Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 55
December 22, 2010
From Twitter 12-21-2010
09:14:18: RT @robinmckinley: No! BAD MTA! RT @PublishersWkly NYC's MTA discontinues program featuring signs w poetry & other lit on city's subways ...
09:17:45: Seeing half an eclipse is better than none...when low wet clouds move in and surface of self, cat, and camera become wet...best to go inside
09:19:09: Lost a hairpin in the grass in the big field bc tried to repin hair. Also got bur clover burs in hair. (Yes, was lying in the grass.)
09:20:20: Cats are not bothered by flash pointed up as much as humans are bothered by a cat walking on them while trying to shoot moon.
13:32:12: RT @BacklisteBooks: RT @michelehauf: Happy Holidays! I'm giving away downloadable pdf of The Sin Eater's Promise! http://bit.ly/9Euv2r
13:33:19: RT @BacklisteBooks: Welcome to REBECCA FORSTER -- USA Today Bestselling author of legal/police thrillers and women's fiction digs into c ...
13:33:29: RT @BacklisteBooks: The Smashwords Backlist Ebooks "It's Still the Season!" Sale is pending! 25% off listed books with coupon codes! #eb ...
13:36:22: Magnet on a stick--valuable tool for finding hairpin lost in the wild grass while watching eclipse. Bought for finding nails in horse lot.
14:54:26: Pictures of lunar eclipse and "helpful" cat: http://e-moon60.livejournal.com/372788.html #eclipse
16:57:30: New post up on Paksworld blog: the writer as whirlwind. http://www.paksworld.com/blog/?p=969
17:04:40: Somewhere I have AAA batteries for my headphones. Somewhere. (glances around) But not here.
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December 21, 2010
December 21 Lunar Eclipse
Both the clouds and a cat...OK, and fatigue...interfered with photographing the whole sequences, but I did have some success. First, meet Cleopatra Cat, whose "contributions" to the images will be noted later.
The first shot is of the full moon before clouds moved in. It's overexposed. All photos taken with a Nikon D80, most with a Tamron 28-300 zoom at 300mm, while lying on my back in the big field. Did not use flash (hence overexposure and blur due to hand motion. The second is with no zoom, to show the veil of high thin cloud moving in--from the same spot. Third is from the same spot with shadow that was part-cloud, and perhaps outer shadow. Clouds were visibly moving in at this point. Fourth was taken from the driveway of our house, with a pillow for neck support, and using the flash for faster shutter speed. All subsequent images were taken from that location. And it was there that Cleopatra, intrigued and delighted with a person on the pavement, decided to investigate. She wanted to be petted. She butted my arm (yes, that shakes the camera the arm is holding.) She climbed up on me and walked up and down for awhile, standing tall to try to look into the lens hood. Finally she lay down, picking a tender area in which to insert her claws, and licking my fingers (holding the camera) with her rough tongue. This, too, can make a camera wiggle.
The first lower, fast-moving clouds that streamed in from the south brought even moister air, but at first were scattered enough to give me a clear view of the moon...but then they thickened, even as the eclipse also reduced the light.
This was the last clear shot I got, trying for gaps in the clouds, but they came faster and thicker.
After these two, with the clouds offering no clear sky (just slightly thinner clouds) between the long lines of thick ones, I gave up and went back inside. By time time Cleo's fur felt damp, as did my clothes, and I worried about the camera.
Cleo's best contribution (that is, the one you can still tell is a moon in eclipse) is this one:
The first shot is of the full moon before clouds moved in. It's overexposed. All photos taken with a Nikon D80, most with a Tamron 28-300 zoom at 300mm, while lying on my back in the big field. Did not use flash (hence overexposure and blur due to hand motion. The second is with no zoom, to show the veil of high thin cloud moving in--from the same spot. Third is from the same spot with shadow that was part-cloud, and perhaps outer shadow. Clouds were visibly moving in at this point. Fourth was taken from the driveway of our house, with a pillow for neck support, and using the flash for faster shutter speed. All subsequent images were taken from that location. And it was there that Cleopatra, intrigued and delighted with a person on the pavement, decided to investigate. She wanted to be petted. She butted my arm (yes, that shakes the camera the arm is holding.) She climbed up on me and walked up and down for awhile, standing tall to try to look into the lens hood. Finally she lay down, picking a tender area in which to insert her claws, and licking my fingers (holding the camera) with her rough tongue. This, too, can make a camera wiggle.
The first lower, fast-moving clouds that streamed in from the south brought even moister air, but at first were scattered enough to give me a clear view of the moon...but then they thickened, even as the eclipse also reduced the light.
This was the last clear shot I got, trying for gaps in the clouds, but they came faster and thicker.
After these two, with the clouds offering no clear sky (just slightly thinner clouds) between the long lines of thick ones, I gave up and went back inside. By time time Cleo's fur felt damp, as did my clothes, and I worried about the camera.
Cleo's best contribution (that is, the one you can still tell is a moon in eclipse) is this one:
From Twitter 12-20-2010
00:08:36: Embarrassing to glance back up the page I'm working on and find that someone's arm was "numbered" instead of "numbed." @writing
07:33:03: RT @NASA: See the most detailed maps of the Moon's terrain & topography ever made; from NASA's LRO mission. http://go.usa.gov/1hk
07:53:46: RT @ISS_NatLab: Congrats to the engineering students at Clear Springs High School for their plant growth chamber project! http://fb.me/M ...
11:01:16: RT @BacklisteBooks: RT @authorterryo: Close-out sale! HIDDEN FIRE in trade paperback on sale for $3.00 While supplies last. http://bit ...
11:06:29: Just heard from Editor: Victory Conditions and Command Decision both back to press; 4th printing for Victory Conditions. Thanks, readers!!
14:55:49: RT @robinmckinley: RT @violinknitter RT @WordWhispers I've invented new social networking app called Table. People sit round it & talk. ...
15:28:41: Even a missing catalog can't stop me from ordering goodies online at this season...
18:25:22: Gorgeous sunset; rising moon visible but with thick halo.
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Eclipse Curtailed
I went out in brilliant moonlight (which illuminated the filmy high clouds as well) before the eclipse started, lying on my back in the big field so I could see it clearly. Came in to rouse dh when I could tell it was starting and by the time I got back to the house, it was pretty obvious. Then took a pillow (to ease my neck) out to the driveway and lay there as it continued.
The cat came over and after bunting me on the sides and hand climbed onto me. Naturally. By this time lower clouds were blowing over rapidly, and the humidity was up--the cat's fur felt damp, as did my jacket and jeans. It is difficult to take good moon pictures with a cat on your chest. When she walked about, my arms wiggled. When she settled down, it was only for a moment at a time, and the standing up part always caused vibration. She wanted to look into the lens. She wanted to lick the hand holding the camera.
More and more clouds, less and less moon--for both reasons. I gave up finally and came back into the dry house. I may post the jiggly pictures another day.
The cat came over and after bunting me on the sides and hand climbed onto me. Naturally. By this time lower clouds were blowing over rapidly, and the humidity was up--the cat's fur felt damp, as did my jacket and jeans. It is difficult to take good moon pictures with a cat on your chest. When she walked about, my arms wiggled. When she settled down, it was only for a moment at a time, and the standing up part always caused vibration. She wanted to look into the lens. She wanted to lick the hand holding the camera.
More and more clouds, less and less moon--for both reasons. I gave up finally and came back into the dry house. I may post the jiggly pictures another day.
December 20, 2010
From Twitter 12-19-2010
15:15:53: RT @dianagill: You know it's the holiday season when you've memorized your credit card number.
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December 19, 2010
From Twitter 12-18-2010
01:36:51: New snippet up at http://www.paksworld.com/blog/
12:38:31: RT @KSmithSF: US Chamber of Commerce lobbied against 9-11 First Responders bill to save tax loopholes for foreign businesses. http://t. ...
14:48:42: RT @robinmckinley: Lovely & breathtaking story. Read this: http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/12/the-man-with-the-knives?start=3
14:50:01: RT @elysdir: Senate votes 65 to 31! #dadt is repealed!
23:44:30: RT @KSmithSF: Krugman pops Republican bubblenomics http://t.co/2UmQYOv
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December 18, 2010
From Twitter 12-17-2010
11:45:00: New post http://www.paksworld.com/blog/ Plot bomb of Story fell on my head this morning...so much Story, so slow the fingers. #writing
13:34:20: RT @NASA: Soyuz carrying the rest of Expedition 26 scheduled to dock to space station at 3:12 pm EST. Watch now online: http://www.nasa. ...
13:35:02: Watching the Soyuz approach to docking w/ ISS. Wow!
13:39:29: There are some things I absolutely love about living in this century, and watching people in space is a BIG one.
13:50:24: Live video of ISS from Soyuz, and of Soyuz from ISS...in color, no less. Wish I were there, but this is next best.
14:14:18: Well, that was beautiful.
16:25:48: Watching Soyuz docked at the ISS, about to open hatched between Soyuz & station sometime soon.
16:25:56: RT @NASA: Hatches to open between Soyuz & space station. Watch live starting at 5:30 pm ESTon NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
16:26:02: RT @NASA: Did you know there is a lunar eclipse on Monday night? NASA has online activities and chats you can join us for: http://go.nas ...
16:49:55: RT @robinmckinley: Wow http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/let-it-dough/?src=tptw
17:15:47: Watching crew getting head-setted for welcome ceremony on ISS--tangle of cords is worse than on my desk--amazing.
19:28:51: Old dog new cooking tricks tonight. Yes, I CAN finally make a cream sauce. And chicken, peppers, cream sauce in pastry = win.
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December 17, 2010
From Twitter 12-16-2010
09:04:57: Time to throw the chickens in the pot and get cookin'.
10:57:29: V. worried about friends in UK w/o heat & scant prospect of fuel delivery.
11:03:28: Chicken stock in progress beginning to smell really good. Monster carrot so big that I used only one.
11:12:46: Migraine finally letting up...back to the book now. (Woke up with it before dawn. Blech.)
12:48:58: RT @BacklisteBooks: RT @emperorsclothes: I'm giving away six ebooks by Beth Orsoff and Eddie Stack : http://wik.io/I2P8U
12:49:31: RT @NASA: [Image of the Day] Opportunity's View of Santa Maria Crater, Sol 2450: NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opport... http://go.nasa. ...
12:50:41: Large easy pieces of chicken meat now cooling in fridge (thanks, R-!) and stock still simmering to get all the good out of bones/vegetables.
12:51:04: Hurrying to write down plot bomb before it evaporates from memory.
15:12:46: RT @cuppy: Hospital saves woman's life; is told by Catholic leadership not to do it again. http://bit.ly/gieWks
22:53:50: By 9 pm had everything done and cleaned up, but for pot of stock chilling overnight in fridge before being packaged for freezer tomorrow.
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December 16, 2010
Chicken Stock: 12 hours
Today I made chicken stock. I read something recently about how the times given for recipes in books and on TV aren't really how long it takes (oh, dammit, another header design I didn't want just popped up here on the "post" page! Just now. It's far more distracting than the one before. Anyway.) So anyway, recipes guesstimate how long something takes, and it's longer.
But today, I made chicken stock in 12 hours, counting cleanup time. Most of that time, it was simmering away on its own, and I was a) writing, b) doing laundry, c) goofing off online, d) watching "The Big Bang Theory." So the 12 hours does not by any means 12 hours spent on my feet, stirring and tasting.
Today's hindrances: waking up with a migraine that didn't let go for hours, demands by other people to do other things, competing chores. Today's help: husband able to help with some chores (boning out the chickens while I kept writing, and pouring from the 20 quart pot to the 12 quart, when I got to that point, and carrying out the bones & other stuff strained from the stock. And he did the laundry.)
So: I've been making chicken stock for years, so I have experience and equipment now, and I had purchased all the remaining components of the stock itself the night before, on the way home from choir practice. This shortened prep time because I knew what I was doing. At 9 am, about, I had finished breakfast, cleared the space, and brought out the monster pot (20 quart pot). Pulled the two good-sized chickens (in shrink-wrap) out of the fridge, unwrapped them, removed any heart/liver/etc. stuff from cavities, washed them out, put them in the pot along with heart/liver/etc. One had a complete set; one didn't. To that added (rough-chopped) the leafy ends of two bunches of celery, and "enough" of the stalks (chopped), a very large, stout carrot (cut into four or five pieces), two onions (quartered and peeled), a whole bunch of garlic (cloves with a tip cut off), half a dozen bay leaves (they were smallish), and almost all of two coarsely chopped bunches of parsley. Then quite a bit of black peppercorns. And then enough cold water to cover.
Then put the lid on the pot, brought it to a boil, turned it down to simmer, and left it alone, with occasional inspections, until it was clear the meat was cooked. At this point, the chickens were pulled out, meat removed and put in a steel bowl which was put in the fridge for cooling (foil covered.) Bones went back in the liquid and cointinued to simmer several more hours until the big carrot could be easily cut with a wooden spatula. (Means all the flavor's out of them thar vegetables.)
At that point all the easily removable vegetation and bones were removed from the pot into a colander over another steel bowl, pressed to remove the liquid, and discarded into (you guessed it) another steel bowl. (Yes, I have a lot of steel bowls. Very useful.) The liquid went back into the main pot. This continued until nearly all the "stuff" was out of the big pot. Then left the lid off, and let the big pot simmer away (another hour or so) to reduce the liquid to below 12 quarts (next pot size down.)
The (washed) colander will fit over the top of the 12 quart pot, so the contents of the big pot were poured into the smaller pot, leaving all the lumps and leaves and piece of onion that had escaped earlier removal in the colander. Then the 12 quart pot was left to simmer until the liquid reduced to the level I wanted (~7-8 quarts.) This is sort of guesstimation, and the choice of amount is purely arbitrary and cook's choice.
With the right amount in the pot, the next step is cooling. I put cold water and ice in the sink, and put in the pot, then pulled the chilled chicken meat out of the fridge and started cutting it up for packaging & freezing. Again, cook's choice: I put mine up in 2-cup amounts of cubed meat, each 2 cups in a 1 quart freezer bag, and four of such bags in a one-gallon freezer bag (keeps me from losing a packet of meat all the way to the bottom...) By the time the meat was cut up and packaged and in the freezer, the stock was cool enough to put in the fridge for its overnight cooling...which makes it easy to lift off the layer of fat (hardens overnight) and thus package salt-free, almost fat-free stock/broth. I took another break before starting the big cleanup. But by 9 pm, everything was clean but the pot the stock was in, in the fridge. The big pot was back in the pantry, the measuring cup back in its place, some things still drying in the rack.
In between, I worked on the book (some progress made, once the headache eased around 11 am), did some other chores, spent more time on the internet than I should've, handled some business stuff, watched a little TV...so the whole 12 hours wasn't spent slaving over a hot stove. In fact, little of it. In fact, I wasn't pushing to get it done "as fast as possible" so I didn't start cutting up the chicken meat as soon as it was cool enough (for instance)--there was time wasted here and there in the process while I did something else. I now have four frozen packets of cooked chicken, each enough for a recipe that might be a chicken casserole, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad, chicken soups of various kinds.....and tomorrow will have at least six (I'm guessing, but conservatively) quarts of chicken stock for making various things.
Would I have accomplished more on the book if I hadn't made stock today?
Probably not. I woke up with the migraine well before dawn, and even when the pain eases, migraine affects my writing for a solid 24 hours or more...once I can write again, I'm slower. My head still feels full of goo, kind of overstuffed. So interspersing strolls to the kitchen to see how it was coming along didn't really prevent anything (for one thing, I can hold the story in my head and think about it while walking those few yards and back.) To me, old-fashioned slow cooking (making bread, making stock, making soups or stews or chili or slow-roasting meat) doesn't interfere with writing much because I'm here anyway...and it just needs checking on now and then. Other cooking--cakes, cookies, grilling--does require immediate attention for the full time of prep and isn't as compatible with writing. For me, anyway. I've burned some of those things, because I went back to the computer to write "just a sentence or two" and got carried away until the burning-sugar smell came from the kitchen.
Some of you may wonder why I keep talking about making stock and making soup and I think it's because I hear people talking about what a lot of work it must be. And it's really not, although the amount of work will seem different to those who live in a neighborhood with a lot of good eating places within walking distance than it does to me. Consider that if I can save a trip to the nearest full-size grocery store (20 miles) by cooking in batches and freezing in recipe-size portions, that's a 40 mile round trip I've saved--an average of an hour's driving time, plus the time spent shopping, plus the cost of gas (a couple of gallons.) While I was sick, I was able to make up meals from components in the freezer and pantry. Beef stock, cooked beef, chicken stock, cooked chicken, cooked ham, cooked turkey...all ready to be combined with canned, fresh or frozen vegetables. So anyone who's home for a day could--if they wanted--make some stock. and the next miserable day of snow/sleet/storm, or extreme heat/humidity...there's a meal, almost effortless. Instead of being limited to what's in the store...you get to make it up the way you want it. Spicy, bland, in between; with or without any of the ingredients I use...with the ones you want.
So back to timing. This 12 hour chicken stock could undoubtedly have been made in less time if I'd not been doing other things. And if you try it for the first time (in a smaller amount--nobody should start with a 20 quart pot unless they've got at least a stout helper and preferably an experienced advisor) you will be done in 12 hours.
But today, I made chicken stock in 12 hours, counting cleanup time. Most of that time, it was simmering away on its own, and I was a) writing, b) doing laundry, c) goofing off online, d) watching "The Big Bang Theory." So the 12 hours does not by any means 12 hours spent on my feet, stirring and tasting.
Today's hindrances: waking up with a migraine that didn't let go for hours, demands by other people to do other things, competing chores. Today's help: husband able to help with some chores (boning out the chickens while I kept writing, and pouring from the 20 quart pot to the 12 quart, when I got to that point, and carrying out the bones & other stuff strained from the stock. And he did the laundry.)
So: I've been making chicken stock for years, so I have experience and equipment now, and I had purchased all the remaining components of the stock itself the night before, on the way home from choir practice. This shortened prep time because I knew what I was doing. At 9 am, about, I had finished breakfast, cleared the space, and brought out the monster pot (20 quart pot). Pulled the two good-sized chickens (in shrink-wrap) out of the fridge, unwrapped them, removed any heart/liver/etc. stuff from cavities, washed them out, put them in the pot along with heart/liver/etc. One had a complete set; one didn't. To that added (rough-chopped) the leafy ends of two bunches of celery, and "enough" of the stalks (chopped), a very large, stout carrot (cut into four or five pieces), two onions (quartered and peeled), a whole bunch of garlic (cloves with a tip cut off), half a dozen bay leaves (they were smallish), and almost all of two coarsely chopped bunches of parsley. Then quite a bit of black peppercorns. And then enough cold water to cover.
Then put the lid on the pot, brought it to a boil, turned it down to simmer, and left it alone, with occasional inspections, until it was clear the meat was cooked. At this point, the chickens were pulled out, meat removed and put in a steel bowl which was put in the fridge for cooling (foil covered.) Bones went back in the liquid and cointinued to simmer several more hours until the big carrot could be easily cut with a wooden spatula. (Means all the flavor's out of them thar vegetables.)
At that point all the easily removable vegetation and bones were removed from the pot into a colander over another steel bowl, pressed to remove the liquid, and discarded into (you guessed it) another steel bowl. (Yes, I have a lot of steel bowls. Very useful.) The liquid went back into the main pot. This continued until nearly all the "stuff" was out of the big pot. Then left the lid off, and let the big pot simmer away (another hour or so) to reduce the liquid to below 12 quarts (next pot size down.)
The (washed) colander will fit over the top of the 12 quart pot, so the contents of the big pot were poured into the smaller pot, leaving all the lumps and leaves and piece of onion that had escaped earlier removal in the colander. Then the 12 quart pot was left to simmer until the liquid reduced to the level I wanted (~7-8 quarts.) This is sort of guesstimation, and the choice of amount is purely arbitrary and cook's choice.
With the right amount in the pot, the next step is cooling. I put cold water and ice in the sink, and put in the pot, then pulled the chilled chicken meat out of the fridge and started cutting it up for packaging & freezing. Again, cook's choice: I put mine up in 2-cup amounts of cubed meat, each 2 cups in a 1 quart freezer bag, and four of such bags in a one-gallon freezer bag (keeps me from losing a packet of meat all the way to the bottom...) By the time the meat was cut up and packaged and in the freezer, the stock was cool enough to put in the fridge for its overnight cooling...which makes it easy to lift off the layer of fat (hardens overnight) and thus package salt-free, almost fat-free stock/broth. I took another break before starting the big cleanup. But by 9 pm, everything was clean but the pot the stock was in, in the fridge. The big pot was back in the pantry, the measuring cup back in its place, some things still drying in the rack.
In between, I worked on the book (some progress made, once the headache eased around 11 am), did some other chores, spent more time on the internet than I should've, handled some business stuff, watched a little TV...so the whole 12 hours wasn't spent slaving over a hot stove. In fact, little of it. In fact, I wasn't pushing to get it done "as fast as possible" so I didn't start cutting up the chicken meat as soon as it was cool enough (for instance)--there was time wasted here and there in the process while I did something else. I now have four frozen packets of cooked chicken, each enough for a recipe that might be a chicken casserole, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad, chicken soups of various kinds.....and tomorrow will have at least six (I'm guessing, but conservatively) quarts of chicken stock for making various things.
Would I have accomplished more on the book if I hadn't made stock today?
Probably not. I woke up with the migraine well before dawn, and even when the pain eases, migraine affects my writing for a solid 24 hours or more...once I can write again, I'm slower. My head still feels full of goo, kind of overstuffed. So interspersing strolls to the kitchen to see how it was coming along didn't really prevent anything (for one thing, I can hold the story in my head and think about it while walking those few yards and back.) To me, old-fashioned slow cooking (making bread, making stock, making soups or stews or chili or slow-roasting meat) doesn't interfere with writing much because I'm here anyway...and it just needs checking on now and then. Other cooking--cakes, cookies, grilling--does require immediate attention for the full time of prep and isn't as compatible with writing. For me, anyway. I've burned some of those things, because I went back to the computer to write "just a sentence or two" and got carried away until the burning-sugar smell came from the kitchen.
Some of you may wonder why I keep talking about making stock and making soup and I think it's because I hear people talking about what a lot of work it must be. And it's really not, although the amount of work will seem different to those who live in a neighborhood with a lot of good eating places within walking distance than it does to me. Consider that if I can save a trip to the nearest full-size grocery store (20 miles) by cooking in batches and freezing in recipe-size portions, that's a 40 mile round trip I've saved--an average of an hour's driving time, plus the time spent shopping, plus the cost of gas (a couple of gallons.) While I was sick, I was able to make up meals from components in the freezer and pantry. Beef stock, cooked beef, chicken stock, cooked chicken, cooked ham, cooked turkey...all ready to be combined with canned, fresh or frozen vegetables. So anyone who's home for a day could--if they wanted--make some stock. and the next miserable day of snow/sleet/storm, or extreme heat/humidity...there's a meal, almost effortless. Instead of being limited to what's in the store...you get to make it up the way you want it. Spicy, bland, in between; with or without any of the ingredients I use...with the ones you want.
So back to timing. This 12 hour chicken stock could undoubtedly have been made in less time if I'd not been doing other things. And if you try it for the first time (in a smaller amount--nobody should start with a 20 quart pot unless they've got at least a stout helper and preferably an experienced advisor) you will be done in 12 hours.
Twitter has gone from asking me to try out the New Twitter to threatening that old Twitter is going to disappear "soon" (um...they can't give an actual date???) and warning me that I should switch.
All I've heard about the new Twitters is negative. Does anyone have tips on how to make the transition as painless as possible? Personally, I see no reason to change Twitter--it's doing what I need now, and I know how to use it in its present form, and I don't need to spend time learning how to use a hammer with a head on both ends, so to speak, which is what new! improved! software so often seems to be. ("Look! We gave you a claw hammer on this end and a ballpeen hammer on the other and then there's this angled bit in the middle that's a tack hammer...")
But since nonsensical, useless, unwanted change seems to be the fashion in software development (yes, I'm speaking to anyone involved in same--and keep in mind, *I* was once involved in same, so you won't get anywhere trying to guilt me as a technophobe) I know when I'm being herded into yet another Learning Experience. And so: if you've been there, done that, and survived without going insane...please help me out.
What matters to me is a) keeping my "following" list intact, b) keeping an appearance I can stand (I uploaded an image to tile as background behind the text space and will want the same, or another of mine, in the new form.) c) as clean and uncluttered a text space as possible. d) the same basic page layout.
All I've heard about the new Twitters is negative. Does anyone have tips on how to make the transition as painless as possible? Personally, I see no reason to change Twitter--it's doing what I need now, and I know how to use it in its present form, and I don't need to spend time learning how to use a hammer with a head on both ends, so to speak, which is what new! improved! software so often seems to be. ("Look! We gave you a claw hammer on this end and a ballpeen hammer on the other and then there's this angled bit in the middle that's a tack hammer...")
But since nonsensical, useless, unwanted change seems to be the fashion in software development (yes, I'm speaking to anyone involved in same--and keep in mind, *I* was once involved in same, so you won't get anywhere trying to guilt me as a technophobe) I know when I'm being herded into yet another Learning Experience. And so: if you've been there, done that, and survived without going insane...please help me out.
What matters to me is a) keeping my "following" list intact, b) keeping an appearance I can stand (I uploaded an image to tile as background behind the text space and will want the same, or another of mine, in the new form.) c) as clean and uncluttered a text space as possible. d) the same basic page layout.
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