Category: Family

Squidoo and FlockDraw

So, while working on this whole wedding website thingy  – and avoiding doing what I should be doing – I have stumbled upon two new (to me) online tools that I am considering implementing.

FlockDraw

The first one is FlockDraw. And it’s beyond cool. Somehow, thanks to the amazing power of the Internets, it allows for collaborative drawing. Like, I could be drawing on it, and you could be drawing on it AT THE SAME TIME … and we can see each other do this … in real time.

It’s FLASH based, I believe and it’s really cool … when it works. I say this because I drew something at work, and then later today from home, I went to look at it and it was gone. I did post it to Facebook, and though no one commented, maybe someone erased it? Shrugs. See it here:

[It was embedded here. But, I’ve since removed it – it was not working as I had hoped and was busting my WordPress container.]

Of course, at this moment, it’s blank again. Sigh. Well, we’ll see … maybe it will right itself.

Just in case, I’ve embedded it here in this non-blog page: http://www.brandonandkimberly.com/flockdraw.html … It’s not working as of this writing. The “embed” code they give out is wonky, and it doesn’t even display on my Mac at work. Go figure.

In the meanwhile, the URL for the one I’ve been playing with is: http://flockdraw.com/cc0u4z

UPDATE: Oh wait, now I get it: “It’s important to note that these FlockDraw rooms are meant to be disposable — once the last person leaves the room, the image disappears.” from: ReadWriteWeb. But, still, I can’t seem to get the embedding to work. Sigh.

Squidoo

I’ve been looking for a guestbook for www.brandonandkimberly.com because someone has strongly advised me to, and one of the first things I found in a Google search was Squidoo.

Squidoo is a lot like GeoCities, in that it allows anybody to set up a free website. And, that it looks pretty crappy. I hate all the banner ads, as represented in this screenshot:

If you’re interested in seeing the Squidoo page I set up today but likely won’t continue messing with, see it here: http://www.squidoo.com/brandonandkim … Really, I just think I’m too old for that many ads. However, if anyone clicks on them, I might make money. Ka-ching … yeah, right.

Typekit makes the heart grow fonder

TypeKit is here and as more browsers start to adopt the @font-face rule, I decided to take it for the old free trial spin for BrandonandKimberly.com.

It was easy. I went to their website, signed up, chose two fonts from the free trial selection and specified what domain I will be using them on. The free trial only allows for the use of two fonts on one domain. I then copied the two-line Java call and pasted it into the head of all the site’s pages, then configured the easy-to-use TypeKit editor to specify which font corresponded to which selector in my HTML/CSS of the site, and after a few minutes, I was done.

I chose FF Enzo Web by FontFont for my headlines.

I chose Scrivano by Outras Fontes for my regular body text. I know, I know – it’s a little wild. And kind of a little fancy pants, but it really highlights the fact that I’m using a unique font on my Web site and if you’re cool enough to have an updated browser, then you’re cool enough to see it and, perhaps, be inspired by it and the brilliant web developer behind the Web site. All that, and Kim let me, so there.

But it doesn’t work in all the browsers I use. Here’s the results of my survey:

Go

MAC
Firefox 3.5.5
Safari*

PC
Firefox 3.5.5
Internet Explorer 8

No Go

Mac
Camino
Google Chrome
Opera

PC
Chrome 3
Internet Explorer 6+7

* Though BrandonandKimberly.com keeps crashing Safari. Doh! Man, I hate that browser.

Also, I’m kind of disappointed in the way that various browsers display the fonts I chose.

Check out these screen shots. Discuss.

Firefox 3.5.5 (PC): This is how Typekit displays our wedding Web site on the browser of my choice.
Firefox 3.5.5 (PC): This is how Typekit displays our wedding Web site on the browser of my choice.
Internet Explorer 8 (PC): It doesn't display as nicely, but, maybe that's just my opinon. Notice how the weights of the headlines between this one and FF are inconsistent.
Internet Explorer 8 (PC): It doesn't display as nicely, but, maybe that's just my opinion. Notice how the weights of the headlines between this one and FF are inconsistent.
Firefox 3.5.5 (Mac): It looks pretty good on Firefox for Mac.
Firefox 3.5.5 (Mac): It looks pretty good on Firefox for Mac.

Our wedding program

I have finished the design for the wedding program! Our wedding program. The one I insisted on designing and getting printed myself.

We used the font Brioso Pro throughout the program.

Main wedding program graphic
Here's the main graphic for the cover of the wedding program that I designed.
Interlocking name
Here's the graphic I created for our name. Note the interlocking ampersand.
Wedding program
Here's the front and back covers of the wedding program.

Here is the PDF of the wedding program I designed for our wedding.

 

Our wedding coozie designs

Today, I finished the designs for the coozies that we will give away during our wedding.

I designed them using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS4.

Here they are:

blue coozie
The blue "formal" coozie.

Photos taken for the blue coozie were shot by Pin Lim, from our engagement photo shoot. The background of this coozie will be blue, so the ink needs to be white, and so the white ink is black above – which means it’s kind of hard to tell what this one will look like. I’m confident it will be awesome.

white coozie
The white "fun" coozie.

One of the photos taken for the white coozie was shot by Pin Lim (see the one on the far right). The others were shot myself, holding the camera out at a decent distance. This coozie was white with blue ink, so it’s not hard to see what it will look like, since the black ink above will be blue.

UPDATE: See a photo of the finished coozie, printed by Kustom Koozies, from Pin Lim’s wedding photo shoot:

The coozies
The coozies came out great. Our guests loved them!

More songs you won’t be hearing at the wedding

The following were rejected by our careful vetting process, usually consisting of a harsh glare given by someone toward someone when someone would suggest one of the following …

The Only One – The American Analog Set
Brandy Alexander – Feist
Can’t Afford to Do It – Odetta
Don’t Forget Me – Neko Case
I’m Your Man – Leonard Cohen
My Blue Heaven – Frank Sinatra
Help I’m Alive – Metric
You Were Made for ME – Sam Cooke
Blue Eyes – Elton John
An Acceptable Level of Ecstasy (The Wedding Song) – Lyle Lovett
Remedy – Black Crowes
The Cause of it All – Roy Orbison
I’m glad YOu’re Mine – Al green
Joan Osborne – Cathedrals
My Only Offer – Mates of State
Valerie – The zutons
Sunshine of Your Love – Ella Fitzgerald

Summer’s almost over

If you haven’t gone to the beach this summer, you should. Your chances of doing so are quickly eroding.

Summer is nearing its end, and I know this because 1.) Hurricane season is here and 2.) School starts back up everywhere next week.

Corina went to the beach this summer, her last summer before starting regular school: She’ll be entering kindergarten next week.

Good weather back on July 31 when we made our annual pilgrimage to the beach.
Good weather back on July 31 when we made our annual pilgrimage to the beach. (photo by Kim Kovar)
So mischieveous ... she's clutching a water gun in this shot.
So mischievous ... she's clutching a water gun in this shot. (photo by Kim Kovar)
Kim was at the beach, too - and I'm really glad about that. (photo by Corina Moeller)
Kim was at the beach, too - and I'm really glad about that. (photo by Corina Moeller)

... Because when those photos were taken, I was limping back over to them after having my toe mauled by a shark ... or <a href=

… or something.

Here's my toe all wrapped up later that day. Now, more than two weeks later, I can say I'm getting back to normal ... which means it looks like I'll be mowing the lawn this weekend. Hoo-rah. (Photo by Kim Kovar)
Here's my toe all wrapped up later that day. Now, more than two weeks later, I can say I'm getting back to normal ... which means it looks like I'll be mowing the lawn this weekend. Hoo-rah. (Photo by Kim Kovar)

We’ll even let them eat cake

Sweet Tooth, 2800 Avenue K in Rosenberg, has been contracted as the official bakery of the Kovar-Moeller wedding. A Yahoo Reviews page is the closest thing they have to a web site. Hmmmm….

Kim and I had a chance to drop by their offices recently for a cake testing and they made two giant cakes for us to sample and showed us a portfolio of their work.

I hate to spoil the cake before it’s baked, so I think all I’m allowed to say is that Kim’s will be white and mine will be chocolate.

I was really impressed with the owner’s cake portfolio and professionalism and look forward to the masterpiece her staff will be creating for our special day.

We took home a lot of cake after our tasting at Sweet Tooth.
We took home a lot of cake after our tasting at Sweet Tooth.

Also, songs that were rejected today for consideration for the wedding reception playlist:

  • Table and Chairs – Andrew Bird
  • Waltz #2 – Elliott Smith
  • Sugar Magnolia – Grateful Dead
  • Flowers and Liquor – Hayes Carll
  • Burn the Honeysuckle – The Gourds
  • Voodoo Chile – Jimi Hendrix