Well, the bad news first, server troubles, then a puter crash, long long page downloads, and now I cannot get the advanced view up so I will fix this post later.

Naturally, I just had to say something.

If you use HEX colors for your blog (or website), you may be interested in this nifty little tool. Select a color in the bottom box and all the co-ordinating colors you can use come up in all the other boxes. You just copy down the code numbers and stick them in your "change your colors" control under My Template.

ColorSchemer

A few more;

Well Styled Color Wheel -- click on a color, then select how you want to co-ordinate it, within that color, complimentary, opposites.

Site Pro -- you can slide the bars to increase or decrease the color, coordinate colors, find opposites, a nifty tool.

Going to eat chocolate to reduce my stress level.

If any of you have gone on over there or are thinking about it -- a few notes.
Here is the nickel tour, like a 12 step program and shameless promotion of ShoutPost for the serious blogger --

1. My alias name is Scribbles and my blog is Scribbler -- check it out.  I currently am #2 on the Hot Blog list there. LOL -- My avatar is a pile of crayons.

2. Nice little place.  Easy to use.  Blogs are very clean looking.  One template (the default, tutorial on how to customize in my blog there) to use now. Easy to add a background image, post title image. I have a few tutorials in my test blog there, they are on the navigation bar if you need some help.

3. Still a few bugs left to iron out but it is fun to beta test.

4. No tBlurt but you can add comments on a person's profile as well as comments on pictures (you can do that here also). Random pictures appear on the front page. You can make pictures private.

5. Add a friend, just click "add" in their profile, no permission or exchange.  When you add a friend, you will see what they have added to their blog (post, comment, image)  ;on your message page.

6. You can add CSS scripts to posts. Post editor has more features and some of the same features as the advanced view here. Blog entries can be private and you can email your friends a notification directly from your blog.

7. If you have a website (stationary webpages), they provide a domain code for you to add to your site so you can incorporate your blog.

8. When people comment on your blog entry, the newest comment appears at the top and the oldest at the bottom.

9. When looking at Users On Line -- you get a brief intro of their last post.

10. Your blog is ad free however you do see all the ads in your control panel.  That is not a bad thing at all.  I thought some of the ads were interesting. I went a few new places.

12.  You get a little meter for your posts in your control panel so you can see which ones are popular as well as others.  This is like free advertising for your blog posts.

Just a note: You need to shout mail Rocky or Nickster to delete your Shout Post blog as you do here at tBlog.  There is no auto delete button.

OK -- that is the nickel tour of the new site, there is more so go check it out. 
Nickster and Rocky have been working hard. 
Kudos to them both.

Update: There are now 6 templates to choose from (as of 2/07).  On a few of them you can really customize and add a banner.  They provide the banner size in the control panel for the templates that have them.

Similiar to Moon Song,(Mildred Plew Meigs) my last post,
here is another sleepy head classic lullaby poem. 

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
Eugene Field

Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe--
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
Where are you going and what do you wish?
The old moon asked the three.
We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea--
Now cast your nets wherever you wish--
Never afeard are we!
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam.
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home.
'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be
And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea--
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
and Nod.

MOON SONG
By Mildred Plew Meigs

Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--
Over the crinkling sea,
The moon man flings him a silvered net
Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say when the net lies long
And the midnight hour is ripe;
The moon man fishes for some old song
That fell from a sailor's pipe.

And some folk say that he fishes the bars
Down where the dead ships lie,
Looking for lost little baby stars
That slid from the slippery sky.

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in
And the nodding night wind blows,
But why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows.

Zoon, zoon, net of the moon
Rides on the wrinkling sea;
Bright is the fret and shining wet,
Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say when the great net gleams
And the waves are dusky blue,
The moon man fishes for two little dreams
He lost when the world was new.

And some folk say in the late night hours,
While the long fin-shadows slide,
The moon man fishes for cold sea flowers
Under the tumbling tide.

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in
And the gray gulls dip and doze,
But why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows.

Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--
Over the crinkling sea,
The moon man flings him a silvered net
Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say that he follows the flecks
Down where the last light flows,
Fishing for two round gold-rimmed "specs"
That blew from his button-like nose.

And some folk say while the salt sea foams
And the silver net lines snare,
The moon man fishes for carven combs
That float from the mermaids' hair.

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in
And the nodding night wind blows,
But why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows.

I was cleaning and found this saved item from the 80's. I remember it came around with the AM absent list from the secretaries Blanche and Shirley (new grandmothers at the time) at school. I thought it was very funny so I am posting it here to share with you all.

What is a Grandmother (Essay by a third grader)

A grandmother is a lady who has no little children of her own. She likes other people's. A grandfather is a man grandmother.

Grandmothers don't have to do anything except be there. They are old so they shouldn't play hard or run. It is enough if they drive us to the market and have a lot of dimes ready. When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They never say "hurry up".

Usually, grandmothers are fat. But not too fat to tie their shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth and gums out. Grandmothers don't have to be smart. Only answer questions like "Why isn't God married?" and "How come dogs chase cats?" When they read to us, they don't skip or mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television, because they are the only grownups who have time.

 I just read that Wal-Mart uses enough energy to power the entire country of Chile!

So they are experimenting on how to save energy, electricity, and less trash.
I imagine the trash alone in any Wal-Mart Parking lot may fill a large bin a week.

Most of the Wal-mart's around here are expanding into super stores and getting facelifts of brick fronts and fancy windows -- no more service gray exteriors, they are going upscale as well as their prices.

I guess they will be light bulb pushers now according to the article.

Wal-Mart's $1 billion Problem

Anyone a member of a Big Box Discount store like Bj's, Costco, or Sam's Club?

There was a Costco nearby and shortly after they opened, Bj's built down the street.  The Costco disappeared after being opened a short time and Home Depot then moved in.

So now I have a Bj's membership.  My brother told me that if you let your membership lapse, they beg you to come back at a discount.  So it was worth a try.  Membership ran out in May, and in November I get a letter saying if I fill out a survey and bring it into the store by Dec. 31st, I would get $20. off the annual membership renewal. I don't buy much there so for that discount price, I would sign up again but not for a year at the regular price.  In the future though, before I let it lapse, I should go stock up on some items in particular Hershey's Cocoa (need my daily cocoa fix at lunch).

Also, the school had a fundraising campaign of renewal one year and added an extra 6 months onto the membership for the same annual renewal PLUS gave a coupon out for $10.00 off an item.

So now they are stocking more for exotic things to get you to buy.
A few years ago, I did get a 27 inch TV, a move up from 15 inches.
Tires are a regular purchase for me.
I got gas once when there was no line, but the line is usually long so I just don't wait around.  The gas pumps only take a credit card.

I have to mention once I got some sapphire earring studs but noticed in normal light (the warehouse lighting is terrible), that there was a major flaw in the stones so I returned them for a refund and never bought another piece of jewelry from them again. 

The article has a breakdown of annual fees paid and tells you how they price and how they pay their overhead. Most interesting.

Find Exotic Deals at Big Box Retailers

I was just over at Flickr when I noticed this beautiful picture of a cemetery statue that moved my spirit. I just had to share.

All sorts of questions came to mind as I looked at it.
Who is the woman?
Who is the person who evidently just passed as she pulls the sheets over the head?
What was their relationship?
Notice how lovingly she is holding the hand.
Look at her facial expression.
Look at the incredible detail of all the fabric, as if all the detail is just like all the details in one's life.

Beautiful Statue

A "Consumer Beware" post to help you become a better consumer. 

Several ATM scams are written about in this article (link below).
There is even a pictorial of what you should watch out for.

I also like the gag picture of how to keep your money safe, the alternative way. (click on "series of secrurity cam pictures" and scroll down).

I had no idea that MP3 players can be used also to steal information.

The comments are interesting.  I always learn something from them.

How They Steal Your ATM Card (With Pics!)

Appletree quietly slipped in a tag in my comments.

I am suppose to list five things about myself that no one knows.

1. I am a deltiologist.

2. I can twirl a baton and do all sorts of illusional (is that a real word or did I invent something?) tricks with it. Please stand back or you will get hurt. I am dangerous.

3. In college, I had my hair "professionally" ; colored but when I washed it, it turned blue. Unwittingly, I started the punk hair movement but have never been credited for it. Now you have been informed.

4. My back was facing the opened front door so I could not see who was there.  I was intently playing Moonlight Sonata and deeply concentrating on the music and hearing nothing else.  There wa s a knock on my door and I started screaming (Hollywood horror style, facing the piano) because  it scared me to death. I stood up and I saw no one there when I turned around then stopped screaming. I was exhusted. I went over and looked out the door. A young man (Mormon, Jehovah Witness, magazines or encyclopedia sales???) was lying on the walkway, white and flushed.  I went outside to help him up but seeing him on the ground, I could not stop laughing.  I was beside myself and could not help him, just asked him if he was ok.  He said yes he was.  I went into the house, shut the door, and continued laughing at myself for hours.

5. I have a super good sense of humor, extremely likable, and love to laugh because Uncle Albert told me so in a song.

Should I mention I squirrel away Special Dark Chocolate bars (a square a day after lunch) or eat all the little ones first out of the Hershey's Miniature assortment package?  Don't tell anyone please!