Pump UP your Blog

Blogging takes lots of practice, patience, dedication and Tortillas and marshmallows (ok so not Tortillas and marshmallows). It could be frustrating when you envy other people's blogs, feel that yours is mediocre.


Well, worry not. Here are some sites and ways to make your blog look like a genius made it.


1) Make your own template. You can jazz or rock up Fonts and Colors using the Layout|Fonts and Colors tab found on your Blogger's Design tab (Look for Edit Template). This gives you a simple way of editing fonts and colors.

Text Fonts

Text Fonts plus Style

Besides that, you can also try editing Designs and Other Artsy bits in your blog through CSS.

CSS could be found on the upper left portion of your Adobe Photoshop CS3.
Just Click on the Info tab.

 Another way is use  the TOPE PageKit. It allows you to play around and explore your creative side through a template designed for editing. 


Here is an overview on what to do with your TOPE PageKit:

1. Download the Tope PageKit and extract it
2. Create a test blog in Blogger for testing your template
3. Open a copy of Tope's index.html file in your text editor
4. Replace the top chunk of the template code with the standard Blogger code
5. Insert the CSS from the Tope template's style sheet, style.css
6. Remove the right-hand sidebar from the template
7. Upload the template images and fix up the image URLs in the template
8. Test the template
9. Add the Blogger tags to the template
10. Test again
11. Tweak the template CSS to work with the Blogger markup
12. Test the finished template

Now your templates done, let's move on with widgets.

2) What in the world is a Widget? (Try saying that for ten 'til twenty turns.) 

It's a small application that can be installed and executed within a web page by an end user. They are derived from the idea of code reuse. Other terms used to describe web widgets include: portlet, gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. Widgets are typically created in DHTML, JavaScript, or Adobe Flash.

Widgets often take the form of on-screen tools (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc.).

 Mashable [n.d.] gives us 50 examples of great widgets.

Here are some of them:

a) Mashable -- Where the whos, whats and what-nots of social networking sites take on the center stage.

b) Polldaddy -- Is an online survey-type widget. Perfect for researchers and statisticians, as well as those with theses and dissertations.

c) Answers.com -- Bubbles displayed when double clicked on Answers.com. Could be applied for students or professionals who have questions which need quick replies.

d) Now Playing -- For music lovers who loves sharing playlists with the rest of the world.

Now Playing sample

PollDaddy site

Now you have the contents, let's organize!

3) Organize things you'd like to put in your blog using Picasa3

"Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great.
Sharing your best photos with friends and family is as easy as pressing a button!"

--- Picasa website

 Picasa3 also saves and manages files and folders, as well as videos.

And here is the fun part: It makes collages, makes photo trains into videos, and it uploads these in your blog -- all in just a snap. :) [Halelujah! Halelujah!]

Collage in Picasa3

Lastly, just play around. Have fun. Enjoy blogging :D

Behind the Glass(es)

Caterpillar: Who are YOU?
Alice: This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. I -- I hardly know, sir, just at present -- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.

I  am an actor.  I can't remember when or how or why exactly, but I act. Even in the real world, my personality shifts here and there.

However, what bothers me is that I change my personality every now and then. Fear, stress, rejection -- I act all tough and macho. But the truth is, I'm a human vibrator: I shake when anxiety conquers me. I am shaken, not stirred, when problems arise. *Sigh*

I am an actor. My eyes leak when hurt stings me. I dislike rejection for it breeds hurt: Hurt depresses. hurt stings. Hurt hurts the heart.

I am an actor. I laugh -- just when thoughts and memories enter my mind. Funny. Maybe that's why some call Sabaw. LOL XD

I am an actor. And it pains to me to see that people view me differently... X(

They see me as a Journ major. Ditto.  I'm a COMMUNICATION RESEARCH MAJOR!! for crying OUT LOUD!! (It must have something to do with the glasses...Hmmm...) I once competed for Journalism in high school, got in the Nationals, and almost won. But that was years ago. *Sigh*  The past COULD come and haunt you.

They see me as a College of Science GRADUATE [Major in CHEMISTRY]. Damn! I am from the COLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATION (CMC). And I will graduate come 2013 (Hope the Earth's still intact :)] [And I believe it has something to do with the glasses XD AGAIN!]

A policeman once asked my course. I said it loud and clear. He still called me a COMMERCE MAJOR..

It pains me when people see me differently. Maybe they should put on these glasses. It might change their perspective :D

Grin (Re)Minded

Upside-down frowns bear the gifts of health and beauty, and of fame and success. This reverse rainbow underneath the nose has pots of gold unearthed on both ends: It holds the treasure to the ‘outshine factor’, the secret of standing out among the crowd.

            That, ladies and gentlemen, is reason enough to grin.

            Now, Mark Stibich (2010), presents his top 10 reasons to beam and smile.

            Depressions — whatever they may be: rainy days and Mondays, heartbreaks and broken homes, family fights, failed exams, or loads of work and homework — make most of us grouchy, irritated, blue, and even down in the dumps.

            But putting on a smile, as Stibich suggests, gives a good chance that our moods will change for the better. Smiling changes our moods. It can trick the body into helping us cope with depression.

            Also, depression was born of stress. And, pressure accumulated for a long period could show in our faces. The wrinkles, the fine lines, the eye bags and dark circles present in our countenances are physical manifestations of fatigue, of over-thinking, of overwork. It all boils down to stress.

            Yet, smiling could undo all of these. Stress shrivels with every grin we make. Smiling relieves us from feeling tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. Smiling relieves stress.

            Furthermore, immune functions improve through smiling. Smiles boost our immune systems, as Stibich (2010) puts it, possibly because “we are more relaxed.”

            Also, smiling presses and lowers another health concern: High blood pressure. Smiling reduces a measurable amount of blood pressure.  A smile calms the jittered nerves, the strained muscles and tissues, and the anxious organs, organelles, and every other cell in the body — heart and all blood vessels included.

            In addition, smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Santrock (2005) states that “endorphins shield the body from pain and elevate feelings of pleasure.” Also, healthy levels of serotonin, also known as the happiness neurotransmitter, improve our well-being.

            Moreover, smiling radiates optimism. A smile paints the thought “Life is good!” Smiling aids in positive thinking. And positive thoughts and actions expand further: Smiling makes people seem successful. People appear confident, likely approachable, and likely to be promoted by simply beaming. People lighten loads and achieve that coveted ‘Yes!’ starting with smiling.

            Likewise, smiling lifts the face and makes us look younger. People achieve that hidden fountain of youth, not inch by inch, but grin by grin. People’s faces stay calmed and relaxed rather than creased and wrinkled. Smiling is a natural face lift.

            As a result, smiling makes us attractive. Smiling draws in people. When we smile, people get drawn to us. An attraction factor exists that in return, we want to meet a happy person and inquire the reason/s for such a smile.      

Lastly, a smile could lighten up a room of people. Smiling is therefore contagious. A single grin could pass on from one lip to another, change the moods of others, and make things brighter and happier. Smiling excites people.

Bruno Mars’ Just the Way You Are sums up most of these reasons about smiling:

“When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change.

Because you’re amazing, just the way you are.

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while

Because you’re amazing, just the way you are.”

And a smile is amazing, even from afar. J

Works Cited

Mark Stibich, P. D. (2010, February 04). Top 10 Reasons to Smile. Retrieved from About.com: http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongbeauty/tp/smiling.htm

Santrock, J. W. (2005). Psychology, updated seventh edition. McGraw-Hill Education (Asia).