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Can it really be true that Yule is still a couple of weeks away and I have pretty much finished my shopping? This never happens! I'm usually a 'frantically scrambling around on Christmas Eve looking for gifts' sort of person. Of course, I still have to get some of the stuff packed up and shipped out-- that's the next challenge.
I'm about to start doing some baking. I think I'm going to limit myself to only 2 kinds of cookies and one kind of fruit-nut bread this year since I usually end up making waaaaaayyyyy more sweets than we could possibly eat before they get old and stale. And there's only so much I can throw out for the squirrels, birds and raccoons before I start feeling guilty for feeding them all that sugar.
I do love the fall and winter, despite the pain-in-the-assness of snow and ice, if only for the amazing color the sky turns just after sunset-- there's a shade of green in the blue that isn't there in the spring or summer, and it just give me goosebumps. Also, the winter stars are so much prettier than the summer ones. I don't know why that is.
I've realized of late that I have almost completely stopped reading fanfic. Part of that is because I have no shows I am currently feeling very fannish about. That's not to say there aren't show I enjoy, but there's a certain... je ne sais quois... involved in feeling fannish, and nothing is invoking that for me right now. Part of that is probably because reading other people's fanfic makes me realize I have no creative urges of my own and that makes me feel bad. Part of it is that I want long plotty stories and they've almost disappeared from the radar these days--it's all drabbles and short stuff. But you know what I think my #1 reason is? People who don't believe in contrast on their sites! I can't TELL you how many times I've opened up an intriguing story lately only to be faced with tiny gray type on a pale blue background or something similar. My eyes were never good and they've gotten worse as I've gotten older and it's just a nightmare trying to read low-contrast text. I know I can force size and color changes on a page but that's more trouble than I really want to go to most of the time. So please, people, when designing your LJ themes and websites, take into consideration the half-blind among you, and use high-contrast colors!
I'm about to start doing some baking. I think I'm going to limit myself to only 2 kinds of cookies and one kind of fruit-nut bread this year since I usually end up making waaaaaayyyyy more sweets than we could possibly eat before they get old and stale. And there's only so much I can throw out for the squirrels, birds and raccoons before I start feeling guilty for feeding them all that sugar.
I do love the fall and winter, despite the pain-in-the-assness of snow and ice, if only for the amazing color the sky turns just after sunset-- there's a shade of green in the blue that isn't there in the spring or summer, and it just give me goosebumps. Also, the winter stars are so much prettier than the summer ones. I don't know why that is.
I've realized of late that I have almost completely stopped reading fanfic. Part of that is because I have no shows I am currently feeling very fannish about. That's not to say there aren't show I enjoy, but there's a certain... je ne sais quois... involved in feeling fannish, and nothing is invoking that for me right now. Part of that is probably because reading other people's fanfic makes me realize I have no creative urges of my own and that makes me feel bad. Part of it is that I want long plotty stories and they've almost disappeared from the radar these days--it's all drabbles and short stuff. But you know what I think my #1 reason is? People who don't believe in contrast on their sites! I can't TELL you how many times I've opened up an intriguing story lately only to be faced with tiny gray type on a pale blue background or something similar. My eyes were never good and they've gotten worse as I've gotten older and it's just a nightmare trying to read low-contrast text. I know I can force size and color changes on a page but that's more trouble than I really want to go to most of the time. So please, people, when designing your LJ themes and websites, take into consideration the half-blind among you, and use high-contrast colors!
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