Tag Archives: blogging

Sign up for e-mail notifications!

Posted on by
4

My good friend Amy Sondova suggested that I implement a way for my regular readers (of whom she is one of perhaps three) to subscribe to e-mail notifications. I hadn’t even thought of that, but then, that’s why she’s a real blogger and I just try to do whatever she does! Seriously, go read her blog. She’s better at it than I am, and a lot more regular a writer! Anyway, she asked to subscribe by e-mail, so I immediately set about figuring out how to do so. So I stared blankly at the screen for a good five minutes, forgot what I was waiting for, watched a video, made a snack, and then sat down to check my e-mail.

Speaking of which, I forgot to enable e-mail subscriptions! So, I did. See? Look at the bar on the right! No, scroll down to the bottom of the bar. Now subscribe! Any time I publish a new post – a haphazard proposition, really – you’ll get an e-mail reminding you to read it. Because, y’know, you wouldn’t want to miss any of this Mucky goodness. And there’s further goodness. Now whenever you leave a comment, you can opt to receive notifications whenever somebody responds. We, too, can have annoying comment conversations while leaving hapless bystanders behind!

At any rate, there’s no longer any excuse for not leaving comments! I love hearing what you guys have to say. What do you like, what do you hate? Tell me about your photography! Tell me some fun science facts! Everybody knows that once you’re done reading a post you immediately start scanning the comments for insight, arguments, and juicy gossip! Admit it, you do it.

So you must leave a comment, at least this time. I would positively appreciate it! Try out all the neat subscription options—well, two, essentially. I’ll be learning right along with you; I have no idea whether this is going to work or not. And what’s more, there’s a new button in my composition menu that I just can’t wait to push! Here goes…


 

See, whatever’s above this paragraph was the result of that button. I have no clue what it could be, but I’m going to hit Publish anyway. So subscribe already! No more will you have to follow me on Facebook or Twitter (but you probably ought to anyway) just to receive updates from Mucky’s Lounge. If you don’t subscribe I’ll…cry.

Bye now!

Facebook your job hunt!

Posted on by
2

So, I was waiting for my dinner to cook (still am, really) and I decided to browse Twitter on my phone. I like it, shut up.

Media Bistro tweeted a link to an AllFacebook post about how to manage your Facebook profile while on the job hunt. You can read it if you want, but it really just tells you that we should hide all out data while looking for a job. This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I do.

When I first started looking for a job, I combed through my Facebook settings to ensure that everything was open and accessible. I didn’t want anything hidden. My philosophy is that if somebody is willing to look for my information, they may as well have easy access to it! I have nothing to hide, really. There aren’t any particularly incriminating photos of me doing things I oughtn’t, and I don’t say anything especially unpleasant.

That, and if you Google my name, you’ll find that there are dozens of people named Justin Gifford scattered across the globe. Some are involved in film, others in law, and still others in academia—but only one of them is the real Justin Gifford. If I took AllFacebook’s advice and made my profile searchable by only friends, employers would have that much more difficult a time finding the person they’re looking for. Worse, they may mistake me for somebody whose Facebook activities are less amenable to my cause. I’d hate to be mistaken for somebody in one of those incriminating photos.

Sure, maybe you’re lucky enough to have a truly unique name (but, one hopes, not a bizarre one), and many’s the time I opt to go by my trusty nickname, Mucky, just to avoid confusion. At the end of the day, though, the classic bit of job-hunting advice still applies: you are your brand. Part of recognizing your own brand is taking a bit of pride in it. No successful brand on Facebook hides behind obfuscating privacy settings.

And if you have things to hide, you need to really assess they’re value to your brand. I believe your personal brand and your professional brand should align as much as possible. For those times when it doesn’t (remember those pics from your cousin’s crazy wedding), Facebook offers very flexible privacy settings to conceal specific elements from curious eyes.

Me, I’m proud of who I am, and I want an employer to hire me because of how awesome I am. They may as well get to know me now, because once they do they can’t get enough! Oh, and if your profile is set to private when somebody is trying to get an idea of who you are, they’ll only be able to conjecture as to why it’s so private. Show them your best before they assume the worst.

My dinner’s just about ready, but you can (and I encourage you to!) friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. Ciao!

New blog host!

Posted on by
Reply

I’m trying to consolidate my life. I’ve moved my blog, Mucky’s Lounge, onto my own server, so it is now officially attached to www.justin-gifford.com. While the old blog will continue to be available at justingifford.blogspot.com, I will no longer be updating it. Instead, to get the Full Mucky, you’ll have to update your bookmarks (you do have Mucky’s Lounge bookmarked, right?) to blog.justin-gifford.com.

I loved Blogger while I was using it. It was extremely easy to use, simplified the process of linking accounts, and I could log in with my Google account. I like that kind of thing. However, I also like search engine optimization, and for a little fish like me, the best way to start that process is to consolidate all my links. Of course, that meant learning a new interface.

I tried using WordPress on my site once before, but it was installed with a minor glitch that saved all posts and let me create new content, but it would only show a blank page. After a week of trying to sort it out, I forgot about it and continued using Blogger. This time, though, I bashed my head into the monitor a few times and thought through it. It turned out that my server had the wrong configuration file, and since I corrected that it’s been smooth sailing.

WordPress offers a lot more flexibility and customization, and is just as intuitive as Blogger. It just has more elements to get used to.

So, long story short, I’ll be posting here from now on! Catch you on the flip side.

The Linden University Club

Posted on by
Reply

So I’ve been keeping pretty busy for the last couple weeks, and I’m excited to finally present the Linden University Club!

Go check it out at www.LindenUniversity.com!

Part study group, part book club, and part college, the LUC is designed to help provide an education for those who may not have the resources to secure one through traditional schools. We’ve still got a lot of work to do before classes start in September, but things are rolling along pretty smoothly. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to get all the best updates on our progress, classes, and other initiatives! You can visit our Contact page or send me an e-mail directly at justin@lindenuniversity.com.

The Stupid Green has Moved!

Posted on by
Reply

Hey everybody! Thanks for reading The Stupid Green, and I hope you will continue! We’re going to be changing the format slightly, but we’ll keep writing if you keep reading! Go check out Mucky’s Blog at http://justingifford.blogspot.com, and be sure to update your bookmarks! Don’t worry, we’ll keep The Stupid Green available so all your old links to specific posts will still be vaild. And as an added bonus, we’ve imported those same posts into Mucky’s Blog—all the groovy posts you can eat, all in one convenient location!

See you there!

Now go to Mucky’s Blog!

UPDATE: 2011-11-25

Wow, I must be so indecisive! This blog has undergone so many changes! Do you even remember The Stupid Green?? Man. Good times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you see this…

Posted on by
1

…it means I don’t like you.

I just found my old DeadJournal.

Because this isn’t a very cool fact, I don’t blame you for not caring very much. However, I should impress upon you my historical unwillingness to preserve any record of anything I had ever written. To wit, I rarely preserved any record of anything I had ever written.

That the meager offerings I had posted to DeadJournal survived is even more impressive given how long ago they were; most hosting companies like this tend to dump unused accounts that haven’t boasted any activity in a while. Or puff out of existence entirely. Or become pay sites and dump the accounts that haven’t joined the club. But DeadJournal is still, well, I don’t want to say alive, but it’s there.

And my god, was I pompous. Especially my earlier posts—I was just sure I had a way with words, and that way included using those words to deplorable excess. I mean to charming excess. Scratch that; I probably continue to be pompous. But I like it that way!

Still, it does make me wish I had kept more accurate records of my daily life. Not because the content is interesting, of course, because it really isn’t. No more interesting than any other inane ramblings of any other high schooler or college freshman, that is. But it does interest me to see how impressively consistent my writing style has remained. I find I have developed several distinct styles over the years, in all of which I am fluent; I can seamlessly transition between them like second or third languages, and they each express a facet of my character I endear.

So since the time I have written in DeadJournal, I have developed a few more whose subtleties are admirable. But I am not unfamiliar with the ones in DeadJournal at all! In fact, some of them read as though I could have written them last week. Maybe that’s not a good thing! Maybe I need to push myself a little more!

It’s funny, too, that my subjects were always so similar! There are several posts about the weather.* My preference for October is readily apparent. I really must be a creature of habit! In fact, each and every one of the songs mentioned in the “Current Music” sections of the posts are in my current iTunes playlist—how things stay the same!

Still, it is lovely to look back on these memories and reminisce. I do love reminiscing. I do it all the time, so if you’d ever like to be remembered fondly, I suggest you approach me under some particularly memorable circumstances. Anything during adventuring weather is a candidate!*

* Some people talk about the weather for lack of any better subject. Fine weather has always been one of my principal interests, so when I discuss it, it is with the utmost admiration!

MY FAVORITE COLOR IS CAFFEINE.

Posted on by
Reply



She didn’t dye her hair;
it’s all the Rockstar.
©2010 Justin Gifford



I used to think that I might probably be mortal, but then I hit an SUV with my face and didn’t die, so now I question that probability.

However, if you’ve had your fill of sardonic hubris, and would like to move on to pastures other than, say, here, you must now read the hilarious stylings of my little sister at Probably Mortal. She reviews energy drinks, sodas, and beverages of every variety, and is generally silly. In addition to those qualities, she heaps gratuitous praise upon me and highlights my antics in a way that makes me wish I were the comic genius she’s writing about. That’s a winning formula, right there.

An Excellent Thing to Do

Posted on by
Reply

Congratulations! You’ve already taken the first step toward making yourself an Awesome Individual. Oh? You haven’t? Let me start over.

Welcome to my blog! Congratulations! You’ve already taken the first step toward making yourself an Awesome Individual. See? You have! Just by reading the instructions I’ll continue to post, you’ve made a commitment to yourself to become More Awesome. Isn’t this easy? Your first goal was set and met in the time it’s taken you to read this!

Make Yourself More Awesome (By Reading this Blog)

But seriously. For reasons I cannot discern, people invariably develop the opinion that I am a pretty cool cat, and no matter what bizarre follies I fall into they cannot be dissuaded from retaining that opinion! At the suggestion of no-one in particular, I decided to offer the full extent of my knowledge to those who, hitherto, have not had access to a reliable means of Awesomeness. Bear in mind, my dedicated readers, that all of what you are about to read, while composed entirely for your benefit, is nothing more than my opinion. And while my experience (and Awesomeness) is vast, my credibility is minimal, so treat my advice as you would a treat man who chains fireballs to his hands for fun – admire it from a safe distance and proceed with caution!

And yes, I do chain fireballs to my hands for fun.

By now, your interest has probably waned and I suspect you’re either already checking your phone for texts and ignoring me, or silently demanding that I get to the point already. Who am I, you must be asking in an incredulous whisper, to throw my advice at the gentle public and expect them to follow my antics with bated breath? Well, if I told you that, patient reader, you’d have nothing left to read! So instead of me feeding you an inflated opinion of myself (which you’ll invariably nurture yourself anyway), I’ll simply allow my words to speak for themselves… Or, to speak for me. Well, I’m writing them, so I’ll speak for myself…. You get the idea.

I don’t doubt, O reader of Excellent Taste, that if the patience you have hitherto displayed carries you further into the clutches of my blog, you will find it to be a rewarding endeavor. In fact, the only problem I anticipate is that you just won’t know what to do with all the new friends you’ll find clinging to your newfound presence! And so with that, I thank you, and I’ll see you in the next post!