Fonts

This is kinda not exactly television-related. BUT, let me stress that I love looking at the logos of show titles, since they're often done in a special font, or at least in a steady color scheme. Simpsons and Brady Bunch come to mind for starters. Plus, Frasier had a different colored title every season, which is how to tell them apart really quickly in reruns. But let's look at a list of fonts today...

I am kinda a font freak. In the late nineties I would scour the 'net for the most accurate font to express my personality. Then I'd have my closest friends get it too, so they could read it in AIM (well, technically AOL IM back then, LoL). In college, I couldn't stand the look of the standard, Times New Roman font that I had been required to use on science fair projects (which was pretty much the only thing we had to type in high school, aside from Extended Essays and World Lit papers). So I used Arial. For everything. It's generally accepted by professors, although I did have a classmate in graduate school question my choice.

Honestly, serifs bother me. Those are the little tags on the tops and bottoms of letters in a TNR-esque font. And I hate them. I think they're annoying and ugly. Verdana is my font of choice in a non-professional setting, although I do use comic sans in IMs. (and yes, most of my blogs have serifs because I have been using the default forever, LoL.)

Anyway, the "periodic table of fonts" has recently been brought to my attention several times, and I decided to make some comments about it. At first I was appalled at the focus on popularity as opposed to order. But, the author of the short article does mention that he tried, but it really wouldn't suit his purpose.

Now, let's review his ordering (which was based on several lists)...
#1 is Helvetica. um, what?
#6 is Garamond. If I have to use a serif, I try to get away with this one. ;)
#7 is Times. ::eye roll::
#12 is Lucida. ridiculously useless font.
#17 is some awful thing called Trinite. way too much serif.
#18 is Syntax. Remember that awful font? from back when you still had a printer that spit out accordion paper?
#26 is Thesis. no lie. and it's only been around since 1994. how much do you want to bet someone found a way to create a font that takes up slightly more space per line without anyone noticing... resulting in a few extra pages over the course of three chapters... I'll have to look into this...
#29 is Clarendon. It's a nice font in general, but it's difficult to find the right occasion to use it.
#33 is the oldest font in the book. Gutenberg B-42. it looks just how you'd imagine it might.
#50 is Century. fairly common, but still ehhhh.
#63 is Courier. Yes, it's butt-ugly, but how did it end up so low on the list??
#96 is the newest font of the bunch... 2002's Neutraface, a sans-serif. Tied with #71 Prokyon, another sans-serif. AND #62 - Fedra, another winner (aka sans-serif).

Cranium Calendar, Volume V

May 4th : Blankout : Hint: yes means no. _ E_E_ _E _ _Y_ _ O_O_Y (struggled for a moment, but got it after re-reading the hint)
May 5th : there's a photo and question, but wanted to share the fun fact that: Buddha was under the Bo or Bodhi tree (a type of Indian fig) when he was enlightened and realized the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that are the foundation of Buddhism.
May 7th : Starstruck : Philly, Ali, Bel-Air (Easy)
May 11th : Selectaquest : Which country was the first to allow women to vote? Canada, New Zealand, United States, France. (got it)
May 12th : Zelpuz : Hint: harbor icon. TRUST YE LIFEBOAT (missed it, and was surprised with the answer)
May 13th : Polygraph : A frontrunner in the furniture business, Ikea was originally a religious commune. (guessed incorrectly)
May 14th : Odd Couple : Hint: dinosaurs. Gynormasaurus; Apatosaurus; Brachiosaurus; Stegosaurus; Tabascosaurus (yep!)
May 18th : Blankout : Hint: clean sweep. _ _C_U_ C_ _A_ _ _ (missed it)
May 19th : Polygraph : Vanilla flavoring is derived from the cured, unripe fruit of a tropical climbing orchid. (missed it)
May 20th : Starstruck : legal blonde, June, Alabama (duh.)
May 21st : Matchbatch : Sir Edmund Hillary; Charles Lindbergh; Robert Peary; Roald Amundsen; Yuri Gagarin to be matched with Atlantic; Everest; outer space, North Pole, South Pole. (I got outer space and South Pole backwards, the rest correct)
May 25th : Factoid : What is the largest animal ever to inhabit Earth?
May 26th : Zelpuz : Hint: Gardener's Delight NUTMEG HERB (nope)
May 28th : Translator: Hint: Card Games blaze-tenging implement; vital organs of symbolic significance; outrageously peculiar multiples of four (only got the second two, but should have gotten all three)
May 30th/31st : Turbo Factoid (not sure if I've shared this type before. it's when you have three factoids to complete in the amount of time usually given to only one factoid). 1) In a round of golf, what do you have if someone gives you a mulligan? 2) If you shoot an eagle on the first hole while your opponent makes a birdie, who's leading? 3) In golf lingo, what's the bar at the clubhouse called? (only got the second one, wouldn't have even come up with adequate guesses for the others)



May 4th : Reverse Psychology
May 7th : Will Smith
May 11th : New Zealand - in 1893, 27 years before the US 19th Amendment
May 12th : Statue of Liberty
May 13th : False. Although some do think of Ikea as a religion (or at least a religious experience), it was the appliance company Amana that was founded by members of a religious commune.
May 14th : Gynormosaurus and Tabascosaurus. (the other three were from the Jurassic Period, alrite!)
May 18th : Vacuum Cleaner
May 19th : True. Vanilla beans have no scent when harvested, and develop their fragrance during the weeks-months of air drying (not sure how the two are related)
May 20th : Reese Witherspoon
May 21st : Sir Edmund Hillary - Everest; Charles Lindbergh - Atlantic; Robert Peary - North Pole; Roald Amundsen - South Pole; Yuri Gagarin - outer space
May 25th : Blue Whale (90+ feet long and 150+ tons. bigger than all the dinosaurs AND were nearly extinct before protections were established)
May 26th : Green Thumb
May 28th : Poker; Hearts; Crazy Eights
May 30th/31st : 1) a second chance to swing (not in the standard rules). 2) you are, an eagle is two under par while a birdie is only one under par. 3) the 19th hole (hahaha)

Cranium Calendar, Volume IV

April 1st : Starstruck : hip shaker, sun records, teddy bear (got it easily)
April 2nd : Polygraph : There is a link between the color of a chicken's eggs and the color of its earlobes. (T or F) (missed it)
April 6th : Zelpuz : HEROIC JAM LAND (hint: sports legend) (got it easily)
April 7th : Selectaquest : Which of these materials was not used in George Washington's false teeth? wood; human teeth; walrus tusks; ivory (missed it)
April 9th : Zelpuz : GREAT HUGE NEST (hint: spring ritual) (missed it. :()
April 13th : blankout : _O_ _C _ OO_ (hint: barrier breaker) (missed it)
April 14th : Punch list : how many of the six largest Hawaiian Islands can you name? (I only got 3)
April 15th : Zelpuz (there were a bunch this month) : NEXT FRAUD (hint: tax time) (got it, but had to write it down)
April 16th : Factoid : Talk-show host Jerry Springer once held what political office? (got it, although I didn't know the location)
April 20th : Translator : (hint: beer brands) More Knowledge Plant Sprout; Cereal-Grinding Personage; Male Child of Espionage Agent; Tumbling Mineral Matter (got three of them, missed the third of the group - which I'd never heard of)
April 21st : Selectaquest : What didn't Leonardo da Vinci sketch a design for? helicopter; odometer; zipper; bicycle. (missed it)
April 23rd : Odd Couple : Which two don't belong: Princeton Perfectos; Buffalo Bisons; Hickory Crawdads; Auburn Doubledays; Fredonia Freaks (hint: minor-league baseball teams) (got them)
April 27th : Polygraph : The oppostire sides of standard dice always add up to seven. (knew it)
April 28th : Zelpuz : SPIN DREAM (hint: character) (got it in a few seconds)
April 29th : Punch list : How many of the seven James Bond movies starring Sean Connery can you name? (yeah, no. I don't think I could name seven James Bond movies at all. I got none)
April 30th : Matchbatch : math fromage, poulet, champignon, boeuf, vin, pain with capon, filet mignon, baguette, Bordeaux, Camembert, morel. (didn't have a clue how to even begin)



April 1st : Elvis Presley
April 2nd : True! Hens with white earlobes lay white eggs, hens with red earlobes lay brown eggs.
April 6th : Michael Jordan
April 7th : wood.
April 8th : Easter Egg Hunt
April 13th : Sonic Boom
April 14th : Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai
April 15th : Tax Refund
April 16th : Mayor of Cininnati (in 1977, age 33, won by a huge margin)
April 20th : Budweiser, Miller, Molson, Rolling Rock
April 21st : zipper. was first exhibited in 1893. but, fun fact: da Vinci did also design parachutes, diving suits, and military tanks
April 23rd : Fredonia Freaks and Princeton Perfectos (Princeton is Devil Rays and Fedonia doesn't have a minor-league team)
April 27th : True
April 28th : Spider-Man
April 29th : Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds are Forever (1971), Never Say Never Again (1983)
April 30th : fromage - Camembert; poulet - capon; champignon - morel; boeuf - filet mignon; vin - Bordeauz; pain - baguette

Ah-Choo!!

So today's challenge (Day 18, more than halfway!) is to create a "sneeze page." Apparently it's just a list of "best ofs" or "popular posts" or something, to help new readers get hooked. When I went to decide on which posts to pull for this, I was surprised that this is entry #129. I guess I didn't realize I had been around this long, LoL!

You can check out the "favorite posts" on the left, should you want to see what I consider some of the more interesting ones. And, please suggest others that should be over there! :)

Catching up

So I went several days without posting. And I did this consciously. When I was looking at the challenges of the 31DBBB, I got discouraged, thinking it wasn't worth it since nobody reads my blog anyway (as previously mentioned, I have Google Analytics). Well, tonight I got a link to feedburner (who manages my RSSing), and I was really surprised to find out how many subscribers I have. So while the analytics aren't doing all that great, I still have readers so I shouldn't give up. And so, I'm back and determined to make a great comeback! I'll start by doing the challenges I missed, and sometime Tuesday I'll do the post that should have come out today (which is a transition from the previous series to the next series). Thank you, readers, for making this possible.

Day 4: analyze a good blog in your niche. well, I'm new to my niche, technically. I'm going to use TV Squad. They cover shows in many categories, including Dramas, Comedies, Realities, Sci-Fis, American Idol, Retro Shows, and Others. It's hard to find anything they ignore because there is so much covered in their "other" section, like game shows, children's shows, talk shows, and the news. BUT, it does seem they don't cover reality family shows, like Little People, Big World and 18 Kids and Counting. Their voice/style is third person, and use lists and opinions. They posted 13 items today (7 yesterday, 6 the day before, and 17 the day before that), and are shooting for a beginning level audience. They focus mostly on current shows and what's going on in the immediate future. Readers seem to connect mostly with television specials and late-night shows, and finales. In comments, readers are asking mostly things of other commenters, who mention things not included in the entry, or agree/disagree with the post. Tool-wise, they're using the hell out of RSS and video clips, but not much else. The design of the site gives an impression of funness, but I would prefer to have a "view by date" sidebar, since they post so often and I don't want to scroll forever. I'm not sure about their advertising. They get 6k-12k hits each day, and 73% are from the US. I don't know what SEO is.

Day 5: Email a new reader. This one is kinda impossible for me. I personally know everyone who has ever commented on my blog, and so I know about them and their blog preferences to some extent already. It suggested an alternative would be to respond to comments made... which I have done already, too... The last alternative is to go comment on other blogs. I do this semi-regularly anyway.

Day 6: Read 27 blog entries and declare which is most useful and why. This one taught me about why I should use Flickr to get images rather than Google Image. Also, how to do a pillar article is a good thing to consider. Why people don't leave comments was also interesting, but not as helpful. 50 tips is also good, and I should consider thinking about many of them. So, my overall "most useful" goes to the 50 tips.

Day 7: Link to another blog. It gives examples of how to do this, and speedlinking would be my preferred method. I only read a few blogs in my genre, so here goes!

- Three days ago, TV Squad wrote about when ABC would finally air the last episodes of shows like Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money.
- Mark Blankenship, over at The Critical Condition, posted yesterday about the changes in The Office.
- Polite Dissent already has a review of the medical problems with tonight's House, MD episode.

okay, that catches things up! Day 8 will take place tomorrow, along with the regularly-scheduled TV post itself.

Promotion!

okay, so for today's challenge, I need to promote a blog post.

well, 75% of the time, I tweet (and therefore it also goes to Facebook) when I have a new entry on either or both of my blogs. But, I only vaguely mention what the new entry is about, and I link to the main site instead of the individual post.

Another suggestion is to include a brief thing about it when you send out newsletter emails. Well, I have two groups I "newsletter" (yep, gonna use it as a verb and call it a day), and I haven't done either in a long time. I'll get back to that shortly (after this conference, I swear).

I'm not about to add a link in my email signature. nope.

I do comment on other blogs, so check!

I already do blogs that build on previous ones to some extent, but I do that a TON more on the other blog.

Pitch mainstream media. You know, I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks, and might be able to get around to it. I would have had the perfect opportunity Monday night when they wrote off Kutner's character on House, MD. oops.

I'm not going to state my thoughts on the other suggestions. So, what will I do today for this? besides twittering (which I will do after I post this), I'll go ahead and write a newsletter email (but I can't send it yet, other blog needs a little more updating at the moment).

However, I'll throw this out there: if you want to be included on the list to the right on "suggested blogs," let me know, and chances are, I'll add you. The challenge suggested I seek out bloggers and ask them to list mine, but I'm a little shy on this aspect, LoL.

An Elevator Pitch

so the first assignment for the 31 Days to a Better Blog challenge starts today. In 100-150 words, I'm supposed to describe what my blog is about. That kinda sucks, since that's way more descriptive than this blog really is.

Okay, so thinking about it... This blog is about stuff I like to read. More specifically, it was about television and internet, with random other things thrown in. As you may have guessed when I didn't post last Friday, I'm not doing internet any longer, in an attempt to solidify an audience. I talked about this idea on Friday with my husband, and I am considering using Fridays as a television review day, of the things I watched that week. Let's not lie, I watch a LOT of television. I have a TON of shows I keep up on, and when I'm doing my at-home job, I keep the TV on so I'm not lonely, LoL. Another idea was incorporating the other "voting suggestions" into the other days... so maybe television courtships on Wednesdays in addition to the M and F series plans.

But going back to today's task... This blog is for entertainment purposes only, since I'm not an expert, just a fan. Because I've watched a lot of television from a young age, I've seen a lot of episodes from a lot of shows, from every genre. I discuss what's going on in primetime television, as well as series blogs on older shows, like long-running shows, shows canceled too early, and relationships on television. Expansion is planned, as these series become overdone and new countdowns are conceived. Blog length is less than five minutes, but I am considering switching to a more two-minute format to accommodate readers who skim twenty blogs a day instead of those who read just a few. Additionally, I like to support my entries with videos from YouTube or similar websites.

I used 128 words. cool.