My Notes

Welcome to WordPress. This is my first post. The date is actually wrong. I started this blog October 10, 2006. But the way the blog software works if I change the dates or mess with the headers too much it quits working. So, instead of being picky I’ll leave this post’s header with a date in March 2006. Perhaps once I figure out the underlying software I will come back and fix this.

Setting up a website is a lot of work. Actually it means watching a lot of details. There are so many settings and nuances that it is easy to goof things up. One of the first things I’ve learned is to keep a log. I’ve gone so far as to give version numbers to my website’s files. About once each week I go from version 1.1 to version 1.2, etc. And I keep all the files of the previous several versions so I can roll back the site if I find something has “blown up.” I use website creation software with templates and wizards. I have found over the years that sometimes the software “looses its place” and the various buttons and menus get crossed up, displaying different font types or sizes. I’ve also discovered that hierarchy is important to many software systems so if I move a file or rename a subdirectory bad things happen. With an archive of various versions saved about a week apart I never need to loose more than a week’s entries if something blows up.

In long term recovery there is a phrase that says Pain is almost a certainty in life, but suffering is optional. When you are in need of recovery you are often faced with a dilemma or disease over which you have no control. So the only way to “get better” or have some control is to focus on your attitude and reactions to the troubles.

I know many people at various stages of recovery that are facing, and have faced, some terrible situations. Some of them are tragically depressed and in a fog. Others with problems no less severe are positive and even happy despite the problems. The only difference I can see is in the individual’s attitude.

Each trial and pain brings with it an opportunity to suffer or heal. The choice is ours.

Managing photographs on a website can be a daunting task. If you are not careful after a while the photos will move you out of house and home. In addition, you can spend countless hours trying to downsize and caption hundreds of photos.

For my new website (www.carlgluck.com) I wanted to find some gallery software solution to presenting my photographs. My web design software had only a limited layout for photos. It just wasn’t what I was looking for. And there are php and content management plug-ins that are overkill. You could spend hours tweaking everything trying to get it to work right.

Then I stumbled onto a simple, free download that handles photos quickly in a straight html format. You can make a stand-alone gallery or you can integrate it into your website. And yet the package is elaborate enough you can control and customize it if you want to invest more time in your project.

It’s called “JAlbum”. It is a completely free download. and it works right out of the box. The site to download JAlbum from is www.jalbum.net.

In the days ahead I plan to set up some photo albums at my new stie using JAlbum.

Oh, I also discovered it is possible to insert images and photos into this blog. that will certainly dress things up. All I have to do is make the image the proper size before I upload it (the blog software allows resizing but so far I haven’t found where it can restrain the proportions of the image, so that is not a good option). Once it is into the piece I am editing I simply select the justification options, and I write my piece around the image. That is all part of the WordPress software I’m using. 

In the past 4 years of creating and maintaining my websites, I have learned that my projections of how much work and time it will take to get the site up and running are vastly underestimated. I believe this has to do with all of the details that go into setting up a site. Oh, and it also has to do with the learning curve.

I have no formal education or training on how web sites are created. For me it is pretty much trial and error, except for the fact that I’ve read the manuals that come with the software I am using to create the web pages. And I’m here to tell you that web pages and internet browsing don’t always follow the manual!

With my new website, www.carlgluck.com, I have been trying different plug-ins and features now that I have been armed with a little bit of knowledge from running www.artbycarl.com for several years. I decided that with this site I will try to get a much better layout and file tree, and I will go slow enough to be certain my site is not all kluged together. I am having fun and learning indeed, but it is a slow process.

This past week I spent time experimenting with my site email server. It was adding a UIDL line in message headers that was driving the firewall where I work crazy (well actually the firewall just “shot first and asked questions later” by deleting the mail from my site before it every came through). It took me a while but I got that figured out.

I have also been spending some time with JAlbum (see my last post) adding comments to photographs and culling out the ones that really aren’t good enough to put online. I tried a couple of different skins and themes, trying to find one that didn’t look terribly different from the theme I’m using in www.carlgluck.com. By the way, the add-ons like WordPress and JAlbum are so powerful that without them I’d spend weeks or months trying to make my site do the things that these plug-ins do.

In summary though, I think if you are planning to set up a website some advice is in order: if you want an accurate timeline sit down and figure out exactly how long you think it will take, realistically, and then multiply that by a factor of 3. That timeline will still be optimistic! Another bit of advice I can offer is to go ahead and set up a simple site quickly and play with it before you settle in on a more involved or complicated final setup. You will find in the first few weeks that you are using your site to do things you hadn’t planned on, and you will find that some stuff you planned on isn’t behaving in any way near like what you planned! Use these first weeks to make notes about what your next full layout will look like.

Another good tip for doing web design and playing with website servers, etc., is to find a couple of good forums or discussion groups that have knowledgeable people in them and ask questions. They will help you a lot.

Finally, remember nothing is perfect. Go easy on yourself. It can be really frustrating to troubleshoot or debug anything related to a computer. Learn to walk away and let something sit for a while. Sometimes a problem “works itself” as it gets older!

Yesterday, Sunday October 22, 2006, it was widely being reported that a senior US Diplomat spoke to Al-Jazeera TV and admitted the U.S. had some flaws in its Iraq War plan. One such story, on Yahoo News, read:

DUBAI (AFP) - A senior US diplomat said his country has shown “arrogance” and “stupidity” in its dealing with Iraq and admitted Washington had made “many mistakes” in its foreign policy in the war-torn country. “We tried to do our best (in Iraq), but I believe that there is a great room for strong criticism, because — undoubtedly — there was arrogance and stupidity in US (dealing) with Iraq,” director of public diplomacy in the bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Alberto Fernandez, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera news channel late Saturday. “We should practice some humbleness in the question of Iraq. Undoubtedly — and (as) the United States did acknowledge — there have been many mistakes in the (US) foreign policy in Iraq,” he said Sunday. “All of us, those who care for Iraq, should sit at a table in one room to debate and establish … dialogue,” he added.

Indeed, history may show that the U.S. showed arrogance and stupidity in its handling - or even in the initiation - of the war. Violence rarely stops violence, even where terrorists and rogue nations are concerned.

The only way to end conflict is to either agree to disagree - or to completely eliminate those who disagree. The world needs a big round table in one room for debate (and no, not the U.N.).

Mark 13:26-27 At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Years ago I attended a little church where the old country preacher would occasionally pause, look out the window, and say “there are clouds out there… this could be the day!”

I believe that it is significant that almost every biblical reference to the second coming talks about clouds. On any given day our world has places on it that are sunny and places that are stormy. I doubt there is any single day where the entire globe has clouds in its sky. I certainly wouldn’t try to limit God to our present laws of weather and physics, but it might be that the clouds of the second coming are as much symbolic as water vapor.

My “life’s sky” has clouds in it on more days than not. Sometimes the clouds are beautiful reminders of the last hour’s storm, complete with sun rays of hope breaking through them. At other times the clouds are just clouds… dark, gray, gloomy, and depressing.

One of the things that really brings me around on a “cloudy day” is the echo in my ear of that old country preacher saying “this could be the day!”

Each of us spend a lifetime working, collecting, and putting stuff away, into the “treasure” or bounty of our lives. Some men define the value of their lifetime by wealth, some by power, and some of us assign a value based upon family relationships. For me the legacy of my life is my children, and my grandchildren.

Unconditional Love is an idea we can’t readily find outside of our family circle. Sometimes we joke about someone having a face only a mother could love. Or we may comment about the family jewels (in an everyday banter or perhaps a more base jest). Boys and girls everywhere find their way early in life based on the bond they develop with their mothers and fathers. if you tinker with that bond the results often become obvious as children mature.

It is not hard for family relationships to become strained or broken. When this happens everyone pays a dear price. It is perhaps more unusual for the family circle to withstand the trials of time. I am very grateful today that I have a very close friendship with my two children, David and Christina. This has laid the groundwork for the ties I have with my grandchildren. And when my life is measured when my life’s journey is done I suspect what I have to show for it will largely be found in my children and grandchildren.