It’s no surprise to anyone that visits me that I really like changing my themes.
Dare I say I change it more than some folks change their socks or underwear.
Some folks would even say I have some serious theme ‘issues’.
I plead guilty.
In my lifelong search for the perfect theme I came upon one called ‘ThemeLog’ that spoke to me
and said quite simply, “This is so you, Michael.”
You’re looking at it right now.
Flash header and all.
And yeah, I love it.
I happened to mention this to Moe (my angel from Oz) several weeks ago during one of our weekly chats.
She agreed saying it was “bloody gorgeous” and that it fit in perfectly with the overall feel of my blog.
Fast forward to last Saturday night when I checked my email before heading up to bed.
There was an email in my Inbox from NattyWP, a premium WordPress theme site.
It was a ‘Welcome to Natty’ email thanking me for joining.
Joining?
Me?
Maybe one too many Guinness, I thought.
I clicked on the link in the email and entered the login info provided and there it was . . .  the zip file for ‘ThemeLog’.
I immediately knew who was responsible.
It was the only person that knew how much this theme owned me.
Maureen.
We ultimately needed a bit of help getting it up and running which Moe was to so thanks are in order to Dave from NattyWP.
He had this sucker whistling Dixie in less than 2 hours.
After a bit more fiddling (and numerous emails) here we are.
And here I am.
A few more tweaks will be made but know that to comment you must click on the post title.
Most folks have already figured it out but I thought I’d let you know anyway.
My deepest thanks to Moe for caring too much sometimes.
That’s just her way, I guess.
God only knows, I need it these days.
You are a peach, my dear.
Smith is already thinking about doing a “How long will Murphy keep this theme up?” contest.
Any guesses?
I’m thinking he’s definitely going to lose.
Time will tell, I guess . . .
Really, how bloody gorgeous is this theme?   

I wish I was being funny.
I’m in a nasty mood tonight, sorry.
Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said,

“A government BIG enough to give you everything you want, is STRONG enough to take everything you have.”

Fuck the government and all their high paying ‘no-show’ jobs, bullshit posts and meaningless rhetoric.
I have had it.
There is a backstory but you won’t read it here.
Christ in a sidecar . . .
And as far as blogs being taxed, just wait . . .
These assholes will eventually tax excess pubic hair, if  they get their way, and they always do.

God help us all.

It’s been obvious to me for sometime now that I have some personal issues regarding my blog.
I spoke with a close childhood friend the other night (who occasionally reads here @Smoke and Mirrors)
and he said, “I can tell you really love your blog.”
He went on to say why he thought that way and I had to agree.
I do love my little place here.
It’s home.
As always with me, there’s a dark side, a side only seen by others like me.
It’s with that in mind that I came up with 10 blogging issues that you may be able to relate to:

If you’ve ever:

1. Fallen asleep at your laptop (sitting up) while updating your plugins, theme, blogroll or widgets, you, my friend have issues.
2. Spent longer than the time it takes to cook an 18lb turkey while looking for that elusive ‘perfect’ theme, I hope you had on your blogging Depends (for the times when the bathroom just has to wait)
3. Posted a spam email because it struck you as oddly interesting and you just happened to find the perfect accompanying picture to go with it, it’s BCD, pal
   blogging compulsive disorder
4. Had a conversation with a close non-writing friend and somehow wound up explaining how Google Adsense works, for the love of God, get checked.
5. Seriously contemplated ordering bumperstickers, t-shirts and keychain beer openers with your URL on them, you need a support group.
6. Suffered intermittent bouts of insomnia due to one of your unpublished drafts that’s been leaving you with desperate feelings of artistic inadequacy, there’s a strait jacket waiting somewhere with your name already written on it.
7. Planned an upcoming summer vacation with more than one or two people on your blogroll, you’re justifiably insane. Your wireless mouse is constantly talking to you but at least you’re happy in your own little world. Eat a Snickers. You’re nuts anyway.
8. Been jealous that Firefox can remember all 847 of your blog-related/ FTP passwords when you can’t even remember your cell phone number. There’s a word for people like you. Can’t recall what it is but yeah, you. (and me, I guess)
9. Spoken to a Verizon rep in Tucson, Arizona to get your DSL fixed and somehow managed to slip in not only your blog name but your URL as well. Crazy people can be smooth sometimes.
10. Wondered what you did with your time before you became a blogger.

I can say that this blogging thing still makes me happy
and that I am blessed to have a wife that
understands that.
Some people aren’t that lucky.
She knows what makes me tick, I guess.
And though I may tick a bit erratically sometimes,
she ultimately understands.
I’m nuts, but at least I’m lucky.
Don’t get much better than that.

“Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen, blog on . . .”
BLOG ON.

Frontier Editor has chosen me for an award, a major award!

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award; creativity, design, interesting material, and also a contributer to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y pico” (link doesn’t work!) so everyone will know the origin of this award. (the original site is gone, sorry)

5) To show these rules.

So I am going to pass it on to these five.
Many on my blogroll are deserving and I thought about just doing freshman bloggers but
that just didn’t seem right to me.
I know most of my choices won’t surprise you but they are incredibly deserving.
Thank you so much, FFE for this. I appreciate that someone appreciates me.
Funny that I was going to nominate you.

My list of recipients (in no particular order)

Maureen – someone that exudes the blogging style.
She contributes more to the blogging community than anyone will ever realize.
And she is wonderful. Period.
If you haven’t been, you are missing out on someone special.

Annie – a dear friend that has actually taught me something about blogging, although I started much earlier than she did. Once again, she is a wonderful friend and a writer that needs to be discovered
(and read).

Evyl- my bud and weekly touchstone. I think I know him better than most but will say that he has a heart of gold and visits more people than anyone I know of.
You are awesome, my man and I am so blessed we crossed paths.
I am going to cook that “beer can Chicken” before the end of the summer.

Kyknoord- another creative soul that offers a view of our world that continues to astound me.
I do wish he would visit more but when he does his comments are reminiscent of Evyl.
A talented and kind soul and seriously deserving of more visitors.

Red- She is “simply Red“.
She pulls no punches and is unabashedly honest. And she’s a sweetheart, albeit a somewhat sultry one.
I never know what I’m going to get when I go there but I know it’s going to be totally Red.
And I love that.

Congrats and much love to all.
Pass the award along as you see fit.
But please do pass it along.
Tanks.