• On Life and Love

    Granny Squares, Now in Color

    Many moons ago, I debuted my Granny Squares Color Pattern Generator, a utility to help crocheters randomize their blankets, which can be a daunting task. I recently got a request for a way to help visualize the blanket that’s generated. It’s hard to work from a list of “r/h/p”-type entries. Not very user-friendly. So I added in a color picker today, and the generator now shows the colors of the squares. As a warning, if you have a lot of very similar colors, the generated image may be difficult to work from. Then again, if your blanket’s in 15 shades of purple (yes, please!), you may not need this utility.

  • On Life and Love

    When Reading Drags

    I may have caved to an Online Reading Syndrome. I’m finding it increasingly hard to read some books, while I have no trouble reading various articles, blagoposts, stories, and graphical matter on the internet. Now, in my defense, I’m reading non-fiction, and that’s never been my strong suit, no matter how much the concept of the subject matter appeals. But still. I find myself feeling the flaws of books more acutely than I would in an online piece. For instance, Amartya Sen’s Identity and Violence. Excellent concept for a book:

  • On Life and Love

    The Charon Sheet: A Facelift

    About damn time, really. The old site was brown and more brown, combined with a ginormous font file resulting in some terrible behavior. I shall say no more. Those dark times are past. I’ve been working on the redesign for a while, and I hate that it took so long, but I’m pretty happy with the results. Still kept the dark feel, but moved away from the monochrome look.

  • On Life and Love

    Happy Birthday, Homeboy

    Greg’s birfday was yesterday, and at this point I think he’s had a solid five days of celebrating. His parents flew in from Scottsdale, Arizona on Thursday, as his father’s birfday was Saturday. Party time! We ate ridiculous amounts of local food, enjoyed local truffles, and generally had a local-resident-as-tour-guide time, aside from the fact that outdoor activities were off-limits due to the cold. It was an emotionally complicated visit, but I’m glad for it. Greg and I both came away with a tangled mixture of mourning and resolve. Can resolve be tangled? Anyway, Deana and I decided to keep his birfday on Monday simple, since it’d be in the…