Found the answer to a problem previously described
Topic: Putting up a website
Well fancy that, I've made some more sense out of the options offered in the Tripod photo albums. I found out one can put links on the page to other pages. So I've now got "Home" links on each of my album pages. Must put "contact" or "to order" links as well as "next album".. links.

I find it interesting that I knew this was a problem, I tried to find an answer, found none; but when one of my siblings told me this needed changing and I defended myself saying there was no way to fix it just now, I felt prompted to
a) write about it
b) look again to see if I'd missed the answer
Sure enough, I had. The lesson being 'How we do affect one another whether we think so or not!' I'm sure there are other lessons in this too (besides the practical one of how to add a link to a Tripod photo album).

More thoughts on web authoring
Topic: Putting up a website
I'm adding here some thoughts I just sent to one of my siblings:

I know there are problems with it (my website), things that are not kosher in site design practices, but the circumstances of the whole thing just taking too long took precedence over perfection. For instance the pages that show the card sets are really photo album pages that I'd put together (using the Tripod/Lycos templates) as a 'let me try it and see if I like this' when I first started this whole process and had no idea where to start. The photo albums are part of the free services Tripod/Lycos offers and have their limitations, such as, as far as I can tell, putting links on the pages. So connecting them to the website means the visitor can get to the albums from the link on the website but can only return to the site by using the back button. And these album pages show up on google searches for my name so a visitor getting to an album thru a search would only be able to get to the other albums and the site by returning to the Google search results. But the only people googling my name are people looking for me and they would probably have more patience and or curiosity (I think). And I'm basically doing this so that people looking for me can find me.

It has surprised me how much I'm at a loss as to what to write in the blog. I thought I knew what I'd do with it but everything I think of seems either too personal or too big an issue that needs far more careful consideration before going in a place for anyone to see. Of course ANYONE seeing it is just in theory, not practice, (having so few visitors so far). I did write a list of ideas in my journal, must transfer it so its in my hand here. Let me see what I remember: wc lesson of the past week as long as it is from my own photo or art, events I've been at & pics, animal tales and sitings, big questions I'm always pondering, recipes I make up that are really only very simple fast cooking, projects in the works,...What else? Ideas?

I don't know if the following will show up. I was doodling with type this morning after having come across a lovely pattern created in ascii or just from a keyboard. I realized there are all kinds of connections between this, digits, music, patternmaking, weaving, knitting/beading etc., .Well, it doesn't exactly work because it isn't in color and this font lines up differently, but one gets an idea. And maybe it will trigger someone else to play around.

XXXOXXXXOXXXXOXXXXXOOOXXXXXX
XXOOOXXOOOXXOOOXXXOOOOOXXXXX
XXXOXXXXOXXXXOXXXXXOOOXXXXXX

Finally got a website up
Topic: Putting up a website
Yesterday I decided that since my trying to do my own website was taking so long, I should at least get up a business card type of site. The web authoring tool I'm using comes with my service. I've been using one of the templates instead of 'writing in html' myself. But one must use it online and I have dial-up. The instructions aren't clear, one must try endless variations of things which, to see the results of, ends up taking a long time. One can only learn the system by doing, and even then not that well. On top of that my Internet Explorer browser, which I only use for this purpose because the builder will not work with my Safari browser, keeps getting hung up. Aah... So, the business card: couldn't find a template for that. Next best thing, the simplest template I could find. No problem, this will be done in a jiffy. Well that too took so long. I could have been done with the other in the time it took me to build a new simpler site. But I finally published it to the web and I wonder when I'll have the nerve to try any more with it. It is far from perfect, a work in progress, maybe or maybe not.

First Musings on Starting a Blog
Topic: Blog Writing
I've finally started a blog. It will surely contain a lot of nonsense. I often have to write a lot of that before anything of interest comes out. Perhaps I'll think of a way to separate the two. I know, its called editing. But I also like being able to see the thought process, so I may have a tendency to leave the nonsense. And, so now what do I write about? I just wanted to get this thing set up and on the road. I have to write something so I can actually see it. And who knows when I'll be ready to show it to anyone else.

I realized, when I write in my (paper) journal I have no real consideration of whether or not my thoughts will be understood by anyone. I basically write for me to remember things that have happened or the thoughts I've had, and as a maybe trove for someone in the future to come across, maybe learn from, maybe see what another person's journey was. But to publish something for anyone to read one must have some awareness of whether it will be meaningful to the 'audience'. And it just hit me that writing a blog will be quite different than writing a journal in that way. Here I was thinking I'd finally be able to put out there some of the points of views I have on things and it would be as simple as one two three, but NO, one must still have a concern with how things are read, how things come across. Hmm. I'm not sure about this now.