Tabula Rasa

Me in 1949

I've just started another site for real animals as an adjunct to the web store. I wanted the store to be educational, too, but It turns out Google gets confused when you combine real animals with fake ones, so it may be the best of both worlds to split them up and link back to the store. Yes, the sites look about the same, and I'm fine with that. I've just made a new menu for my personal chronology on my own site site. It will be pretty cool, but only the top line and 1996 are working so far, because that's all I've done. The web is nothing if not an exercise in evolution. I guess I needed more projects. Once the foundation is laid, I hope it will be like an easy-to-use scrapbook.

So far, I'm still happy using Weebly. I've had to simplify some ideas and think up a few work-arounds, but it usually turns out for the best. I'm still trying to see if I can put more than one image in a wrapped text block, or if I have to fake it like on this page. They have quite a library of free photos that come with your account. If you need others, you can use the $5.00-per-photo library if you need to. So far all of the pix on the new site and most of the headers on my personal site are from the free library. Some of them are really great.

My Web Page: Tapirback.com

Bye-Bye, Fossa

A Fossa in Madagascar

Photo by Lee Spangler

The problem with my digital world (a reflection of my real world) is that it has way too many branches to manage. I can't cut them off, but I can keep trying to organize them. Sometimes I feel like I've done that, then something falls apart, which is where I am now.

I'm still grateful for finding the book, Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher, because it shows me that I'm not wrong, I just have a different way of getting through my life. I should finish reading it.

The latest "catalyst" to put it positively, was the other day when I accidentally deleted about six pages on the website I was building to go along with my store (I've linked to the store, because I don't knoe whet will become of the actual SITE pages). The store platform works great as a store, but the method of building an attached website was not that good, so when I deleted those pages (deleted a top menu page and all of the pages under it went bye-bye as well, without any warning, such as "Six pages you worked very hard on will now be deleted. Are you sure you want to do this?"). I wish I could get text back, but it's gone. They were mostly about animals, but they were not item pages. As bad as I felt, I knew it was a signal to come up with another solution for non-store pages. I still have the photos, so I may try to partially reconstruct the pages when I figure out where to go with it. Joomla!? WordPress? Back to basic HTML? I don't mind working. I do hate being in the unknown zone for too long. Sometimes organizing is a bitch.

My Web Page: Tapirback.com

Eocene Exhibit and Education

American Museum of Natural History, New York, Eocene Exhibit ~ 

May 5, 2009

When I have time, I'm still adding images from my photo archives to the pages of the store web site. In this case, the Eocene category page.

Sometimes I feel as though this work is just for my own fun, plus window dressing plus search engine optimization. I also know it can be educational, but sometimes I forget how much the educational aspect may be needed. This is a true story: 

The other day Lee was at Starbucks talking with a barista. She said she was attending community college and wanted to be a veterinary assistant. He asked about her interest in animals, and she said she loved all animals, large and small. He asked if she liked mammals, but she didn't know what the word meant. He mentioned primates and vertebrates, and got equally blank responses. Having gone through school in the 1950s and 1960s, I can't even imagine this lack of understanding about basic biology, but there's a lot I don't know about the way the world is today. I'm grateful that I had good teachers and the climate of the times valued learning. One thing I know for sure is that if visitors can learn something from my website, I'll feel that the "extra mile" I've enjoyed adding to the site  has been worth while.

My Web Page: Tapirback.com

Henodus is Back

Henodus, Triassic Turtle

Nothosaurus (False Lizard or False Reptile),

Triassic Semi-oceanic Creature

This morning Amy found the plastic Henodus I'd lost on the floor last night. It was the same color as the rug. I had been feeling inordinately out of sorts for losing it, because I was finally making progress with the giant pile of stuff that needed cataloguing and photographing before putting on the site. The Halloween items were all organized in a folder with their info and Lee was working on them. Next I'd taken on organizing and photographing the extinct sea creatures when Henodius went missing. And, I was really tired.

There is not much in the Triassic category right now, so it will be good to get these guys (and their friends) online finally.

My Web Page: Tapirback.com

Adding Animals

Drake Park, Bend, Oregon ~ February 7, 2009

Canada Goose Photo by Sheryl Todd

Lee, Kevin, Amy, and I have all been working hard on the store site adding text. When I've had a chance I've been adding photos of real animals, which has been fun. I'm enjoying watching the site come alive as a place of learning and entertainment as well as a place to buy things. I've always wanted to add more of an artistic flavor, so I'm working on that this year also. Here's a smaller photo from the same day.

My Web Page: Tapirback.com