent an email to the support staff at Ipower-inc.com and if they give me the right reply I might be able to repair it when I'm on the road. Although given Murphy's Law I doubt it.

This is a problem because I'm leaving for Texas in less than two days. Since this blog has a picture of me in my 2001 Easy Breezy Tour Rice Cracker outfit, which I'm going to be wearing on this tour, it seemed fitting that I'd keep contact with the ClayMates through this blog.

If you can't go over something you can go around it and this is my work around.

I'm all packed up, been packed and repacked because I keep on adding cured polymer clay things to bring to show to Densie, Jen, Eva and Debbie, who are my team members on the COCModSquad, and my hostesses when I'm in Texas.

Check my home page for details on the "Triple T" the Texas Thanksgiving Tour and check here for the updates, since my WordPress blog on my website decided to go wonky at the worst possible time.

One of my favorite pictures

Testing the photo function. This photo is loaded up at my Flickr account. There I tested the url function.

This has got to be one of my most favorite pictures of myself. I got on my leathers, my ostridge boots I bought for $3.00 at a Little Rock, AR, yard sale. My goofy tiger stripe cowgirl hat and I'm as fat as I want to be.

Down with the tyranny of the thin!

I was in Jackson, Missippi, with three of my sisters, to clear out the trailer after our father died. He was cremated in a cardboard box. "Spare no expense in the Cardboard category!" My older sister, Linda, hollered when meeting with the Funeral Director. He laughed until he cried with us Brummett girls.

Oh get over it. Daddy had a good death. He had coffee grinds and water in the Mr. Coffee machine just waiting for the next morning. He died in his sleep in his bed. The next door neighbors adopted L'il Sheebah, Daddy's Dog. Daddy was able to remain independent until he died. That's a good death.

But he left little behind, being too poor to pay attention to such stuff.

This outhouse was across from the Motel we were staying at and I told my sister Geri to take a picture of me there and I'll tell folks this is my inheritance from my father's vast estate. She is such a good sport she said, "Sure thing, that would be too funny."

It was back in 2001 and we're still laughing.

I'm testing free blogging sites for a Yahoo Group where I volunteer as a Moderator. So this is a test, if it were a real emergency you'd see some real content.

Happy Holidays to those who aren't "humbugging it" this season.