Welcome!

Usually when people get a facelift, they don’t talk about it. But I’m proud to say I’ve spent the last several days giving my blog an overhaul even Joan Rivers would envy.

First, if you followed me over from my WordPress.com blog, thank you for making the switch. Please adjust your bookmarks and links accordingly if you had me in your blogroll. And don’t forget to re-subscribe (look to sidebar on right) because your subscription to the other blog is now defunct.

This site is a work in progress—it’s only about 25% finished—because I’m no tech wizard and too cheap and stubborn to pay someone to do it. The past few days I’ve felt like a chimp playing the roulette wheel, having just as much chance of clicking on the wrong thing as not.

Speaking of clicking, I hope you’ll do so all over the site and explore it (check out that carousel of featured articles on the home page!).

I added a “top commentator” widget which keeps track of people who leave the most comments. Jen Forbus is currently in the lead; are you just going to let her stay there? Occasionally, I’ll give prizes to the most vocal readers so now’s a good time to de-lurk yourself.

But I don’t want you only commenting on what I write about. I also added a forum so you all can hang out here and discuss anything you’d like. Share your pop culture recommendations, swap books, tell nerdy stories—click on the tab up top and have fun!

Enough yammering—I can hear the orchestra playing me off the stage. I’d like to say a special thank you to le0pard13, who provided superhuman support, and to my husband who allowed me to lock myself in the den for hours and slipped food under the door just when I needed it.

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34 Comments

  • Reply
    Christine
    January 18, 2010 at 7:19 am

    Congratulations on your new home, PCN!

    More power to you for doing all the tech stuff yourself! Maybe some day I’ll get around to learning how to do more of that for myself, but until then my husband is my tech guru. Besides, it’s less stressful for him to do it than to listen to my sailor’s version of tech-speak when things aren’t working the way I planned.

    Me: !%&*#!
    Tech-speak translation: Huh. Well THAT didn’t work.

    ;0)

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 18, 2010 at 1:11 pm

      Thanks, Christine! So happy to see you here. In making the move, I had to accept that I’d lose all my stats, site rankings and some subscribers. I feel like a baby learning to walk all over again so a friendly face is much appreciated!

      And your tech-speak? Sounds like me all weekend.

  • Reply
    le0pard13
    January 18, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Love it, love it, love it! It looks real good, so far. I especially like the additional HTML tags you can use on comments. I’ve adjusted my blog roll with the new site, PCN. Thanks for the reminders.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 18, 2010 at 1:30 pm

      Oh, thanks, lp13, but I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about when you say HTML tags on comments. I did what? If I did something right, it was possibly by accident.

      Thanks so much for updating your blogroll and re-subscribing!

      • Reply
        le0pard13
        January 18, 2010 at 1:55 pm

        Thanks so much for updating your blogroll and re-subscribing!

        Let’s see if this works (like I hope it does). πŸ˜‰

        • Reply
          le0pard13
          January 18, 2010 at 1:57 pm

          Yep, it does!

          The previous used the HTML tag. This one is the

          , one.

          • Reply
            Pop Culture Nerd
            January 18, 2010 at 2:02 pm

            Nope, still no clue what you’re talking about. But if it works for you, I’m good!

          • Reply
            le0pard13
            January 18, 2010 at 2:05 pm

            See, I’m padding my numbers ;-).

            The first one used the cite HTML tag. The second, the blockquote tag. I messed up stating this in the previous reply because the ” are reserved for embedding them (and won’t show normally). You can see the list of allowed tags below the comment entry field. The previous template/WordPress site only allowed bold</b, italic, and link tags. Hope this makes sense. Thanks.

            • Reply
              Pop Culture Nerd
              January 18, 2010 at 2:12 pm

              Oh, I think I understand now. We see different things when we’re here. Once I log out and come back in as a non-administrator, I see what you’re talking about.

              I’m happy to help you catch up to Jen!

            • Reply
              Christine
              January 19, 2010 at 11:55 am

              Padding your numbers indeed, lp13! LOL!

              But if you’re excited with some blogoshere mechanics, pad away! I am Padawan to your Obi-Wan. Of course, I’ll probably need my husband to translate exactly why it is that you’re tickled with it and how to use it! Ha!

            • Reply
              Jen Forbus
              January 20, 2010 at 5:17 am

              Padding his numbers…that’s cheating is what it is! πŸ˜‰

  • Reply
    Jen Forbus
    January 18, 2010 at 7:42 am

    Well look at you! It’s stunning! So snazzy! You’re doing great for someone who claims to know so little.

    And that lp13, he’s such a great guy isn’t he?

    And this may be a record. I don’t know that I’ve ever been the chattiest – EVER! I think I need to mark this on my calendar.

    Can’t wait to see when it’s all the way finished if this is just 25%. I’m envious! πŸ™‚ Looks great, PCN.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 18, 2010 at 1:22 pm

      I don’t just claim to know so little, it’s the sad truth. Up until 48 hours ago, I didn’t know jack about all those acronyms—CSS, RSS, XML, PHP, HTML, etc. And I still don’t. I read something that told me to “make scripts and cache folders writable, changing its permission to CHMOD 777.” What the huh?! To make it worse, when I Googled tutorials, most of them didn’t take Mac users into account.

      But I look at it as a painful challenge that I’ll feel good about when I finish, probably sometime in June! Plus, maybe I’ve learned a few things and will be able to help a certain someone in revamping her blog. lp13 gave me great support so I’d like to pay it forward if I can.

      • Reply
        Jen Forbus
        January 19, 2010 at 5:14 am

        I will gladly accept any and ALL help on my own revamp. I did put in a scrolling list yesterday and did a little happy dance when I got it to work. – Christine’s husband helped me do that! πŸ™‚ But that blasted header is still making me absolutely crazy!!!

        And lp13, I need you to show me how to hyperlink in a comment! I can bold and italicize, but I don’t know how to do the hyperlink!

  • Reply
    Naomi Johnson
    January 18, 2010 at 8:18 am

    Good golly, Miss Molly – er, PCN. You say you’re no techie, but this amazing page sure looks professionally done. Beautiful job!

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 18, 2010 at 1:39 pm

      Thanks, Naomi! That means a lot to me. My eyes are crossed, my legs have gone numb due to too many hours in front of the computer, I don’t know what day it is, but it makes me happy you think it looks good.

  • Reply
    Shell Sherree
    January 18, 2010 at 6:08 pm

    Phew ~ I’m very impressed, PCN! Your new site is gorgeous and a huge pat on the back for doing it yourself. If I didn’t know for sure that you don’t normally mess around with websites, I’d think you were kidding about not knowing anything about it. What an achievement! And how awesome of leOpard13 for the support {I think a little ‘number padding’ can be overlooked in this case πŸ˜‰ }. Bravo!!! {Standing ovation…}

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 20, 2010 at 11:54 am

      Hi Shell!

      Sorry it took me two days to respond to you; I’m still trying to configure code stuff and it’s making me slightly loopy.

      I’m so excited to see you here. Thank you for the kind words about the site. Coming from an artist who does stunning work herself, it’s quite a compliment!

  • Reply
    Poncho
    January 18, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    I’m loving it. I’m also usually a chimp banging the keyboard as I try to understand anything technological, but this somehow seems easier.

    I suscribed already. I’m still learning this stuff! πŸ˜€

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 20, 2010 at 11:56 am

      Yay, Poncho! Thanks for coming over and re-subscribing already. This site wouldn’t be the same without you here.

      And I think you’re being modest. Aren’t you a technologist?

  • Reply
    MelodyGirl
    January 18, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    Oh my gosh, this new site looks great, PCN! Congrats on your move! I’ve re-subscribed, re-bookmarked, re-linked, everything. Love all the colors; it’s like a candy store here!

    Off to check out the carousel and other cool stuff…

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 20, 2010 at 11:58 am

      MelodyGirl,

      I love colors and am glad you do, too. I almost went crazy and made this look like a clown store but luckily, reason stepped in.

      Thanks for re-doing all that stuff!

  • Reply
    EIREGO
    January 19, 2010 at 10:51 am

    I think the changes you are making are wonderful and I love the new look.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm

      Thanks, EIREGO! I love seeing all the familiar avatars like yours here.

  • Reply
    Corey Wilde
    January 20, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    This site is now a work of art. Congratulations on the new look. Yes, I am jealous. And yes, I intend to steal one of your widgets.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 21, 2010 at 7:44 am

      Thanks, Corey! And please, steal any widgets you want. My widget is your widget.

  • Reply
    Lydia
    January 21, 2010 at 8:10 am

    Wow, PCN, I feel like I’ve discovered the next Huffington Post! I am so proud of you and can’t wait to overtake Jen Forbus for being your biggest fan/commentator. Jen, it’s officially a competition!

  • Reply
    Lydia
    January 21, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Still trying to steal Jen’s thunder – just wanted to say I love your new tracking widget! I just “arrived from New York” but I’m not surprised to see you have fans globally!

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 22, 2010 at 12:55 am

      Hi Lydia,

      Hooray! I love competitions. Who needs the Winter Olympics? We’ve got Lydia vs. Jen right here.

      Don’t you love “arriving from New York”? Makes it sound like you just came out at your debutante ball.

  • Reply
    Julien
    January 26, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    Wow, well done, PCN!!!
    Your new website is beautiful, pleasant and modern!
    Looks very professional actually.
    This is a great job, especially for someone who’s not a techie.
    (As for me, I think I wouldn’t even dare to take up such a challenge!)
    Man, you’re someone!!
    Oh, and I can see I’m among the top commentators, hey, how cool!

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      January 27, 2010 at 2:06 pm

      Bonjour, Julien, et merci beaucoup!

      I think you’re being modest about taking on big challenges. If you’re doing savate, you can take on quite a bit! How’s that going, by the way?

      And yes, you’re on the board as a top commentator!

  • Reply
    Paulette
    February 6, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    I am so impressed! I tried to set up a blog and a classroom blog for all of my students. After three solid days of screaming, cursing and throwing objects, my husband would not slip anything under the door for me except for, perhaps, some kind of chemical agent that would knock me out and shut me up! I finally surrendered. Blogs too hard for technidiot like me! Yours is bee-you-tee-ful!

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      February 6, 2010 at 3:32 pm

      I did all those things—cursing, throwing things, screaming, plus pulling out hair, throwing myself on the couch and beating my fists, kicking over chairs—only I condensed them into two days instead of three.

      Thanks for saying nice things about the site. I guess the stomach ulcer was worth it!

  • Reply
    Sue Ann Jaffarian
    February 10, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Love your new site!

    And – You’ve been nominated for a Creative Write Blog Award. See Details on my blog: http://www.sueannjaffarian.blogspot.com

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