Hot Text Ch 10: Write Menus That Mean Something

Simplify, Simplify...
Use the same heading text everywhere: in head, in header, in links, in breadcrumbs, in search results Keep it simple, so viewers don't have to think too much. Easier said than done when applying to our websites!

Organize...
Heads should be very specific to the content. Organize the topic hierarchy in the most logical way possible. Group and ungroup. Check and double-check. Use parallel construction. Unlike in the last chapter, I find myself wondering if I can be successful in meeting these demands.

The 20 questions I need to ask myself are logical, but it's a long list! Eliminate duplicates. Establish importance. Annotate topics. Adding missing topics. Delete irrelevant topics. Replace ambiguous topics. Reduce topics to components and create new subtopics. Group related topics. Sequence activities. Verify! Rewrite! Confirm completeness!

Teach...
Headings need to inform and lead—the viewer may need help deciding where to go. Group topics in levels, but not too deep! Let users see several levels at once. Use multiple routes to the same information. Make up shortcut lists and lists of See Also links (our Project 2, page 6!). Create menus in multiple perspectives. Different people think differently!

My head is spinning...

Good Sites
Here are some sites I use that I think are well organized:

The Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU).

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. I especially love the way the cursor lands right in the search field when you open the site, which saves a step. And, yes, apparently the name is mispelled in the URL(!)

All About Jazz. Despite the flashing features—hey, it's a music site!

Hot Text Ch 9: Reduce Cognitive Burdens!

Right On
What a great chapter! The advice given here serves any editor well. I’m in the middle of editing a kids’ (middle/high school) book on terrorism. It’s written by a PhD and sounds that way. I found myself Reducing the Number of Clauses per Sentence. I was Blowing up Nominalizations and Noun Trains. I watched out for Ambiguous Phrases. I made the Agents and Actions clear and orderly. I converted negatives to Positive Statements. Of course, this was a for-print project, so Scrolling and Printing or Saving the Entire Document at Once will have to wait for my website!

Good Strategies
When I saw a section title, I wondered how I was going to do what the authors suggested. But, their clear, bulleted lists eased my worry! Put clauses at beginning or end of sentences. Of course! Lead sentences with the actor, then name the action and object. Verbs shouldn’t have to act like nouns. It’s amazing how much ambiguity you find when you look for it. Get rid of it—nothing in web or print should be ambiguous! Place an adverb near the verb it modifies. Place an adjective near the noun it modifies. Pronouns need to clearly relate to their nouns! Use the same descriptions throughout. Use active voice! “To be” is okay. Get rid of negatives.

The Befores and Afters were perfect, too…I’m grateful for this chapter!

Free Photos

As promised, here are two websites where you can download free photos:

The Library of Congress
The National Library of Medicine.

Most others I've run across doing photo research were stock houses, which charge royalties (unless you pay for a royalty-free CD). I'm sure, as Elizabeth said in class, if you find something you want on another site, and you are using it for "educational purposes" the owner will grant permission for you to use it.

Have fun and good luck!

A Beautiful Mind

A Film of Human Tragedy
Have you seen the movie A Beautiful Mind? It's about John Forbes Nash, Jr., a mathematical genius, who is diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic and spends about 30 years fighting it (it virtually destroys his math career). He finally overcomes the disease. Eventually, he received the Nobel Prize in Economics for work he had done as a young mathematician that affected research in many disciplines through the decades. His wife, who stood by his side throughout his ordeal, is credited with saving him. Russell Crowe plays the tragic Priceton PhD and MIT instructor.

Based on the Book
I'm reading the book now, by Sylvia Nasar, and it's amazing. Nasar evidently interviewed tirelessly in researching the book—you hear from most anyone who had anything to do with Nash throughout his tragic life. The movie, however, while a very good story (it's interesting to see how they portrayed Nash's hallucinations), took many liberties with the truth, I'm finding out. Both book and movie were excellent in their own right, though.

What Struck Me
The book does a good job of explaining Nash's research in a way that nonmathematicians can grasp and appreciate. It also reads like fiction—it's a real page-turner. What really struck me, though, is Nash's dogged perseverance in dealing with the loneliness and stigma that comes with mental illness. He roamed the halls and library of Princeton for many years during his illness, and most people avoided him. Some staff, faculty, and students took a chance on him, though, talking to him and helping him. He seemed to benefit a great deal from this kind human contact. Also, it seems that the international mathematics community did everything in its power to help Nash: They gave him research and positions for a good deal of the time during his illness, and finally they came together to ensure despite all odds that this all-but-forgotten genius was given an honor that he so rightly deserved. It was a triumph of people coming together to help others at the highest levels of the intellectual world.

Saturday in New York City

A Busy Day...
Saturday was a busy day—in New York City with our daughter, a college student there. NYU was doing a production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, and Sarah's boyfriend was in it. Seemed a good time to go up to visit, take in the show (very reasonble at $15), meet Mike's mom and grandmother, do dinner, and so on. We were seeing a matinee of The Winter's Tale, so Sarah talked us into a an evening performance of the off-Broadway One-man Star Wars Trilogy, as well. My husband is a big sci-fi fan. I've seen them all, more than once, probably, but it's not my default activity. With student-discounted tix for $22, though, I thought, What the heck?

The Winter's Tale
Well, it's called The Winter's Tale for good reason. What a dark story of false accusation of adultery (a king against his queen), death by grief, attempted murder, and suicide—the works. The costumes were modern, but the actors used the actual Shakespearean script. You can read the Spark Notes synopsis yourself. With the rain pouring down outside the theater, I thought, How appropriate! Then came Act III. NYU directors are notorious for odd interpretations of the text, which sometimes leave the audience scratching their heads and saying, "Huh?" This was one of those times.

The last scene of Act II gives a hint of the carnival to come. Antigonus is leaving Hermione's baby in the woods to die after the king accuses her of adultery and imprisons her. Antigonus himself is about to be killed by a bear. The bear appears, and Antigonus gives chase. Suddenly, the music changes from a somber tune, to what sounds more like "Looney Tunes," and Antigonus turns toward the audience and says, brightly, "This is the chase!" He's killed, though, and we in the audience all just looked at each other. Was that appropriate? We were roused from our lethargy still further: Bright orange background lighting comes up. Villagers appear to join in a sheep-shearng festival, and they're all cheerfully clad in orange, teal, yellow, and red. All they needed were some rum punches and a steel drum band, and they could have been on any Caribbean island. An orgy ensues, complete with (costumed) satyrs sporting "members" of varying sizes (yes, those members) and carrying off the young girls. It was a real eye-opener, for sure. Well, the baby left to die is now 16, found and raised by shepherds and now at the party. She's being courted by the son of a neighboring king (the adulteress's alleged partner, of course). The two make their way back to her own kingdom. Everyone there is overjoyed and amazed to find that she's alive. The Queen comes back to life, and everyone lives happily ever after (to reggae music). Only in Shakespeare, at NYU.

One-Man Star Wars
After dinner, we caught the subway up to 44th Street, to the One-man Star Wars Trilogy. What a riot. I highly recommend this to anyone who is pretty familiar with the first three movies (which, of course, are actually episodes IV, V, and VI). You do need to have seen the movies, at least a few times, to "get it." Watch them again before you go, if you can. The actor (yes, there's only one, per the title) is Charles Ross. A Canadian, Ross grew up watching the movies over and over again (the first one, I think, 400 times before he was 10). I'm sure he drove his mother nuts. He majored in drama in college, eventually, and he had a dream. He would bring the Star Wars movies to the stage.

And, this he does, most amazingly so. With body actions, mouthed sound effects, lines from the movies, song, and added script, he gives the audience important highlights of each of the first three movies. He spends about a half-hour on each, so in all, it's a short performance of about an hour and a half. But, the guy was talented. He touches on all the high points and makes fun of the low points, adding his own commentary. A must-see for you geeks out there. It's very funny! It's at the Lamb Theater, 130 W. 144th Street, but he's traveling, as well. See Ross's itinerary and get on his email list.

So, we went from Shakespeare to Star Wars, all in one day. Only in New York City!

Working on Project 2...

Another Awful Site
While working on Project 2, I came across an awful website, for the Thoreau Institute. It's a humdinger. What a shame, too, because it sounds like they're trying to do something worthwhile (fiscally conservative environmentalists that they appear to be). But, an awful website doesn't help in giving them any credibility, that's for sure...

The Project
I wonder how everyone else is doing on their new project. To tell the truth, I would like to have seen everyone else's first websites, just to get an idea of how mine looked in comparison. (Hey, maybe Elizabeth planned against that, so we wouldn't compare them!) Still, I would have liked a frame of reference. Oh, well!

I think my ideas for my new project are coming along, but who knows? Just for kicks, mine is on Henry David Thoreau (I know the topic seems dated, but I promise that it's not—that's the point). What's yours on? What do you think about Thoreau? Do you like him? Hate him? Never heard of him? Any responses will be gratefully received! Consider this an impromptu web survey. It will help me focus my writing!

Webwriting/Marketing Tips

I ran into a co-worker in the office lunchroom the other day, and we got to talking about webwriting (since I now can at least hold a conversation about it). She works in the marketing department. She's a friendly sort and was happy to impart a number of tips that I thought others might find useful.

Ensuring Text Won't Get Spammed
Go to the ezinecheck site and plug in your text to get your "spam rating"—will your broadcast or personal email fly without getting bounced by the recipient's spam filter? I've had friends who've said they didn't get my email. I know our company sends "email blasts," which don't reach people for the same reasons. Certain words set off the spam filters, but you can learn to write more effective emails—ones that reach their audience—by using this simple, free (don't use that word!) tool. I didn't try this out yet, but intend to.

Great HTML Reference
Jillian swears by this book. She said don't plan to read it, but rather, refer to it for everything html: Web Design in a Nutshell by Jennifer Niederst (pub'd by O'Reilly). It's $19.77 new with Amazon.com, and they even pub a desk reference. The amazon ratings were good.

Marketing Newsletter
This was also a good tip, especially for those in marketing: A mostly free (did I say that?) weekly e-newsletter. Evidently, it features the occasional webwriting-related article (she sent me two: "Newsletters that Bounce Back" and "How to Beat the Spam Filters"). You can sign up for the "freebie" (which has abbreviated articles) but need to pay $49 per year to get the "premium content" version. If you can use a lot of it, the $49 is probably worth it, but at least you can peruse for a while before deciding. The newsletter is called "Marketing Profs Today (marketing know-how from professionals & professors)." Some headlines from recent issues include "Web Page Testing and the Myth of Assumed Expertise" and "How Web Content Can Shorten a Complex Sale." You can sign up for the newsletter at the MarketingProfs website.

Hey, you never know what kind of useful information you can pick up in the lunchroom...

Class Reunion

We all have to deal with it...
Notification
Life is going along pretty smoothly, you think. But, then you get the notice. They used to come by snail mail; now they come by email. Your impending class reunion. Happens every 10 years or so, or at least for my high school class. And, high school is the worst because you were so young at the time.

Curiosity
I can't be bothered to go to my college reunion. Too few friends in my own class; too little contact with people since we graduated. Too big of a class. Anyway, I was a transfer student. But, about high school, first you think, I've changed so much since high school. I'll bet everyone else has, too. And, that's a good thing, too. In high school I cared way too much what people thought—to the point where it would paralyze me. I've spent my whole life overcoming that. I think I could actually go and relax and have a good time.

In high school, we all categorized one another: Oh, he's a jock, she's a brain, he's a druggie. We didn't find everyone unique and therefore interesting We didn't know that we can't force each other into neat compartments, just so we can dismiss each other. I find now that I'm curious, that I'd like to get to know the people I went to school with. I'm sure now that we have so much in common: school, jobs, kids, aging parents, hobbies, just how to cope with life in general.

Preparation
OK, so I've decided to go. I get in touch with my best friend from high school. We decide to take the spouses with us this time. (Mine is tall and thin and has all his hair; I want to show him off.) I respond in the affirmative for me and spouse. I send in the check. Should I track down people I'm wondering most about—those who haven't made any of the reunions—or just wait and see if they show up?

What to wear? I decide I want to get dressed up, but not overdo it. Something classy but cool, a sheath dress, maybe, with new beads. What color? Can I find one in time? How about the old bedroom closet? I must have something in there that I can wear...

The hair. Should I get a root perm? The end of the summer perm that I have on the top of my head right now just won't cut it. I want to look my best. I go get the perm. The color? My own: naturally "frosted."

Past Reunions
The 10th was bad. My shy husband sat at a table alone while I made some rounds. He didn't know anyone and I didn't want to leave him for too long. I was pregnant. Not very pregnant, mind you (pregnant enough to look pregnant), but just pregnant enough to look like I had gained weight. Someone dropped flaming drinks on the dance floor, and almost burned down the restaurant. The class slut left in a limo with the football team. Except for the size of my abdomen, not much had changed.

The 20th was much better. I went with my best girlfriend from high school. I left hubby home, much to his relief. For several weeks before the event, I worked out and starved myself. Then, I squeezed my butt into a short little size-6 skirt, in my favorite color. I went without my glasses. We danced; we drank. I made friends with women I didn't know very well in high school, and we all exchanged addresses. I told off one of my high school tormentors. I politely informed another guy, one who snubbed me in high school, then married someone else and had since broken up with her, and who was expressing interest in me now, that I was happily married and had been for 15 years. The guys were all getting fat and bald, but the women were looking pretty good. The competition was stiff. The women who were high-falutin' lawyers and doctors at the 10th, when the rest of us were having morning sickness, were now all exhausted, complaining about their kids. My kids were already older and I was back to work, building my career. Life was good. Oh, did I mention, I threw up all night? In some ways, it was pretty much like old times, but it still was better.

This Time Around...
Now it's time for the 30th. When they skipped the 25th, I figured the class officers fell apart somehow and there would be no more reunions. But, they must have rallied, for I got their email. This time, I hope we're all past the competition, the pettiness, and the angst, and can truly enjoy one another. After all, we all grew up together in a certain small town at the Jersey shore. I still love that place and have waxed more nostaglic about it over the years. I want to get to know more of my classmates,to make up for not knowing them in high school. I want to see pictures of their kids, hear about their jobs, read their bios in the reunion program. What have these people been up to in the last 30 years? I'm ready to have a good time, too. Much more ready than I was 30 years ago. Hey, I just put my kids through college. Maybe somebody there with high-schoolers can use a few tips...

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Shocking News

An Upsetting Email
I received some shocking news at work today. A man who had made my life quite miserable for a time had passed away, apparently of a heart attack. I stared at the email, and a range of emotions washed over me.

An Old Boss, a Bad Time
I had worked for him for two years. I worked long, hard hours and probably kept his fledgling business afloat. It was a difficult time. I had high hopes for the company, but as I got to know my boss better, I objected to his ways, and we began to fight. I said things he didn’t want to hear. You could say I "called a spade a spade.” He took offense, but I had my reasons. He said I didn’t respect him. I told him respect was earned. He wanted everyone to work around the clock. But, he didn’t show anyone the books. He complained that we never made enough money. His business partner left him. The place began to feel like a sweat shop.

My boss didn't understand the business he owned, and he was abusive toward us, his employees. He yelled and insulted us. Instead of fostering cooperation, he pitted one against the other. Instead of appreciating the clients I brought in and the inexpensive freelancers I hired, he said the work wasn’t worth much and accused me of just giving work to my friends. Whatever I did, it was wrong, and my job became a no-win situation. And, I came to realize that things wouldn’t change. I knew it was all wrong.

Time to Go
After the first year, his patterns were apparent. But, I decided to give it two years. Would things improve? No, they went from bad to worse. My second anniversary with the company went unacknowledged, except for the yelling, and I planned to leave. I began to remove my personal belongings. I stopped working overtime. I counseled my one editor to find another job. (Yes, she was a friend, and I wasn’t going to leave her there.) I thought about how I would find other work. Would I begin my own business? After all, I ran his business for him; I could certainly run my own. Would I get work? Or, would I interview elsewhere? Could I, without him finding out? Facing his wrath was something I didn’t relish; he thought he owned everyone and would be angry to find out we were jobhunting. He always talked about "company loyalty." He must have been kidding. I couldn’t be without a job, though. My daughter was in college and I had huge tuition bills to pay. How did I get myself into this situation?

Resolution
The situation took care of itself. I think he knew I would no longer take his abuse, and maybe he thought he could hire someone else for less money. I don't know. In any case, I believe he decided to "get rid of me." He could have laid me off and hired someone else, but he didn’t. He accused me of lying to a prospective client and trying to “sabotage his business.” He mentioned his lawyer and the fact that he had a “file” on me. What would he do to me? Sue me? Or, was he just trying to avoid paying unemployment? If I was so bad for his business, why didn't he just fire me, so I could fight it? No, he was harassing me, to force me to quit. Obviously, I was shaken. I had never been accused of such things! I didn’t have another job yet, and didn’t believe I could just quit. With him spreading lies about me, could I even get another job? My doctor put me on tranquilizers. My lawyer said I should quit. Now. I knew he was right, but I couldn’t see how to do it. I guess I needed to take a “leap of faith.”

The hardest thing I’ve ever done was to leave that job. I left without notice. I handed my boss my letter of resignation on a Monday morning, two weeks after he made his accusations. He followed me out of his office, yelling at me all the way. I had brought my husband along, and he watched it all. I wasn’t taking any chances. I packed my last small box and walked out the door. I was always so concerned about my projects, the clients. I had to turn my back on everything, and it nearly killed me. But, the cold air hitting my face as I walked out that door never felt so sweet. I never looked back. After a brief tantrum, he hired someone else, I found another job and started up a freelance business, and life went on for both of us.

Now
After two years, the man still haunted me. I am creating a website for my business. Would he see it? If he had the chance, would he lie to my clients about me? I hated burning bridges with people, especially bosses. It had never happened before, it was ugly, and I was still traumatized by it. In fact, I was just thinking about my old boss when I saw the email.

Now he’s dead. At first I stared at the computer screen, uncomprehending. My peripheral vision closed in, then expanded again. I sat there for a long time. Then, I felt relief. He’s dead. He can’t ever hurt me again. Then I thought of our business trips together, of our talks on trains and in airports. When he was a child, his father beat him. He started his own family late in life, evidently after many failed relationships. He was so proud of his family. His children, especially his son, idolized him. His wife was intelligent, also a breadwinner. He had pulled himself out of the gutter. Now he’s gone, and they’re all grieving. Although he crept into my thoughts often enough, I never once thought about him meeting such an untimely end. But, it made sense. How long can you live with adversity, especially adversity you’ve created? All he wanted was to have a successful business. But, his poor upbringing and old-school ways prevented that, and probably killed him in the end. What will become of the business? What will become of his family? I felt sorry for him. I felt sorry for them. He wasn’t a monster, just an unhappy man trying to achieve things the wrong way.

I said a prayer for them all, then got back to my work, my heart a little heavier yet a little lighter at the same time.

Hot Text: Chapter 7

Links and More Links…
I think I got the gist of Ch 7, “Cook Up Hot Links” in as much as it would pertain to my project. I found myself wishing, though, they’d show examples from the web, to make things easier. Sentences like “When you make a reference, qualify it with a clue to allow some people to skip it” may be intuitive to web designers, but I wasn’t sure what the author was talking about. Also, “Javascript rollovers let you save space by popping up a sentence describing the target of the link.” What? I’ve probably seen this done, but without an example, I couldn’t picture it. I also wasn’t sure about relevance ratings—How do we rate the relevance of the links? By how much we think they pertain to our topic?

What I did get was this:

1. 
   Link text should match the title of the target page, in as much as it can.
   


2. 
   Put links at the end of the paragraph when possible, so they don’t interrupt the flow of the passage.
   


3. 
   Links can double as highlighted key words.
   


4. 
   Don’t point out the links; just use them in a sentence (they’ll point themselves out.
   


5. 
   Give a lot of info, links—be generous!
   


6. 
   Use links to establish credibility.
   


7. 
   Signal location in the main menu (I think this means that all your site pages should be listed at left, and the one you’re on should be bold or in some way highlighted, but not sure. Needed an example.)
   

The writing samples were great. If they were set near the text discussion, it may have made more sense. I was probably getting more of it than I thought. We’ll see…I’ll be going back over my project 1 copy, just to be sure!

I don’t find the “Audience Fit” sections helpful. They all seem to say, “If you want to have fun, you can do pretty much what you want, but good writing serves all audiences, across the board.” Am I right about this?

More Ugly...

The Obvious One
Oh, I almost forgot. The ugly website that stares me in the face every day—that of the organization I work for. Check it out and see what I mean.

Still Waters (reprise)

In an effort to produce shorter, better blogs, I've tried to improve on Monday's post...
Six Inches of Rain in Two Days
Creeks swollen from several days of heavy rains overflowed their banks and swamped bridges here on Saturday. And, every road around here crosses a creek, so it was difficult to get anywhere. My daughter Sarah and I had to get to a baby shower Saturday afternoon. A two-mile trip took twenty minutes. (I've lived here for 20 years. You DON'T drive through the rushing water.)

Allentown Got 10 Inches
The nightmare really began about 6:00 p.m. Sarah had to catch an 8:00 bus in Allentown, and I had to drive her. The plan was to get to Allentown, then have dinner. It should have been a 45-minute drive. But, the usual roads out of Spring Mount were all swamped (I tried five, and the last one worked). So, a half-hour later, I was heading due west, to go north east. I drove many miles out of my way, out and around the creeks. The road crossed a causway over a large reservoir, but it proved high enough.

After an hour, we were still far from the bus. We ate fast food while driving through Quakertown. Rte 309 north of Quakertown was flooded then finally closed. We were detoured east, but we still needed to go north. And, without a map! Would we make the bus? We opted for the Hellertown station; it had a later pick-up. We finally pulled in. It was now 8:00; the bus showed up at 8:30. Kisses and hugs; Sarah's on the bus.

The Fun Drive Back
OK. A visit to Wendy's rest room, then a cup of coffee and an Eagles CD So, I need to go south, and 309 is closed southbound in several places. (Even the detour wouldn't help.) I cursed my husband, to whom I would normally have relegated this horrific drive. In the rain, in the dark. (He was away for the weekend.) I headed north. Cedar Crest Boulevard west; south on Rte 29. Then, Rte. 663 back across the reservoir (thank God for elevated roads). Home in record time, kind of. Did the whole 1.5-hour round trip in 3.5 hours, and was only a little worse for the wear. Funny thing about those creeks. Most of the time you don't notice them, then they creep up on you all at once. Next time, Sarah will call in to work sick.

More to Come This Week?
At least some people are optimistic...

From more than 1,000 words to about 400. Not bad.

A Website at Last...Kind Of

The Best-laid Plans...
Well, I've coded everything and been successful in getting it to run on Internet Explorer. The site isn't too pretty yet, but it worked. Then, of course, because I'm working on a Mac, I couldn't upload the files to the FTP site (when I dropped them into the "folder" (which did NOT look like a regular folder), the files just opened up. They didn't show up as files and didn't appear to be saved. Same with the graphics. Soooo...I loaded everything onto the thumbdrive and went nextdoor (on my desk, that is) to my laptop. Success! Kind of. In bringing the simpletext files over to the PC, I lost a lot of coding when they opened in notepad. Links didn't work, and I lost some formatting (note the different fonts). The graphics won't load. But, it's there. Any suggestions for crossing platforms or uploading from Macs would be gratefully appreciated!
See for yourself...

Still Waters Run Deep

Over the River and Through the Woods...
Well, maybe they weren't exactly still waters . . . , but heavy rains caused the creeks out here to run deep this weekend, making it difficult to get "out of town" (which consists of one "main street")—or almost anywhere else in town, as most waterways overflowed their banks and rushed across the roadways. Welcome to the land where all roads cross a creek! I usually ignore this situation when it happens. (After almost 20 years out here, you learn to live with it. But, you NEVER mess with it; you never try to cross water on a roadway. Quite a few people have been killed out here over the years trying to do just that.)

This weekend was like the others; I was busy ignoring the rain and the creeks and going about my business. My daughter came home from NYC Friday evening, just for overnight. We had no problem getting home from the bus up near Allentown. We ate pizza. We watched chick flicks. We went to bed. On Saturday afternoon, we were scheduled to attend a baby shower, locally, thank God. But, of course, the problem was a local one. The shower was about 2 miles away, and we set out, taking the back roads we normally take. The area is quite scenic—why take a main road, when you can drive up and down hills, observe foliage, and (oops!) cross creeks, right? My daughter was driving. As we approached the bottom of one hill and she prepared to make a sharp left to drive up another windy road, the one on which the shower was being held, we were turned back by a branch of the Perkiomen Creek that had crept up and over its banks was now rushing across the road. OK. Back up the hill, out to the main road after all. All the way around. A minor inconvenience.

Heading home a couple of hours later, we didn't bother with the back roads (although, trust me, out here they're all back roads; it's just that not all of them cross creeks). We had about an hour or so to get Sarah's things together and head back up to Allentown to the bus. I suggested that we leave very early and plan to get dinner up near the bus station, just in case. So, with umbrellas and Sarah's luggage in the back seat, we pulled out of the driveway at about 6:10 for a 45-minute drive to catch an 8:00 bus. No sweat.

Trying to get out of town, though, near the Spring Mount Ski Area, was not going to happen. You can see from the photo what we were faced with. Then, turning down another road, we met the same situation. This creek has a few different branches. OK. The road we finally took out to the shower didn't have to cross a creek. So, we headed out that way, to the main road, Rte 29, and north toward Pennsburg and Rte 663.

We didn't get far. After about 3 miles, the main branch of the Perkiomen Creek had engulfed the road. An abandonned truck we were accustomed to seeing alongside an old barn took water in to up around its windows. We turned around. Now what? We need to head northeast, and all these creeks seem to run north-south. By that time, we were calling friends and relatives for advice. We got out a map to see which roads crossed creeks and which didn't. We headed due west out Rte. 73, way out around the creeks, and then north on Rte. 663—probably adding at least 10 miles to the first leg of our trip. The road we took ran over the a causway for the Green Lane Reservoir, but mercifully, rose high enough above the water's surface that we ran into no trouble. I will say, though, that under the circumstances I was none too happy to see all that water around the car. Would it rise before I needed to come back that way, maybe hours later?

We finally made it out through the rain and the twilight to Quakertown. A drive that should have taken a half hour had taken about an hour. Fearful that time for dinner in Allentown was now a myth, we settled for fast food in Quakertown, and ate while we drove. One section of Rte. 309 south was closed as we passed in the northbound lanes, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Hmm, I thought. Mental note: I can't come back that way.

Not long afterward, a roadblock in the northbound lanes rose up in front of us. Detour to the east. Follow the orange signs. "How about we go to Hellertown rather than Wescosville, to buy us some time," I asked Sarah. The bus stopped at Hellertown after Wescosville, about 15 minutes later. She agreed. We were already heading in that direction, but without a map of Lehigh County, who knew if we would get there. "You know, Sarah, if we miss this bus, you'll have to call your boss and tell him you won't be at work in the morning." Sarah nodded. It will be a while before the water recedes, and that will only be after the rain stops. The thought of having to do that drive one more time this weekend was not appealing to either of us.

Long story short, the detour eventually put us back out on Rte 309 north, and we made it to Hellertown in plenty of time. Concerns about the "road closed" signs on the way down to the bus station were ill founded, as the Bieber Tours bus, more than 15 minutes late, deftly skirted the barricade. Hugs were given, Sarah was soon on the bus to New York, and I was faced with the long, uncertain drive back, alone, in the rain, in the dark. It was a thought I did not relish.

Potty break. A cup of coffee. An Eagles CD. OK. I was ready. I had to head north even further to avoid the roadblocks on Rte. 309. Then, Route 29 south, to 663, then west, and out toward Rte. 73. I found a backroad that I knew crossed no creeks, and took that about 5 miles or so back to Spring Mount. By 9:30 or so, I was safe in my own driveway, then in the house. I was one happy camper. It's funny about those creeks, I thought. You pretty much don't notice them, but then sometimes they all creep up on you at once...

I Give Up!

It's 3:00 a.m. . .
OK. I wrote a blog. I added links to my classmates blogs on my blog site. I want to add a photo to my profile. Not sure what I'm doing, I downloaded "Hello" but saw later that I could just upload the file from my desktop (I was following help on blogger but then re-read Carleen's instructions). I got a photo onto the site as a post, somehow (!), but can't seem to copy and paste the URL to put it in my profile (I get an error message that says the URL has more than the alotted 68 characters). Of course, the URL was given to the photo as I uploaded it from my desktop, so how in the heck do I change it? Any tips would be welcome!

Ugly Websites

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...
OK, so I wasn't the first in the class to post bad websites. The trouble is, I use the sites I use, good or bad, because I have to, and I don't have time to sit and surf the Web, so I really don't have a bunch of bad ones sitting around waiting to be discussed. I agree some bad ones are out there, and it's interesting in class to look at them. But, how to find some really bad sites quickly, in order to contribute? Google "ugly websites," of course. And, here are a few sites that discuss them:

http://www.uglywebdesign.com/hall_of_shame/Hall_of_Shame.htm (terrible writing)

http://www.neoflux.com/archive/data/2002/0416-200445.shtml (terrible writing)

http://www.123live.co.uk/examples-of-bad-website-design.htm

What struck me when reading the copy on these sites, though (in addition to the ugly sites they discuss, of course), was the ugly writing. These people have the moxie to criticize the design of other sites, and they themselves can't even write. Take "uglywebdesign," for instance: "Yes, that what it means so be aware UglyWebdesign.com is monitoring the Web. This is a Screenshot of the website and how it look-liked when we awarded it. We take Screenshot of all the awarded sites as they might change in the future." I'm not making this up. Is this translated from Japanese or something? Here are "neoflux's" comments: "I'm always suprised when I visit a big-time author's website and find it to be rather unattrative. Although I'm not sure why it continues to suprise me since I can't think of a single author I enjoy who does have a nice looking website...." Might we want to use spellcheck? It would surprise everyone and make that site more attractive, for sure!

The third site, 123Live, is a commercial one, but it does have a more intelligent approach. I liked the sample sites (they took the tack of showing "good sites"—theirs, and the Tony Blighe letter made a lot of sense (sounding like chapters from hot text). The letter was also written in intelligent, grammatically correct, and well-spelled and punctuated English, and I was able to read it without getting hung up on missing commas and misspelled words. I wonder if that had anything to do with it...

(Of course, after writing this, I was obligated to read through it again. I wouldn't want anyone getting hung up on misspelled words or missing commas, or anything.)

posting photo to profile

I give up . . .
It's 3:00 am. I wrote a blog; I added all my classmates links to my blog (finally!). And, although I can get a photo into a post, I can't get it into my profile (the URL that is given to the photo upon uploading is too long for the template—they only allow 68 characters). Does anyone have any tips on how to handle this? How can you rename your URL or extend the allowable number of characters?

That's me... 

HTML Coding

Moving along on project 1...
The copy is written and some of it coded. It's interesting to see how to create links to outside webpages, to different parts of the same webpage, and to e-mail addresses (not to mention to photos). The HTML tutorial has been invaluable. I feel like I'm swimming through an unidentified foggy liquid on an alien planet but am sure that I'll surface somewhere safe eventually. I bought a thumb (flash) drive and have all graphics and Word files dutifully ensconced on it. Now, just to get to class tonight to see how it all comes together!

Just for fun...
For some copyediting jobs I work on, I use the following website for unit conversions (metric to English, and vice versa):
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/
Check out "Fruits"!

Creating the Website

As I worked today on creating my website (aka Project I), I found myself wondering how many of us are fictionalizing our copy and how many are taking the straightforward route. I decided early on that fiction would be (a) counterproductive in what I want to do (get "myself" "out there") and (b) a lot more work than nonfiction, especially when the emphasis is on technical ability and not so much on the writing. Of course, if you're into writing fiction anyway, it could be a lot of fun, and probably a lot more interesting to readers than the otherwise boring lives that most of us might lead in reality. But, onward I worked, assembling links and graphics, and measuring what I've written against recent reading assignments: Did I link each subpage back to the homepage? Did I create a sidebar of links for the homepage? Is the writing concise? Did I use headings to separate content? The online Webwriting Guide has been invaluable. It sure will be interesting to see how all this comes together...

On a different note, just for fun, take the blogger's survey and find out your "blogger rating"!

True Confessions

OK. I'm scanning the blogs of my classmates, and well, I'm overwhelmed. Not being a web designer myself and only with this class hearing a lot of the terminology for the first time, there's a lot to digest. And, did I mention I work a full-time job and also freelance, in order to meet my daughter's college tuition payments? I'm coming off a freelance deadline now that ran a little longer than expected and haven't had as much time the last few days to delve into the web stuff. But, everyone else, it seems, is taking off--Amanda's Visibone site is great and I'm sure will be useful (I've been trying to print out the w3schools HTML color chart, for reference, to no avail). Carleen's instructions on how to post photos to our blogs is great, too. June, find it hard to believe that multitasking is so bad for you. Wouldn't using all those brain cells develop them further? Toni's blog comes up so small that I can't read it. I tried to copy the text and paste it into a Word doc, with no luck (it comes up incomplete and garbled). So, now to catch up in the next few days—thanks, everyone, for the inspiration!

Bloggers in the News

My mother-in-law heard I was blogging and called last week about a Phila. Inquirer article that addressed bloggers that raise political campaign contributions and how they should be regulated (in fact, all blogs should be regulated). Sorry I didn't make note of that one—The Inquirer only archives articles for 7 days. But, here's another one, on bloggers putting the pressure on government to trim spending, which you might also enjoy!