Updated Blog Design & Images & Feed Links

Here, here, for the update of my pretty blog!

I have changed the blog's layout from two columns into one column. I felt that it was time to give more space to both the content and sidebar. By removing the left column, I added a bunch of good pixels to both, and now there is more space for the posts aaaand for the important sidebar images and links.

Enjoying the friendly Google Blogger system.

Also, now there is a widget with RSS feed links for different providers, if you scroll below a little. I added the buttons manually, because I could not find anything pre-made. Took me a while to get it all going nicely.

I hope Real Stories! Amazing Adventures! is more readable, now. Do comment and tell me how you feel about my current design and how you would improve it!

HIS ENERGY LEVEL IS AT FIVE THOUSAND!!!

Woohoo, my rather cutsie blog has finally reached the 5k unique viewers mark!

Celebrations do apply... *ehm* So, do send me a tenner(10$) and email me for a topic of your choice for the next post! The sending by Paypal option is on the left, by the way.

Happy dawg is happy!

Updating The Backgrounds

So, today, I felt like doing something about how this blog previously looked like; a tileable forest-green background image, with all these nice partially transparent gadgets. It just looked silly.

I really love partially transparent backgrounds and outlines for gadgets and different parts! It gives a smooth and easy-on-the-eye feeling for the looker. Still, I felt the background was overwhelming. So, I went at it! :-D

I decided to create a nifty fade-in effect, using a regular fixed (does not scroll) sky background, and putting a landscape photo at the bottom. Scroll down! See how they merge! I used a PNG image for the bottom, and to reduce loading times, I also used TinyPNG on it.

Thanks for good work and free service.

While going through the CSS edits, I decided to change some opacity values and colors. For example, I made it so the Header has a darkened background. Also, I gave those floating (backgroundless) texts a "text-shadow" CSS effect for an outline. There are a few more fixes implemented, and generally, I am very satisfied! Visual design is exciting!~

Comment, and tell me how you feel about the new-ish design!

Design Update #2

Today, celebrating our reaching beyond a thousand (1,000) viewers to my blog, I have decided to update - change really - its' design. Hooray! :)

The result is in front of you. I hope no bugs occur. I used a simple Blogger template, and spent the day editing and tweaking; aiming for something clean, clear, simple & pretty. I did my best on the title. Photoshoppin' is hard! Even if I use GIMP2.0. :P

Cheers!~

I'm Just Trying To Be Funny

I don't know what's going on. My funny bone isn't working. I find myself without my regular intuitive and spontaneous humor. I write stories, but I can't really find the funny humor in them. I write posts, but I can't really think up anything funny to add.

I only get some rhetorical humor going on when commenting on Facebook.

I guess I'm nothing but a troll, after all.

The Life Of A New Author

This blog marked the birth of a new author. Me. The excitement and opportunities ahead had motivated me, and got me to publish two wonderful stories in eBook format. The anticipation, and with it both success and failure, have put an odd discomforting vibe on my writing. I would like to share this experience here.

Some call it "writer's block", while others just see it as temporary mood swings. I accept the challenge my own mind has set, and am unwilling to simply bow down to inability. Even though I have tried music to alley the discomfort, there is a feeling of disinterest and lacking in my new books. It started with my Science-Fiction novel Future Value, and after disagreement with the horridly slow pace at which that book was half-written, I have moved on to my fourth book and the second in the Robert The Fail series titled the same with the subtitle "Losing To Trees."

In both cases I find interest in the story and characters, yet find myself disinterested in the writing itself. I have tried to simplify the methods I use to concoct my stories in the Word text editor to no avail. Now, I am forced to consider other methods with which to share my stories, beyond the default option of writing a hundred-page standard book.

I wonder if it's just winter taking its' toll on me.

If you have shared the same or a similar experience in your writing, please share it as a comment. :-)

Categories For Blog Posts

After considering the organisational methods of my blog, and seeing that navigating around this bundle of text may not be so easy, I have decided to categorize posts.

This means that every post will be tagged according to its' categories. This is rather flexible, and to my own division, so it is not expected to be purely logical. I have added a cute Tag Cloud on the <<-- left for your enjoyment. ;-)

This is the entire list of categories as of today:
review, opinion, thoughts, reflections, update, memoir, book, ebook, publish, zen, wilderness, lifestyle, inspiration, motivation, poetry, writing, author, blog, forum, media, help, action, fantasy, epic, drama, novel, series, anime, manga, comic, tv, life, advice, how to, howto, health, diet, nutrition, tech, technical, game, garden, gardening, plants, trees, herbs, diy, do it yourself, guide, experiment, finance, money, amazon, programming, coding.

A Signature

I am in dire need of designing myself an HTML signature for posts in other blogs and places. ><'

Let's try something then:

Assaf Koss, 

Professional Author & Web-Developer, 

Check out my blog and books at: AssafKoss.blogspot.com

Code for the above:

Assaf Koss,
Professional Author <i>&</i> Web-Developer, 
<b><a href="http://assafkoss.blogspot.com">Check out my blog and books at: AssafKoss.blogspot.com</a></b>

Technical Update #2,504

I have updated some of the gadgets on your right. Among them is an image-link to my first published eBook and short story "Short Link, Quick Wink."

Please comment to recommend any gadgets you think should appear on my, or any, blog. :-)