CoolB*log

Walking along the trails,
Heading no where in particular.
Every step I take,
Gives me another story to tell.
The wind whispering in my ear,
Sharing so many secrets.
And as I listen silently,
It seems to make things so clear.
But alas it cannot last forever,
Soon I’ll have to head back.
But part of me wishes to stay,
So heading back could be an endeavour.
But I know that I’ll return with ease,
Another day not to far from now.
When the weather is nice,
And the wind blows it’s soft breeze.

I picked up the new hardcover deluxe edition of the Batman story The Killing Joke this weekend. I have to say I was disappointed by it. For one thing every time I heard or read about the story it was usually getting lots of praise. I’m not saying it was bad, but I was expecting more with the way everyone talked about it. Just didn’t live up to the hype.

Warning: The rest of this post contains spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.
Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I upgraded to WordPress 2.5 over the weekend and after playing with it for a couple of days here are my initial thoughts.

I really like the new link/blogroll functionality, much improved over previous versions.

I like the concept of tags, however I don’t care for the tag cloud widget which is as far as I can tell the only way to give them a function out of the box. I think they should make it possible to allow the search widget to search through the tags as well as the actual words in a post or page.

Speaking of tags, I also think there should be someway to tag photos in the new gallery/media library. I know you can add descriptions but sometimes tagging the photo is easier and/or less cluttering on the page. This would also be another good reason to allow the search widget to search the tags as well.

And last of all, the new gallery function. This is by far the feature I was most looking forward to in 2.5. I do have another gallery site that is based on WordPress, but I was looking forward to moving the albums there so that I would only have to use one log in and everything would be better integrated. I was even more excited after seeing Photo Matt’s galleries using the new software. However, out of the box the gallery function doesn’t seem to work as nice as Matt has it. The options for the gallery and media library need to be more fleshed out in my opinion.

Those aren’t the only new changes of course, just the ones that caught my attention. And I also know that the issues I mentioned above could be fixed by either manually tweaking the code and/or with plugins, but if the issues aren’t brought up how will people who know how to do that know people are interested?

Overall I really do like this latest version of WordPress, I just think a few tweaks would make it even better.

Don’t know what’s going on,
Reality seems skewed.
Every thing’s not quite right,
And no one else seems clued.
My mind keeps slipping past,
So many things that might help me see.
Cluing me into the fact I’m in,
An altered reality.
Perhaps I’m just paranoid,
Every time I wake up that reality becomes void.

The clock moves slowly forward,
While I wait for your response.
One, two, three seconds seem like years,
So hard to act with nonchalance.
The waiting is killing me,
Every second an eon.
Perspective has a way of changing,
So soon after telling her she’s the one.
But in reality it’s only a moment,
And is over in a snap.
Course I took one step forward,
Kicking myself as I take one step back.

I remember ripping off the paper,
And seeing the box within.
Pulling out the contents,
But I can’t remember what it was or when.
I think it was during winter,
Perhaps Christmas or even Hanukkah.
But it just doesn’t jog my memory,
I wish something would help me go ‘aha!’
I’m sure it was lovely,
and brightened my day.
But I just can’t recall,
Some present received on some holiday.

As they run into the room,
Faces full of hope.
Asking mother if it’s time,
Her answer is still ‘nope’.
Not yet time to open gifts,
Santa hasn’t yet stopped by.
But if they go back to bed,
The time will surely fly.
So off to bed they again go,
But they’re sure they cannot sleep.
Even if they just close their eyes,
And try to count some sheep.
But start to slumber they do,
Dreaming of Christmas day.
When they’ll see family,
And have new toys form Santa’s sleigh.
But they’ll have to wait,
Until the morning chimes.
Because it’s still Christmas eve,
And not yet time.

Nobody’s around,
And I have nothing to do,
It’s a lonely night.

Close your eyes,
Don’t say your goodbyes.
Tomorrows a new surprise,
Close your eyes.

Don’t worry or fret,
There’ll be no regrets.
No problems or threats,
Don’t worry or fret.

Just dream of me,
Just rest and be.
Soon you’ll see,
Just dream of me.

My love for you is like the seasons,
Having no rhyme nor reasons.
Like the spring it appears fresh and new,
With every smile I see on you.
Like the summer it is nice and warm,
Able to fight off any storm.
Like autumn it is lovely to behold,
Much more precious than any gold.
But like winter snow upon the ground,
I keep it hidden and unfound.
Perhaps one day I’ll let it free,
But right now, I know it is not meant to be.

The blood boils within me,
Eyes yearning to glare.
My tongue wants to say something,
Perhaps I should dare?
Every time I think that though,
Reality sets in.
The downsides flow through my mind,
And I know it wouldn’t solve a thing.
Nor would it help later on,
The repercussions could be the pits.
Really not good at all,
Under the circumstances..
My best bet is to reign it in.

I wonder how it would be,
Solitude all around me.
Letting the trials of life slip away,
And just relaxing from day to day.
No worries, no cares, no stress at all,
Doing naught, except maybe the swimmers crawl.
Oh how grand it seems,
For shame it’s only in my dreams.
My mind can be so cruel at times,
Yet further in it I explore and climb.
Daring to go off on tangents,
Rarely hindered by the suspense.
Every turn is someplace new,
And though I know I must soon say adieu.
My day will be just a little better,
Soon as I share the dream in this letter.

Darting back and forth,
Running for all I’m worth.
Every where I turn,
Another reality discerned.
My mind is so confused,
Somehow I’m not amused.
Course when all is said and done,
And the story has been spun.
Perhaps it’s not some scheme,
Ending up instead to be a dream.

So confused,
The days seem to be getting harder.
Running to and fro,
Every turn I make seems to be wrong.
No matter what happens tho,
Go on I must.
Til I reach the end of the journey.
Home with you.

Ship was docked in Malaga, Spain today. I didn’t go on any excursions this port however since the one that I wanted to do was sold out. That one was a tour of some castles and then a stop at a Picasso museum. Although someone who did go said that the Picasso museum, which is the main thing that caught my attention for that tour, wasn’t that impressive.

Instead I went with a couple of people form the group I was with and we took a shuttle into town and then rode an open air tour bus and just took a ride around the city. I got a couple decent photos, although it was hard to keep the safety rail out of the shots, and a slow shutter lag isn’t the best for shooting from a moving vehicle.

The show this evening was awesome, It was a tribute to Bobby Darin & The Rat Pack with Vocalist Jamie Frasier. While he didn’t sing any of the songs I really knew I still found it more enjoyable than the show last night. That one was a Broadway type show called “The Big Easy”. That one was a tribute to New Orleans, and while there were a few songs I knew, wasn’t that interesting to me.

After the show I went up to the panorama deck and watched for a few minutes as the ship passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. Unfortunately we’re passing through at night so didn’t see too much, but at least there were lots of lights so I could tell where shore was.

Just got back from watching tonight’s show on board the ship, a juggler/comedian by the name of Goronwy Thom. Was very funny, and have to give props to someone who not only juggles on a moving ship, but does it while riding a unicycle that’s at least 6 feet tall. Although not as many props as the sword swallower from the last cruise.

Went on the Pisa by Trolley excursion today. Wasn’t bad, although the trolley was kind of cramped. The tour guide said he’s gotten 56 people in there before, but we had trouble with just 46, so I’m wondering if those 56 people were grade schoolers.

Other than that it was a good tour, the trolley drove us around the city of Pisa and the guide pointed out various buildings to us before we stopped and were allowed to wander around where the Leaning Tower is, along with a couple other historical buildings.

I have a few good pictures, although not as many as I’d hoped for. Since it was raining I had my camera in a waterproof case, and unfortunately later on the lens got foggy so some of the pictures turned out looking rather dreary. Although, the effect is kind of neat, so I may post a few anyways, I’ll have to think about it.

Well, today was a lot better than yesterday. We did the Rome on Your Own excursion, which was great since we didn’t get herded like cattle. Granted we got a bit bewildered as to where we were and how to get where we wanted but we managed.

First thing we saw was the Spanish Steps, which honestly I’m not sure why they’re so special, but they were nice looking I guess, for steps.

Next thing we saw was the Trevi Fountain, which was pretty nice, at least it looked more extravagant than other fountains I’ve seen, unlike the Spanish Steps. While there we also had some gelato, which was very good.

After that we made our way to the Colosseum. We did take a guided tour there, but that one wasn’t as bad as the Vatican City tour. The guide waited for people and she spoke more clearly. Also, getting the tour we were able to bypass the line to get in, so if we hadn’t have done the tour we wouldn’t have had time to go into the Colosseum. Although, like the Sistine Chapel yesterday I actually thought the Colosseum would have been bigger.

After that we decided to get a taxi back to where we needed to meet the bus instead of walking since it was mostly uphill from where we were. And actually it wasn’t that bad, only about 5 euros. Now I’m not sure how far it actually was, but it was worth it not to have to walk back.

After we got back to the ship we had the lifeboat drill, and then dinner. Fortunately, tomorrow the excursion I’m on doesn’t start until later in the morning so I’ll get to sleep in.

Oy! After about 10 hours in airplanes we made it safely to Italy. Although I was envious of the people in business class, since their seats laid almost all the way back. But I did manage to sleep for most of flight so that helped.

After landing we got our luggage and got it headed to the cruise ship, and then the real “adventure” started. Since we couldn’t get on board the ship for a few hours we decided to do a tour so we wouldn’t be wasting the time. We decided on the Holy Rome excursion, which is a tour of the Vatican.

Unfortunately, today the Vatican was even more busy than normal as apparently 300 Spanish were being blessed by the Pope today. I’ve also decided I don’t like guided tours. Our guide kept telling us we had to hurry and didn’t have time to stop and look at other stuff because we had to get to the Sistine Chapel before our time was up, but in the very next sentence she’d tell us to notice the beautiful art work before again telling us not to stop. I also got left behind before this a couple times as I was taking pictures. Don’t get me wrong, the Sistine Chapel was nice, but honestly I was more interested in a lot of the sculpture and architecture in the museum. Not to mention I like going at my own pace and looking at what interests me, not being herded like cattle. Regardless of all that tho, I did manage to take quite a few pictures, a couple of which are very nice if I do say so myself. But, I’m not even going to try and guess as to when I’ll have them posted since I still have pictures from previous vacations waiting to go up.

Fortunately, the excursion we’re doing tomorrow is “Rome on your own” so we’ll be given a map and be able to see what we want and take our time, as long as we’re back on the ship in time. Frankly, I don’t want any of my pictures to be of our ship leaving without us.

Yay! The day is here. I’ll be leaving for the airport in a couple hours and then after a layover in Chicago we’ll be on my way to Italy. We’re leaving Saturday afternoon but won’t arrive until Sunday morning. We’ll also be arriving before we can board the cruise ship so we’ll be doing some sightseeing when we get there to kill some time. I plan on checking in while on vacation as well, assuming this ship is like the last one and has internet access. I hope so, because not checking my mail for two weeks would mean needing another vacation when I got back to go through and delete spam, both in my inbox and from the comments. Thank goodness for comment moderation