Finally I found Blogger classic templates from Gecko&Fly that are hack... well, 'modified' for Blogger beta by Blogcrowds (Somehow I think they're the same people behind the scenes.) They're not as 'grown up' as MyBlogLog but they are pretty cool.

My favorite part is that they have a 'forum' format. Now, I'm not big on forums because I get lost easily like blog skins. I love the designs but I don't know where or what to click to get the template and take a peek. I don't have the time to go through all that. Recently I realized that I do need to sleep too.

I really wish MyBlogLog come up with a forum type of a thing so people can talk and converse in their communities instead of just leaving messages. I love the crowd in MyBlogLog, I love the people and the blogs that are there but I don't like the fact that you have to forever keep on clicking to get to one point to the next. And if you're like me, I'm sure you have so many tabs on your window to keep track of what's what. After that I get confused what opened where when I clicked on a person.

Hey this isn't just me ranting. I've seen people leave messages saying they're lost or can't understand what happens when you click something. When you click on the picture it doesn't go to the blog, it might go to the community page. That's why people get lost. We're hard wired in our brains so much we forget to look where we're clicking and expect something else.

Basically it's a usability issue. I hope they fix it soon, or else we're gonna loose newbies that come up and I'll not have the opportunities to 'meet' them and their blogs otherwise.

In other news -- My ankle is much better. I can walk with just a small limp that's hardly noticeable.

Oh, and about this template, I'll be doing changes slowly so I don't pull out my hair and I learn... it's going to be a process, not an over night thing -- see you around!

It's the weekend, you're supposed to be out enjoying the weather or something. If you're not, well, join the club -- I'm also addicted to blogs -- among other things like coffee, caffeine, chocolate, stationery, gadgets ... ok, you get the idea.

Right now, I have an excuse at least -- I sprang my ankle yesterday. I thought I had broken it initially but X-ray results said I hadn't. Either way, it's still hurting when I put my weight on it. The doc ordered me full ABSOLUTE bed rest for 2-3 days. I'm counting today as the second day. ^_^

Folks, I'm still experimenting with the template here so if it changes and stuff it's because I'm doing things to this baby. I'm still trying to get a hang of this widget stuff and how to code it. I was bored by the cookie cutter templates so I started experimenting with a couple of templates on new year's day. Now I'm just staring at the widget codes. The more I stare, the more I seem to understand but only time can tell whether I was dreaming or not.

If codes show up in my dream, then definitely I've understood -- it happened when I was learning Java and it happened with French too. Do you dream in java? Holla back!

Happy New Year! Just a test blog here to see how it looks...

Rain drizzles down the city
It refuses to go away.
Just like an old lover
That refuses to say goodbye

Even when things are over it hangs on stubbornly
The monsoon had ended
Yet the rain still remains.

Ever presenting itself
Seeping into every hole
Soaking everything in its path –

Slowly sinking in
Its cold wet touch
Drizzle continues for days
Skies dark and gray

An eerie coldness hovers above.
Colder in the nights.
Stone cold heights.

Republishing the refurbished mind...
commencement begins,
restarts with a big BANG...
re write, redo, re organized.
re re re re ...
forgotten passwords no more
rebegin, recollect, reword
rewords...
reGard, reMarK,
remember the republic of the oblong...
oblongata

What price to pay, the freedom of individuality?
Being unique is almost a crime,
Barbie dolls come out of the factory,
The same mold, different colors
The same bust, the same height, the same makeup
The same clothes
The perfect image of an ‘ideal’ woman.
Girls sitting in a noisy café
Wear almost the same t-shirts and jeans
The same cut, the same style,
the same,
the same,
the same.
Did they come out of the factory too?
The factory of society.
Any deviation from the ‘norm’ will be discarded.
Rejected
Shuned
Outcasted
The price of individuality.