This WordPress plugin displays statistics for your www.myminicity.com town. It also provides links to the various URLs associated with your MiniCity as they are needed. I spent a while looking for a plugin that would do this, and finally decided that this would be a good chance for me to learn how to write WordPress plugins. So this is my first plugin, and it could probably use some work. But it wouldn’t be working at all if not for the Ronald Huereca’s How to Write a WordPress Plugin article.
Prototype
Homemade Slanket
A while back I came across the wesite of the Slanket, an ingenious combination of a blanket with sleeves – perfect for keeping warm while lounging about, yet still keeping your arms free for reading or changing channels. I loved the idea so very, very much, but was unwilling to shell out the money for one. So, I decided to try to make my own out of cheap Wal-Mart throws. Turns out, I would really recommend buying one from the website, since the one I made looks like a blind person did it. The seams are all crooked and inside-out, and there are a bunch of tiny threads all over the material from when I had to rip a whole seam out, and the the little throws I bought to make them didn’t have enough fabric for the project. Ah, as the old saying goes, “God is in the details…. and Lauren’s making crap again.”
It is warm, though!
UPDATE: “Instructions!”
Do-overs.
The more I looked at it, the more disappointed I was with the spacing, and also with one line. So, miracles of miracles, I’m doing it over. That never happens. I’m a prototype person – make it once and move on. (My family uses the saying, “It’s good enough for who it’s for.”) But I saved the stencils, and since cutting them out was what took most of the time, it will be an easy fix. Sorry, everyone.
It’s an Ode to the Lazy Hermits. I’m changing one line:
- Some food, some drink, some time to think.
- A chair, a book, and time to look.
- A cat, a lap, and time to nap.*
- We find we don’t need lots of stuff.
- We’re rich in time – and that’s enough.
* This was originally ‘ cat to pet, we surf the net’.
I’m still working on one more line, so we’ll see how it goes. Whenever I have to cover for Annette at the center and adjust schedules for people, I ask them, “What’s more important to you – time or money? Would you rather stay and earn the money or go home and enjoy the time?” I crave my ‘doing nothing’ time like nobody’s business. I’d rather have an afternoon of watching t.v. and puttering around the house than going anywhere, doing anything, or having anything. Yes, I’m that lazy.
So, what’s your pleasure? Time or treasure?
Prototypin’
(Sorry for missing Friday. I went to bed early so I could go to work and cook. Lloyd said he would post something but he wound up grading papers instead. That’s good for him, but bad for you, ’cause he’s got a really funny one. Get on his case to post it!)
Next Saturday I’m going to a conference in Columbus to try and convert more people to the power of ukes. We’ll be using barirones, which are more guitar-like. I have three on hand here, and one of our ukulele night guys is going to loan me three. It’s possible for two people to share a ukulele, but it gets kind of boring for the person who has to wait their turn. So, this time – I have prototypes for them! These are 21-inch-long pieces of 1×3 with pieces of bamboo skewers glued on for ‘frets’. I need to get some heavier fishing line for strings. They won’t be in tune at all, but at least it’ll be something to practice on.
Plant Prototype
I was watching a commercial for the AeroGarden, a hydroponic thing that sits on your countertop and costs $150 to have fresh lettuce and tomatoes. Well, not being a gardener but definitely being a tinkerer, I decided to make my own.
As with many things, I made it first, then checked out how to do it. Turns out that the AeroGarden isn’t just a hydroponic garden, but an aeroponic garden – meaning that the roots get sprayed with nutrient solution. Yeah, that ain’t happenin here. I’ve got plastic cups, cotton balls, and seeds.
(I also bought a grow-light for the fluorescent light that’s always on in the basement. Total cost: about ten bucks.)
So here it is two days later, and I’ve got germination!
Aww…they’re so cute…
IF we sent out Christmas Cards
Ok, let’s just get it out in the open that this is NOT a real card – it’s just a funny thought that popped in my head, and like all prototypes, had to be carried out immediately. But if we WERE going to send out cards, this would be it.