She Blinded Me with Science

Ok, so I have created a monster. My wife saw my shiny new blog yesterday and said, “can you make me one of those?” Sure honey.

She came up with a domain name, we registered it and had it pointed to my server in minutes. Using Fantastico, I deployed a brand new WP blog for her, and within 15 minutes, her blog was live. Of course, she spent the rest of the day looking for a snazzy theme, so no posts were made.

That, despite pleas from attention-starved children, has changed.

Sunday was my daughter’s turn to go to the football game with me. I only have two tickets, and there are five of us. So I rotate the extra ticket (mine is non-negotiable) around to the others in my fam. Before Haley and I bolted for the stadium, Carrie turns to me and says, “Ok, so how do I post?”

I showed her all about how to post, how to manage categories and links, and how to do all of the little things bloggers have to do. Then I showed her how to load themes, and her eyes promptly glazed over. Note to self - adding themes and plugins is MY job, not hers. Got it.

The game was great, and many hours later, Haley and I returned home. I asked Carrie if she had made a post yet. The answer was, “a few.” A few? My big ol’ butt! She wrote seven posts and three pages! And this is with a cold. I can’t imagine how much she will write when she feels WELL!

I was going to leave it alone, let her have her fun, and be happy that she now has a hobby that doesn’t involve educating our kids or cleaning the house. But she did something unexpected - she wrote a song. About me. It is a parody, of course, and I deserve nothing else, but I really like it! It is hilarious, and sadly, very true.

Check it out if you have the time. But you have been warned: her blog is quite entertaining, especially if you homeschool or are a parent. Read at your own risk!

Tags: blogging, Carrie

Wow, I Am Finally Somebody According to Google

I don’t know why I did this - must have had a little bit of time on my hands. But I just did a Google search for “chris beck.” Only without the quotes or anything (so don’t bust on me all of you search gurus out there). And guess what? I actually appear on the front page of the results. The only problem is, it is through my page on Working With Rails. Still, I was happy to see that a direct reference to me appeared in the first 10 listings. Because let’s face it; if you ain’t on the first page of Google results, you ain’t shooby dooby. At least that’s what my SEO friends say…

See! There I am, near the bottom, but still page 1

Tags: chest beating, you're a looney

Shot Through the Heart, and You’re to Blame

Damn those Tar Heels! Just when I started believing all of the hype and getting my hopes up, there they go and show that ugly side again.

The setup: Carolina had not beaten Virginia on the road since 1981. The Heels entered the weekend 5-1, their best record since 1997 (coincidentally, my last year on campus). The Wahoos have been inconsistent this season, and looked ripe for the picking. Chapel Hill had the top defense in the country in the take-away department, and our backup QB looked like he would cause some kind of controversy when the starter returned from injury.

The result: Virginia wins in OT after picking off the ball three times and scoring the game-tying touchdown with 47 ticks left in regulation. They held the Heels to a field goal in Carolina’s only overtime possession, and quickly responded with a game-winning touchdown on their turn.

Well, I guess now I can stop lamenting how we lost by three after being up two touchdowns against Virginia Tech, when during the game T.J. Yates, our fine starting Quarterback, went down.

Since we are 5-2 and look great for a post-season bowl, I will refrain from acting like a typical Tar Heel Football Fan and peeking over at the basketball schedule. But I will not hide my disappointment. It has been a very long time since we have been respectable in football. Looks like I will have to wait just a little while longer before I make those ACC Championship Game travel plans…

Tags: football, Tar Heels