Fresh for Spring

I started out wanting to redesign my nerdy Web site nerd.newburyportion.com, but instead I came up with a new design that best suited our shared site.

Almost a million years ago I toyed with the idea of having a banner photograph at the top of the page, however, I didn’t seem to be able to find any photos that worked. When I was perusing my iPhoto library this morning, I came up with 9 good photos and probably a half dozen acceptable ones. The key is to be ruthless about cropping.

The banner is 800×200 pixels or a 4:1 aspect ratio. My camera captures photos in a standard 35mm 3:2 ratio and Anna’s the common digital ratio of 4:3, so you’re looking for a great slice of the photo rather than the whole thing. Lots of photographs were wonderful but because the real focal points didn’t fall in a narrow band, I couldn’t use them.

Can you guess which one of the banners is my favourite?

Of course, there are also some new features: Ajax-powered searching and contact forms. For those of you not on top of the latest Web 2.0 trends, that’s pure gold, man. It’s all the rage. People are raising serious capital just to replace your tired old Web pages with Ajax-enhanced ones for your viewing pleasure.

I’ve got some additional ideas that are proving just a little difficult to execute. So I decided to postpone them and roll out the design as is. Please let us know what you think.

Making It OK

Molly cries a lot. No, much more than that. You might well say that from time to time, Molly stops crying briefly. Say, to inhale.

The other day we tried to offer Molly some rice cereal. She didn’t seem to like it much. I appointed myself official photographer and busted out the big glass: a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. To ensure that we could capture every glorious moment, I set up my flash at about 90° from the angle of the sun coming through the window beside Molly with the light bouncing off the ceiling to soften the shadows.

After it was all over, the cereal was discarded, and Molly cleaned up, I managed to capture this photo of her. It’s moments like this — when Molly really smiles and shows us what a charmer she is — that I almost forget how much she cries and what a pain in the neck she can be.

An Open Note of Apology (to Our Neighbors)

Just for the record, I would like to state that our Molly is still completely intact. We have not removed any limbs, or otherwise harmed a single hair on her head.

You wouldn’t know it by the screaming of the past couple of nights, though, would you?

I am soooooo sorry for the insane shrieking you have bore witness to in the wee hours. I have never heard before, nor would I ever care to hear again, such an earpiercing, heartrending cry. Believe me, it was even worse in person.

All I know is this:

The last couple of days Molly has been thrashing around more than usual, and on many occasions, she has suddenly rolled from her back to her belly. This is how I have found her in both instances. I imagine this is both disorienting and frightening.

The recently filled diapers I am certain do not help either.

I have tried my best to have her needs met as quickly as possible, but in the meantime…

I can only hope this will pass soon. Our collective sanity may depend upon it.

In the meantime, I often my sincerest and most humble apologies, Anna