I pulled a couple of pictures off the camera. Seemed to fit with the days. The Yellow Rose started as a bud, and Ma Wetzel had made sure I took it and brought it home with me. I placed it in water, and left it on the kitchenette’s counter. It caught some morning light, and I snapped a quick picture. I’m saving the best copy for publication.
I grabbed a couple of shots, on my way to lunch Tuesday, because there was some resonance with the image. Regrettably, I don’t have a way, time or place to mess with doing what I was thinking of doing. But a parking lot for Romeo’s? There’s a great deal of information that could be read into that kind of an image. The problem is I keep coming up with alternative splash images, but I don’t currently employ a splash page.
As far the image itself, I was tinkering with the romance text, yet again, and wondering what to do about that. I figured a Romeo image, especially with a “violators will be towed” sign would be good. To me, that carries the correct message.
Unrelated musical notation:
This one caught me surprises, but Progressive Rock is making a comeback. Remember what that is? The first time around? For that matter, I’m still looking for Rick Wakeman’s 6 Wives of Henry VIII.
Hip trends
Podcasting. Gets a “yeah, right,” and a roll of the eyes from me.
The flip side of the un-asked question, I wonder, is that like an un-carved block, is whether or not the weekly audio message is just that.
What happened, I was toying with Apple’s Garage Band, and I accidentally recorded myself. An idea was born. Shortly after that, I started laying down a two-minute weekly look at the sky.
Which has grown to a slightly longer entry, at least, this week.
As of last month, ten percent of the bandwidth for the site was that audio message. That’s been a steady trend, born out by the site’s stats, for more than a year. Starting this week, I remembered to date the message, too. Hey, my bad, I wasn’t bothering with that before because I thought it sounded too formal, and, to be honest, I didn’t have a clue.
I still might not “have a clue,” but that’s not germane to this discussion.
Why don’t I put that up on some feed someplace? Because the weekly audio is limited to the subscription area of the site. “If you don’t pay, you don’t get to play.” It’s really pretty simple.
So I glanced through the demographics for podcasting, as that article, a white paper, puts it all together.
So why haven’t I set up a feed for the weekly message? Part of the problem is the organic nature of the site’s layout, and part of the problem is that I refuse to be too bleeding edge anymore.
I had several great ideas for this week’s message, but between the road itself and the work at either end of the trip, I just didn’t have time to pull it all together like I wanted. Me? I can blame the planets. Other folks? I don’t know what they’ll do.
I’ve stopped short of doing a feed because, for one, it’s too much work today, and I’d rather be doing something more productive. Then, the second problem, like I mentioned, is the site’s underlying framework, and the way the business works. Information may want to be free, but bandwidth costs money.
A tech weblog mentioned a piece of hardware I’d be interested in. I clicked through on the link, but got a 404. The seller’s website hadn’t been updated, or, perchance, it was vapor-rumor-hardware. Unless I come across another link, sometime in the future, chances of me buying that item are pretty slim, as I’m inclined to not go back.
In the same way, a feed that dead-ends into a password-only directory would just irritate me.
I’ve found that the weekly audio update adds just what I thought was missing, and stretches my creative muscles in a different fashion. I was scared at first, but I’ve warmed to the task, and I’ve even gotten to where I think about issues ahead of time, to find the right example to fit the week.
But for iPods? I’ll download music, even pay for it on certain occasions, but I can’t see downloading a bunch of messages to listen to, then throw away. But just because it doesn’t interest me, apparently, it does interest some people.
Most of the blogs I read, or that I look at, are personal. I like that part. it’s not so much the content, although I dearly enjoy certain personal analysis of news items and reviews, it’s as much the style. Part of that derives from the way I was trained to read, and part of that is just the way I think.
My “it’s not good to go into my mind after dark, alone, or unarmed” mind.
But just like skipping a song that I don’t want to hear at a particular moment, I suppose a pod-cast audio file cold be skipped, too.
I don’t have an hour-long commute, at least not very often. Occasionally, I’ll spin up to Dallas, or down to San Antonio, or even to the coast, but that’s not a commute. It’s a road trip. With road trip music. I don’t want to hear someone holding forth, unless I’ve got a good traveling companion, and that makes the discussion interactive.
Now, for those who are so inclined, it’s real easy, and starting this week, date-stamped, too, to download then upload the weekly message.
For me? I figure that way too much work. I can just listen on the site.
Two-fold Tuesday
“Kramer? Were you fishing in the lake, Town Lake, yesterday?”
Well, yes, yes I was. I eventually caught three very small fish. Not that it counts, either, as they weren’t much bigger than minnows. At least one wasn’t much bigger. So I didn’t mention that.
“I thought that was you, Kooky Kramer.”
Kooky Kramer? I’ve been called many things, but that’s one I can do without. I’m shocked, just shocked.
Pisces. Go figure.
I switched my attention the Aquarius lad who was my server, inquiring about life in Aquarius land, which had more downs than ups. In the last two weeks, I queried?
“Yeah, how did you know?”
Mercury.
“See,” chimed in the Pisces, “that’s why we call you Kooky Kramer, you just know stuff.”
Or I like what I do.
Which leads to the second entree for the entry, flavors for the time being.
In the last 72 hours, every chart I looked at had a common theme: Aquarius Moon. Now that’s just plain weird, to me, and I do this stuff all the time. Started Sunday morning, and after a while I realized that everyone had the same moon sign. Just an anomaly, I’m sure. Or a weird twist of fate. Different sun signs, but the same moon. In a reading Tuesday afternoon, same thing. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
“There are no coincidences.”
STFU.
(Don’t be handing me back no new age crap I’ve tossed out!)
Kramer? We need an updated lecture here.
So for the October schedule, and for June in NM, as well, one of my promoters was asking for updated lecture material, new PR crap. Material, excuse me.
So I got thinking. Then I tied a heavy lead weight on pole and thought I should try throwing that before I did anything else.
In a real consultation, one of the factors that I’m addressing this year is going to be a long and sordid series of retrograde planets. Mercury, Mars and finally Venus. which is going to make for an interesting Fall Season, that’s for sure.
Of particular interest to me, while I was working up the yearly material, is the way Mars will be backwards in Taurus, opposite from Scorpio. I can expect a lot of noise then.
In a rather general way, it’s good for business and bad for relationships. Remember that all generalizations are false; therefore, the outcome is dependent upon a real look at the situations, and how these energies play with each other. Or don’t play, as the case may be.
For the PR packages, that’s the head shot. I like it; works for me.
For the text, though, I’ve got to come up with a new set of lines that describe what I’ll talk about. I might even have to come up with a new talk. Thankfully, the planets keep moving and doing strange things to strange people, so life’s job is getting easier.
For one workshop, it’ll be a two-part bit, of that I am sure. However, the components that are the same? I’m sure I can do a quick paragraph for that.
The first part, the introduction, is material that’s in the books, but the second part, or in one case, the bulk of the lecture, will be about what’s going on with retrograde planets, what to do, how to combat the situations (as if), and by October, I’ll also be addressing what’s going to be coming up in 2006.
Working title? Inner planet retrogrades, what to do (and what not to do).
“Kramer’s lecture and workshop will focus on the personal planets like Mars, Venus and Mercury, and the talk will offer insight and help for dealing with the present Mars Retrograde, and will address future trends as the other planet patterns, unfolding now and on into the beginning of 2006, to help make the best of the situations and help with timing.”
I don’t like hammering on this stuff when the planets are where they are, but I’ve got to get something out. Dern promoters and deadlines.
