Layout recoding

So I spent a few moments each day in the last few days trying to add a facebook like button to my posts because some people suggested it (cos they're too lazy to comment .......... noobs), and found out it can't be done except on new layouts.

So, I upgraded to bloggers new layouts and tried to convert my old html layout to xml, except it can't be done by machine.

So instead, I took a template and recoded it to as close to my old layout as I could :) Just so you know, this present layout came from something that looks like THIS:

Yeah it took me a while. But I got there :) It was fun. Was listening to skrillex during the whole thing and felt like a badass computer hacker while changing code when actually I was just redecorating my blog ....

So I will now test the like button with this post :) Hope you all like the new layout anyways haha minor update.

A thunderstorm is coming D:

new layout :D

haven't updated the layout since august 26 last year, so decided to do it now :)
ripped the search bar function from Cathee's blog hhahahahhaha i love how html is open source :) hope you like it

...layout...

ugh, just spent the last 3 hours messing around with this new code. not sure if I like it, it's a little.. (k, VERY) grey atm lol. Might bring in some coloured coding later but since my taste in colour combos is about as good as that of a colourblind person it might take a while. Anyway you can toggle the side stuff on and off now so if you don't like looking at YJ's tagboard spam or something you can just click the title and it will disappear :D so neat. (jkjk yj I'm sure everyone wants to read your spam.......)

labels!! :]]] & hello term 3

As you may or may not have noticed, I went back through all my entries and added a tag system. The tag cloud should be on the left =P What I've got so far...

art (14) - pretty much stuff that I make, little projects, not necessarily 'art' art lol
blog (5) - entries about the blog
cosplay (1) - exactly as the name suggests
dreams (3) - dreams I've had
gifts (10) - gifts I've gotten from other people
life (105) - general updates, kinda like diary entries. lol 105! I sure talk about my life a lot...
love (16) - times that made me happy, friends and fuzzy entries, or just thoughts about love in general ♥
meme (18) - meme entries lol
nostalgia (7) - entries about the past
NYRs (2) - new years resolutions
pot luck (2) - pot luck entries
rant (16) - rants about stuff, usually stuff I'm opinionated about
shared stuff (30) - link outs, cool stuff I wanted to share
stories (6) - stuff I've written, could be stories or poems
thoughts (52) - philosophical musings, difference between this and rant is cuz I'm not sure what I think about these mostly, or I don't think anything really, just wanted to explore my thoughts haha

Term 3 starts tomorrow! I'm either completely cbf or super pumped, I'm not sure hahaha. I guess we'll see how I wake up tomorrow? I'm looking forward to it kind of... well these have been a pretty eventful and fun couple of days, so I can't say I've left much undone these holidays, except maybe homework..

ha ha ha, I'll worry about that tomorrow. =P

Why I Blog

In response to Zelin's latest post about why people have blogs, I decided to make an entry about why I personally chose to start blogging and why I have continued ever since.

I have actually had a blog far before using blogspot. I had a livejournal since about mid-2006 I think, when I was going through my prince of tennis obsession phase. Actually I'm sure that I started my livejournal while I was on a holiday in Melbourne because I was bored at the motel. I met a girl from my school while I was using livejournal (small world huh.), as well as other people from around Auckland who I have kept in touch with ever since. To be honest I didn't really post much on my livejournal, just rants and random fangirling and quizzes and memes. However even back then my blog was called Tori no Tsubasa. Livejournal was more than a blogging site though: it was a treasure trove of resources where manga and asian magazine scanners and translators congregated together. That was the reason I stayed on livejournal for a long time instead of moving to xanga or any of the other alternatives.

My blogspot had humble beginnings; at the end of november 2007, my friend Bernie had a blog and was always venting her negative feelings. Which is fair enough, but I decided to make a blog and post happy things to counter them so I could make her smile when she was sad. My first entry turned out to be more or less of an event recount (you can still go back to see it if you want haha, I never delete entries for a reason I will discuss later).

After I made that post, a few of my other friends started blogging on blogspot, so that kept me here. The reason I didn't update my lj so much before was that there wasn't really anyone reading my posts. I guess that's a factor of blogging too; although I say I blog mainly for my own reference and sometimes to vent, the fact that I'm actually venting to someone is motivation hahahaha. I like how I'm complaining to noone in particular but people will still read my frustrations. It's like when you yell at a wall, it feels better if there are people on the other side who can hear you rather than just yelling at a wall, like that philosophical thing with the "if a tree falls in a forest and noone is around to hear it, does it make a noise?" Maybe I feel like my words might as well not be there unless someone reads them, regardless of who that person is.

Never looked back since those first few posts hahaha. Well, figuratively. still go back to look at them when I'm bored and it's really interesting how even my tone of typing has changed. Soooo childish back then hahaha. some of it makes me cringe, but I'll never delete it. I think my blog is like a log of my maturing over time and the changes I go through. My blog, for me, isn't just something for other people to read, it's something for me to come back to in the future and read over. It's like creating history. I think history is very important, and that's why I will never delete any of my blog entries (just like I never delete any emails from my inbox, except facebook spam). Oh yeah, and I like how my archives go down on the side from november 2007 to present. :] it's so nice and uniform and I like how I've never missed a month hahaha. a COMPLETE history of my adolescence, highs like mountains, lows like gorges and flats like airport runways all attached. =P

Another reason I blog is to let out all my thoughts and reorganise them. If you're a follower of my blog you should be familiar with my random long winded and extremely mind-twisting philosophical writings (I have to say I sound extremely eloquent and sophisticated when I'm in one of those moods lol). When I get into one of those moods it makes me depressed because thoughts go around in circles in my head without head or tails and so I have to blog to spew it all out and untangle everything. Oh and after that I have a very clear thought process out physically so I can actually follow my thoughts and I can actually learn a lot from what I have written :] Sure, not everything can be expressed in language, but I try my best. I've been told that people actually enjoy reading my philosophical wafflings as well haha, so win/win?

A blog is a tool of spreading information. When I see something really cool, I share it on my blog (and potentially facebook). I think it's a great way to expose my friends to my interests :] because sharing is caring~

In a way, I guess my blog is a lot like the window into my thoughts. I think someone can learn a lot about what kind of person I am just from reading my blog posts. I know people who have actually taken the time to go through every single entry hahahaha and WOW I am impressed. So much useless waffle in between things of any value XD Tbh I don't think there's anything wrong with putting useless things in one's blog either, since they are just one's random thoughts. And it's that person's personal blog!!! I think sometimes the personality of a blog can be ruined if the blogger starts publishing things just to please the audience. Just like a musician or movie director, the best works are often the debuts, when they have an idea fresh in their minds that they want to portray and aren't too fussed about what the public is going to think. But after they become popular, they have intense pressure to stay at the top, so the individuality is lost; they start producing what is 'safe', what everyone is sure to like. But I think that level of like is lower than the love for original thought, if done right. That's why I don't bother trying to please anyone with my blog, since it is, after all, just a record of my being, not anyone else's. Don't like, don't read. :] I know I can't please everyone, but just having some people actually enjoying reading my thoughts is enough for me to be thankful that I'm not insane after all =P

So there you go, a breakdown of why I continue to blog 2 and a half years after I started... and I have every intention to keep going :] no plans to kill off this wingless bird yet ^^

new layout etc etc etc

yup new layout. let me know what you think :] this one was fun to edit.

will do a real update tomorrow (i'm gonna edit this one, so don't look out for a new post). gonna go sleep now zzz

EDIT: LOL I'm sorry, I totally forgot to update yesterday and just remembered. I just did 30 push ups (not at once tho lmao) :D my back and abs are sore... i'm weak xx

mm, today's entry will be about foods that winnie likes :] I guess I'll list some of the foods which I think taste good NO MATTER HOW THEY'RE COOKED. (or at least, most of the ways in which they're cooked). So, without further ado... let's find out my culinary interests :]

5) Garlic. I think garlic is like the universal flavouring... it seems to go well with anything @_@ (ofc excepting cake and the like). I lovee the taste of garlic, especially with vegetables :] But there's also in chilli & garlic sauce with noodles, garlic & ginger dipping for chicken, etc.. garlic is so versatile. Not only the above, but it can also be used to ward off vampires. Actually other things similar to garlic that I also like are onions, spring onion, and chives. Yeah, any of the above are good flavour boosters. I like to eat spring onion while I'm cutting it as well...

4) Coffee. Yes... apparently I'm a caffeine addict TT. Seriously, whenever I get home, I get myself a mug of hot coffee and eat it with biscuits. I like the kind of bitter but sweet taste. Cappuccino I guess is the best. Mochachino is good as well, but sometimes a bit sweet for me haha... Still haven't tried very many types of coffee, but I know long/short blacks are wayyy too bitter for me lol. Actually every time I go to newmarket now and my bus is late I like to go to Michel's patisserie and get an ice coffee. It's a pity that mcdonald's doesn't do ice coffees in nz ): I got hooked when I went to america. Apart from that, I think it tastes really good... My 2nd favourite type of ice cream has become cappuccino D: I'm a coffee addict. Coffee can also taste good if you sprinkle it over ice cream, like with milo :] That said... coffee cakes *___* and the smell of coffee is just like heaven hahaha.

3) Chicken. Do I really have to say anything more? bbq chicken, marinated chicken, roast chicken, fried chicken, nuggets, chicken soup, chicken pie, chicken flavoured shapes... it's ALL GOOD. chicken is so damn tasty. my parents used to say that I was a cannibal because I'm born in the year of the chicken and love eating it lol. EVERYONE TASTES LIKE CHICKEN, AND WITH GOOD REASON.

2) TOFU. :] I love tofu! Actually last time at Karl's birthday party at karaoke everyone ordered like chicken kidneys, chicken wings, beef, fried squid and stuff and I ordered tofu :D everyone thought I was vegetarian at first and I had to explain that I just really like tofu... >>; I think tofu tastes good no matter how you make it. I really like spicy fried tofu with like chilli and spring onion etc, mapo tofu, and that really nice tofu pudding you get at chinese restaurants (豆腐花) and it's like with sweet ginger sauce... sooo nice :] tofu is amazing!! and not just for vegetarians haha

1) EGGGGG. Egg is the most versatile ingredient. You can eat it by itself (scrambled, steamed, hardboiled, poached, softboiled, fried, omelette, protein shakes etc etc etc), use it for more complicated recipes (cakes, french toast, quiche, pancakes, egg tarts, egg SOUPS lol) and it's delicious!!! I really love that cantonese dish where you just put a raw egg over the whole thing and mix it in with the rice. builds strong muscles too (yea i need it to be buff)... not even only chicken eggs either, duck eggs are salted and go really well with congee. whenever my mum gets salted duck eggs I don't drink milk for like a whole week and have congee for breakfast instead hahaha if that's some indication of how much I love eggs XD also fish eggs; caviar is popular with higher class people right? me and my brother always fight for the eggs of the fish when we have it lol it's like the best part of the fish. I feel sorry for people who are allergic to eggs @_@ and I could never turn vegan, I love milk and eggs too much hahaha. -consumer of animal produce-

well yeah... I think I'm hungry or something right now ==; (o really winnie, what gave you that idea?)

new layout

so yeah, finally got around to making a new layout (the other one was too... bare for me =/) let me know if you like it/ dislike it etc (:

today was amazingly uneventful and all in all a massive waste of time, but not really. lol, in the morning I got woken up by people txting (amazingly I managed to sleep through 4 before a 5th one woke me), and then I mucked around for a bit and had supposedly expired milk + cereal for breakfast (Although, it hadn't curdled yet so I guess I'll be fine). messed around on piano for a while (what I've done is really hard on the hands =.= so many octaves) and then I sat down and learnt some words for chinese... then I went to lunch, and to chinese... there were 5 girls and 1 guy today haha. I scabbed some money off harold so I could buy chocolate from joy. must remember to pay him back on tuesday. passed chocolate around, including to joy hahaha. man I completely forgot I still had chocolate ): -gets it out and starts eating it- ...even though I've already brushed my teeth. greeeat...

meh, after chinese was rather uneventful, although my parents went to get some bbq pork and then we drove around to the university campus where we sat and talked for like an hour while eating bbq pork hahaah. I was thirsty but my dad didn't bring any liquid except beer =.= he offered it but I hate beer lol... we talked mostly about life and education lol. my dad reckons I'd do good at philosphy, LOL. and my mum says I'd be good at law cuz of my logicalness... but yeah my parents are pretty good, they don't force me into stuff, just give me little advices and push here and there to make sure I don't fail at life. I agree with them on most things, although my nature makes me want to disagree, but I can't because I actually do agree in reality. (lost you yet?)

then when it stopped raining me and my mum went to check out the university library. never seen so many non fiction books in my life... I didn't even know they archived magazines =/ but they're awesome. omg I could go and read every listener magazine from like 1990 in its untouched glossy printed form. yes, I find pleasure in the strangest things.

so yeah, after that we just picked up my brother and came home. then we had dinner. and I wasted more time on the computer. end of day. =D

past week has been the same really, quite uneventful. =.=

oh yeah my exam timetable is like this:
fri: chem, eng
mon: maths, pe
tues: -, sci investigation
wed: day off
thurs: -, art
fri: french, YAAAY LONG WEEKEND

better remember it. D: mostly I have to study for chem and maths. and probably get a lot of quotes and bs my way through english as usual T_T first day = 2 writing exams, man... well, it's good to get them out of the way I suppose but my poor wrist...

getting my teeth extracted next next tuesday woohooooooo D:

hello, this is a blog update

...of no particular interest or significance.

This week has lasted forever. I don't know why but it just seemed to drag on... especially yesterday. I was feeling so weird yesterday, sorry if I did anything stupid or strange to you, just was feeling a bit down and tired of life.

Also, what is everyone's problem with trying to think of something to blog about? You can write about anything... this is not an english class. if you want to type gibberish go ahead. nobody is marking you for this... some say their life is too boring, too insignificant, too normal to blog about. what do you think I blog about? My boring life, yeah that's it. Nobody is going to read it anyway... these things are pretty unactive. I could have run into an alien today or built a time machine, blog about it, it would ultimately be the same as blogging about my day to day life since noone really cares...

JUST LIKE THIS.

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if that's what it takes to express yourself, go right ahead. I had to tell myself to stop there, mashing keyboard is very calming and addictive...

It can be as short or as long as you want. for example, does anyone else remember my "I'm so happy." entry? compared to one of my long ass random rants... have to have some variation in here...

stop worrying :) blogging is blogging; there is nothing serious about it. type in chatspeak if you want, type gibberish, rant, put down feelings, nobody in the world can tell you the correct way to blog, because blogging is expressing yourself, and if there is a 'correct' way of expressing yourself, well what kind of a monochromatic world would that be?