noaesthetic

Landscapering

2008-05-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

We've finally transformed the weedy, ghetto side of our yard into the beginnings of a low maintenance privacy screen. It should look great in a few years, just about the time we will likely want to move, right?

I have no real expertise in landscape design, but it's a fun learning. Except I could do without it being 10,000º (or 100º F) outside in the sun.

View from the street

View from the sidewalk

View from the front door

Ingredients:

Excavate 300 square feet of weeds
Pull up 1000 feet of tangled bindweed roots (5-10' each)
1 cubic yard of locally recovered topsoil
1 cubic yard compost
350 sq ft of water-permeable weed barrier
1402 lbs of Oklahoma red limestone (actually orange)
1250 lbs of decomposed granite
1/2 cubic yard of recycled mulch

(Mostly) Native Plants:

Updated: Add ShareThis (The best way)

2008-04-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Scratch that last post. It seems that the ShareThis for Blogger does work. When I initially saw it pop a widget into my sidebar, I just assumed that it didn't add it to my posts. But it did. Nice.

It's a little weird that it also added something to my sidebar, but that is necessary if you want to ever remove it.

Go get it at http://sharethis.com/blogger and share some crud right now!

Thanks Jeremy

ShareThis for Blogger (the better way)

2008-04-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Turns out I was just silly about all this. ShareThis for Blogger works, and just adds an extra empty widget to your sidebar (so you can remove it later).

I've been looking around for a Blogger widget to let readers share and bookmark posts. ShareThis.com has a nice little widget, but their "Blogger integration" only adds it to my sidebar. Of course, this means it won't show up for each individual post.

They do have a javascript API with a few goodies, though. I did a little bit of tinkering with the Blogger Layouts tags and got it working.

There are two main steps here. First, I added their button code to the <head> of my template. Second, I inserted data:post.title and data:post.url into their ShareThis code and pasted it into the post footer.

Instructions:

(Do not follow the "Blogger" instructions at ShareThis.com. You will simply get a widget in your sidebar, and not for individual posts)

1. Create an account at http://sharethis.com/publisher

2. Customize your button options

3. Copy the button code

4. Sign in to Blogger.com and click "Layouts"

5. Click over to "Edit HTML"

6. Check the "Expand Widget Templates" box

7. Scroll down and paste the button code before the </html>

8. (Almost there) Copy the code below:

9. Paste the code below <div class="post-footer">

10. Click "Save Template" and view your blog
Or test it out below...

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

2008-04-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

Kansas kills the miracle three-point shot with 0:02 seconds left to cap an ugly comeback. I had officially given up hope when Memphis botched two free throws, but swiped the rebound right back. It didn't matter. The Jayhawks take it in overtime, 75-68. Lawrence is going nuts.

Deb was lucky enough to watch the insanity live at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Superstition would now require her to be present at every Kansas Final Four, right?

Please make out the check for my winning bracket to "Super" Mario Chalmers (c/o Joshua Peterson, of course).

More at LJWorld...

Sneak Peek at the New Blogger

2008-04-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

You can get a peek at the next generation of Blogger.com.

I'm also dying to try out Gmail's new Custom Time feature.

Inner Strength Logo

2008-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Recently finished a logo for Deb's personal training company, Inner Strength. Conceptually we both felt that pull-ups are among the cruelest exercise, and therefore required the most inner strength.

There were about 20 sketches of ripped women doing pull-ups and 4 Illustrator revisions to get to the final version.

Halloween pumpkins

2007-10-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight we carved a couple evil pumpkins to scare the neighborhood children.

Everyone hates puppy pictures

2007-10-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Deb had the puppy cleaned, and Stella still had her fancy bandana.

Almost there

2007-09-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Driving up to Kansas in Deb's Mini with Deb's puppy, but no Deb. She had to fly.

Photo taken by my super-fancy iPhone. I'm starting to think that texting while driving probably isn't the best idea, though.

Stella's first night out

2007-09-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Puppy gets to cruise around town and go for a walk in South Austin. The San Jose Hotel is quite the nice place to stop and have a drink with a puppy in tow. The waiter even supplied a water dish for Stella.

Must See: The King of Kong

2007-09-03T11:32:00.001-07:00

Don't get chumpatized. "Follows a middle school science teacher as he battles a hot sauce mogul for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic Donkey Kong."

Blog of Note

2007-08-30T13:34:00.001-07:00

Pete Hopkins made a gadget for Blog of Note. Swank icon was provided by yours truly.

Me vs. Tree

2007-08-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Just a small wood saw, ladder, and me versus a dead tree on a beautiful 100º Austin day. I won. Eventually.

Inger and her balloon

2007-08-25T20:39:00.001-07:00

View at YouTube

Get Some Maps

2007-08-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map
Copy the HTML code from the textbox after clicking "Link to this page". You can also customize the size of the map and preview it before embedding.

House driving down our street

2007-08-22T23:06:00.001-07:00

It's always exciting to wake up to a three bedroom house being driven down your street at 1am.

Found some old artwork

2007-07-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

Cleaning through my disks, and found some old renders from an unfinished animation.

Another one from the coast

2007-07-09T01:34:00.001-07:00

Moss Beach Distillery

2007-07-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

Hang 10k Relay Flyer

2007-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

T-shirt and flyers for Deb's Fun Run at Google.

Unpublished Valentine's Day Logo

2007-03-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

My unpublished Valentine's Day doodle for Orkut.com was just too damn sexy.

St. Pardi Gras Shirts

2007-03-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last year, the rain delay made Deb change her Mardi Gras 5k into a St. Patrick's Day 5k. The shirts were already printed, though, and so it became known as the "St. Pardi Gras 5k." This year we kept the theme going.

4-Legged Holiday Race

2006-12-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Holiday t-shirts. However, even Larry and Sergey were confused about a "Four-Legged" holiday race. No, Deb didn't tie teammates together for the race. We just liked the name.

Diwali Holiday Logo

2006-10-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Orkut logo for the Diwali holiday in India.

Independence Day in Brazil

2006-09-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

I worked up a quick logo for Independence Day in Brazil. (Brazilians dig Orkut)