just some more helpful hints about blogspot template CSS...

In my late night insomnia, I went OCD trying to make this blog page look as aesthetically pleasing as possible, which involved a lot of tweaking and surfing other blogs for help editing the HTML code behind the template I'm currently using. This particular one is a simple, 2-column template, but it's a new one that I couldn't find a readily available tweak code for (as far as adding columns, etc.) so I tried to work with examples from the older tweak blogs. The one I used was the one I linked to about "adding a third column" to the sidebar, which did in fact prove quite helpful for the basic execution of the idea. However, for some reason I couldn't manage to move the main content (post) column away from the newly created left sidebar, and I tried in vain for a few hours before I finally gave up for awhile. Then I got an idea, which was to simply add another column beside the new left sidebar, make its background and border transparent, and see if that would finally move the content column "away" from the left side. After some minor HTML editing, I did finally achieve the effect of having two sidebars and a main content column with equal separation between, even though in reality, there is an invisible "middle-sidebar" in between the left and main columns (shh-don't tell!). So, if anyone else out there has been futile in their attempts to add sidebars to a new custom template, try this trick and let me know if it works for you, too. Enjoy!

OK, so here is my first post: a DIY book clip

I guess I'll start off this blog with something helpful for anyone who reads...which I suppose would by definition be anyone reading this post. I'm currently writing a long research paper, and I've got about nine books open in front of me piled everywhere I can fit them on my desk. While reading, I need to copy down important quotations and the relevant citation info from whatever book I'm using, but typing that out while trying to read out the quote is pretty time consuming if I have to struggle to keep the books from flopping closed. I remembered seeing an infomercial about a "book-clip" that keeps the book open while you read, have a drink, or do whatever else you'd like to be doing while you read with either of your hands. This gave me the idea (since I didn't have said Book-clip handy) to try and make my own DIY book-clip. So, here's a tip for anyone who likes to read without their hands holding the book open at all times: get a fairly stiff strip of metal (i.e. about as thick as a school cafeteria spoon handle) and a ruler (or something similar in shape/stiffness). The next step involves bending the strip of metal back over itself. Make sure not to make it so bent that it either breaks or is essentially a paperclip - you should be able to fit your finger in between without cutting off your circulation. That's pretty much all the manual labor involved in this little project. The last part is just using the bent metal as a clip to secure the ruler at the top of the book page, keeping its pages open without the need for your hands at all. Enjoy - read and do whatever else you want!

(I finally got around to uploading the photos - take a look right here...)