Fresh start 

I'm setting up a new site for work and making fresh Expression Engine templates. Two things I always change, right off the bat:

- Language of the sidebar header for the feeds. EE and other blogging platforms head it "Syndicate," which I take to mean: (the understood "you") + syndicate + this content. That isn't it at all. The reader isn't syndicating anything.

- EE by default lists these feeds under the heading: RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, and Atom. I've been commenting out links to all but RSS 2.0, so that the other feeds still exist, should anyone inquire about them. Nobody ever has. I don't do it for any political reason. I think that showing the choices raises the barrier to entry for users who haven't dipped into RSS -- it adds confusion for newbies, and causes them to put off looking into it out of dread of some big complicated thing. At least that's what I imagine. Nobody else at work understands RSS well enough to debate it, so I'm left to run with my dangerous instincts. I also imagine Atom partisans would be appalled at that prospect if they gave it a second thought!

Chatterboxing 

I'll ramble on a bit before settling into work, if you don't mind. I've been trying to curb my natural bloggy garrulousness lately, but this morning I feel like reverting to chatty.

Even though I'm working from home today, it's 8:12 a.m. and I've already been out in the sub-zero air. Probably wouldn't ventured out, if it hadn't been for 1) Not wanting to make Aaron walk to school in the cold, and 2) cracking the bottom off my glass coffeemaker decanter this morning.

It wasn't all that bad out there, since there's little wind, and it's sunny. The car started right up -- always a good thing. Can't say I want to go right back out and have a nice little walk. I'm content to stay in and be grateful I have a home.

I didn't see a single other customer in Walgreens. Nobody's making extra trips or running optional errands. All the skim milk was sold out. A delivery truck slowdown or Superbowl stocking issue or hoarding? Hard to tell, though I hardly think nofat milk is a big Superbowl party item.

Little guy and I were home alone last night and we both felt a little like losers that we weren't attending Superbowl parties. I made him tuna sandwiches, which he loves, but remarked that it wasn't exactly Superbowl food, and that men are supposed to clog their arteries for the glory. He must sit around and think these things up in advance.

Dave mentioned SB commercials this morning, and said he'd seen one of the Coke ads in the movie theatre. Aaron works at a big 30-screen AMC and was able to sing along with the Grand Theft Auto spoof. He said he's seen or heard it 50 times already. It was pretty good. I liked the sudden turnabout when the driver is yanked from the car and about to be slugged, but saved by happening to be holding a Coke bottle.

I watched the last 45 seconds of Prince, and not much more of the game. I'm not in a football phase just now. There are times when I have been. I was PR director for a small liberal arts college in the early 80s. The school had a competetive team playing in Division III and the coach liked to see the ball thrown, a lot, so the games were exciting. I followed the Cardinals before they moved, and cried in the stadium on opening day of Jim Hart's last season, when the crowd booed him for being old and worn out.

Instead of football, I picked its polar opposite last night -- the newest BBC Jane Eyre adaptation. It's charming. I have an on-again, off-again relationship with the novel, just like I do with football. I've been reading it for 40 years, and as a young girl I loved the gothic bits. During my bitterer woman phase I hated Rochester and protested against the tendency of some women to like brutes.

This adaptation -- compared to the other three I've seen -- played down both the gothic properties and the brutishness. It's beautifully photographed, and directed by a woman. The playful teasing element of the soulmate relationship between Jane and Rochester is played up, which makes Rochester's gruff side quite lovable.

I was surprised to see so many seeders for it on bittorrent. Maybe in England part of being a geek is liking literary adaptations? The BBC promo at the end for a multi-part special on romance novels worked on me. Maybe I can get hold of it.

So. It's 8:49. Time to look at my list and get started. Let another pot of coffee drip through my new maker. It seems to need some seasoning.