I, Shane › Shane Adams’ personal weblog

My wonderful wife, who I love dearly (after all, she did name her blog after me), has a brand new home on the Web. The other day, she let me know that she had an idea for a website and wanted to know how to set it up. She was planning on registering a free Wordpress blog and all that, but I did a quick domain search and saw that the domain was available. Since I had some money with GoDaddy, I went ahead and registered it for her.

I spent last night setting it up and today, she put up her first post. So, I’d like to introduce:

Today’s Favorites

Alli’s new blog is a place where she’s planning on putting up her favorite stuff of every day. I know there are several that read both her and I and I wanted to make sure that those of you out there knew that she’s got a new place. She hasn’t decided what to do with The Shane Fan Club yet, but let’s hope it sticks around, too.

Go and check it out.

So, I’ve been on WordPress since January of 2006. I previously used Blogger, which was nice for a hosted solution (but I wouldn’t pick it today…I’d use WordPress.com) and then when I moved to my own domain, I used WordPress.

Last weekend, I upgraded my WordPress installation to the newly-released 2.5, which represented a complete overhaul of the administrative interface, designed by the fine folks at Happy Cog. There have been a ton of reviews. I’m not going to recount all of them, I’ll just share my experience.

The actual upgrade was easy (as usual).

WordPress is notorious for their 5-minute install or upgrade. I thought there might be a more extensive upgrade process than in the past since 2.5 actually changed some of the MySQL database tables, but it was extremely easy.

The admin interface is clean (but everything is really big).

I’m not sure about how Happy Cog chose to align the grid. I love the new comment bubbles, but getting used to a whole new admin interface is a little weird. I wish there were some tutorials on customizing the interface (there are, but I’m too lazy to look extensively for them), but one thing I’ve always disliked is the Dashboard. I like that I can customize it now with the feeds that I want to see.

I like the fullscreen writing feature, but the default fonts are a little big for my tastes. I’m tempted to go into the CSS for the admin, but I’m scared of it. I don’t want to mess with Stan’s code. I do like that the default font is now Lucida Grande…that I like. Much better typography.

My custom theme held up pretty well.

I’m very happy that my custom theme didn’t break, although one of the plugins I’ve used since the beginning doesn’t work in the sidebar anymore. (If you’re wondering, it was the plugin that showed the recently added comments.) It’s not surprising that it broke the plugin because it was originally written back at the tail end of 2006. For now, that little feature has gone away. I’m not nearly smart enough to write that plugin. Would love for someone to fix it though.

So far, it’s kind of slow.

There seems to be a bit of a lag with publishing posts and loading admin pages. Are any readers out there having speed issues? Maybe it’s just on the admin side…

Anyway, that’s my review. I really like the look of the interface, but it will take some getting used to. I realize that much of what I’m referring to has nothing to do with the readers, but for those that run WordPress, you’ll know what I’m talking about if you decide to upgrade. I know that The D has been experimenting with it and I haven’t seen any profanity-laced WordPress posts from him, so that’s always good.

I lifted this from Average Jane, who lifted it from someone else (who I’m sure lifted it from someone else). Still, it’s awesome and given how much I like movies, I thought it would be fun for a Friday. Here are the rules of the meme:

• Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
• Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
• Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
• Fill in the film title once it’s been guessed.

These are the rules, people!

• Leave guesses in the comments.
• No Googling or using IMDB search functions. Don’t cheat, suckas!
• Know-it-alls, limit your guesses to three movies. Save some for others! Jake and Alli, you only get 1 each. Make it count.

On to the quotes!

1. “If the professor asks, tell him sorry, I had to go see about a girl.” (Good Will Hunting, Emaw)
2. “It means fasten your seat belt Dorothy, ’cause Kansas is going bye-bye.” (The Matrix, Nuke)
3. “Could I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo.” (Fletch, Emaw)
4. “The only true currency in this bankrupt world if what we share with someone else when we’re uncool.” (Almost Famous, Shea)
5. “I don’t want to lose heart. I want to believe as he does.” (Braveheart, Jake)
6. “Which came first, the music or the misery?” (High Fidelity, Jake)
7. “Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don’t care what you smell!” (Star Wars, Average Jane)
8. “We’re in the middle of a revolution Jude. And what are you doing? Doodles and cartoons?” (Across the Universe, Bea)
9. “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” (Moulin Rouge!, Alli)
10. “I just know, before this is over, I’m gonna need a whole lot of serious therapy. Look at my eye twitchin’.” (Shrek, The D)
11. “Know why you hate me so much Jeffrey? Because I look the way you feel.” (With Honors, Kelly)
12. “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” (Gladiator, Chimpotle)
13. “Are we like couples you see in restaurants? Are we the dining dead?” (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Alli)
14. “Lightning. Fire. Power of God or something.” (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Average Jane)
15. “I don’t know about the cat, but I sure am enjoyin’ it.” (Christmas Vacation, Steve)
16. (Bonus added because I can’t believe I forgot it…it was in our wedding) “I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No… not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that… over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love - like there has never been in a play.” (Shakespeare in Love, Shea)

Appetizer
What does the color dark green make you think of?

It reminds me of back in the early days of Abercrombie & Fitch when it was an outdoorsy store and not a hipster teen store. This was back when I used to work there. The carpets were dark green plaid. Then it went horribly awry.

Soup
How many cousins do you have?

First cousins? I think 12.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

I’m more honest now than I used to be. We had a friend in college who used to lie just for fun. She would convince people that she was the Winter Carnival Princess or something like that. I’d put myself at a 9.

Main Course
Name something that is truly free.

Happiness. It’s a choice and it doesn’t cost anything.

Dessert
Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

Shane prays regularly in normal grandeur. Speaking of prayer, I’m preaching on Sunday at my home congregation. Prayers would be appreciated.

Feast on these: Emaw, Logtar, Bea, Chimpotle

My brief blogging exile will be explained in due time. Much blogging to come soon.

I’m looking forward to installing the newest version of the best blogging software in the world. One huge area that I’m looking forward to seeing is the new Happy Cog-redesigned administrative view. The preliminary screenshots I’ve seen look great and I’ve always felt that this was a place that Wordpress could really improve.

I imagine that upgrading could potentially break my theme, so I’ll wait until I have some time to troubleshoot, but it will be fun to play around with. What may end up happening is if I have enough fun with it, I’ll end up rocking another re-design of this blog. But work will have to calm down, both 8-5 and 7-11.

You’ll just have to wait and see…

Appetizer
Given the choice, would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?

It really would depend on the city. There is a part of me that has always wanted to live in NYC just so I could say I’ve done it, but after visiting some friends who live in the unpopulated area between Gardner and Olathe, it was really peaceful. And I’m all about peace.

Soup
Who is the cutest kid you know?

My niece Ireland. Duh.

Salad
Fill in the blank: I couldn’t believe it when I heard ___________.

that Taylor Hicks won American Idol. Seriously. That guy was terrible.

Main Course
If you could star in a commercial for one of your favorite products, which one would you want to advertise?

iPod or something in the Mac realm.

Dessert
What type(s) of vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?

Multivitamin, Fish Oil, Co Q-10, B-Complex.

The Friday feast can also be found here and here and here.

I found out about the Friday Feast via Chimpotle originally. But I feel like linking Logtar today.

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how much do you like your own handwriting?

I have the uncanny ability to make my writing more masculine or feminine at a whim. I have mad handwriting skillz. Also, back when I expected to be a famous athlete and expected to be signing jerseys and whatnot all the time, I perfected my signature. My signature is awesome. It looks like the signature of someone who is famous. You should probably ask for my autograph sometime.

Soup
Do you prefer baths or showers?

The problem with baths is that the water gets cold and tubs are never large enough to accommodate my large…frame. Huge tubs and one of those immersion temperature controls (like they use for molecular gastronomy) - I could really get into baths (get it?). But I don’t think they make immersion cookers that large so I almost never take them.

Salad
What was the last bad movie you watched?

Sweeney Todd. That movie was well-acted and really really bad.

Main Course
Name something you are addicted to and describe how it affects your life.

Chipotle. Alli and I can’t really stop, which makes it very difficult to lose weight. We are certain that there are addictive chemicals in it that make us crave it fortnightly.

Dessert
Which instrument is your favorite to listen to?

It’s a tossup between acoustic guitar and piano. I think that the sitar is a beautiful instrument, but only in the right setting. Acoustic guitar and piano work nearly everywhere.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You’re the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl… or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

I was hoping for Paris, but I’ve never been to Dublin.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Appetizer
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?

I’d like to be someone that could play an instrument or two. John Mayer or John Legend or someone like that.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?

I like talking in person a lot. Over the phone…now that I have a Jawbone, it’s much easier. I would say that on the average, I’d rate my PTE (phone talking enjoyment) at about a 6.

Salad
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).

Most recently, I donated to Heifer International with the help of all of YOU.

Main Course
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?

Cheeseburgers. That’s why this whole “no red meat until Memorial Day” sucks so much. I like pizza. And Chipotle too.

Dessert
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?

Alli had it for about a week and I almost got it but my immune system eats flu viruses the same way that I eat Chipotle.