Basic_B

You might not know it from this blog, but every now and then I do something that isn’t related to bicycling. On that note, I’ve setup another blog recently. This one is dedicated to the very specific theme of short stories that I’ve read and to nothing else.

It’s nothing special really, just short posts about short stories. They aren’t full reviews, only quick comments and maybe the rare insight, but don’t count on it.

Anyway, if you are interested go to The Storyphile and check things out.

I hope everyone likes the new look. I’ve been meaning to do this for months and months, and somehow kept not being able to decide on a look that I liked and also feeling like I didn’t have the time to mess with it. But here it is and suddenly there was a theme that I felt comfortable with and—boom boom—it’s done.

Let me know if you find any features that aren’t working, or seem skewed for whatever reason. There very well could be something that I missed, but I think this is what the old blog will look like for a while going forward.

Those couple of you who actually read this blog from time to time will notice that I have switched tools for tracking my reading habits. I was using a plugin called “Now Reading” installed into my blogging software to update and share reading lists. But after doing a little research I have decided to switch over to another website instead. So, I’ve setup a profile at Goodreads.

Part of the reason for the switch is that the “Now Reading” plugin was really contained only within my blog. Which was nice, but I keep trying to find ways of linking information together and sharing it with my friends more easily. So, Goodreads has a social networking component, like facebook, in that friends can join and link accounts so that it becomes easy to see when a friend adds a new book to their list, or updates a review or rating of a book recently finished.

Another reason for the switch is that Goodreads also has a Facebook application. So, not only am I updating my reading bookshelves on the Goodreads site itself, but also on Facebook.

And finally, they’ve got application widgets that still allow me to show my bookshelves here on my own blog.

In short, it’s like killing three birds with one stone, and I guess I’m feeling decidedly anti-avian!

For a short time I will leave the “Library” tab operational at the top of the blog page, but it will likely disappear pretty soon as I completely disable the “Now Reading” plugin.

I invite my friends and family to join me over at Goodreads and share their current favorite books with me. I look forward to it. You can click either of the two instances of the link to my profile that I’ve put into this post, or if you look over in the right sidebar I’ve put a link there too under the “My Networks” heading.

Happy Reading!

Am I lame, or what? I’m just not very prolific, I guess. And I’ve been spending more time playing chess over at Chess.com. That’s been a lot of fun. It’s not that I’ve played all that many games – finished one, and close to finishing another, but when I get home from work in the evening there’s usually at least one of them that has made a move that needs addressing.

The funny thing is noticing how and when my friends are online. These games don’t require both players to be online simultaneously, but there’s a little icon next to each player’s name that indicates when they are on the site. And next to each game board is a little chat window, so some evenings, even though the games may not be progressing that quickly, it has been fun to have a quick chat with someone I see only rarely, or maybe haven’t seen at all in years.

Now, I’m tired of seeing my fat face. I’m referring to the previous post if you are viewing this on the home page of Basic_B. I think Marcella was right. I need to get on the ball and write something new to push it down the page.