just to keep all my ducks in a row

here is where i am now.

luke-sha.net

and the winner is...

i've made my decision, and it was a tough one.

goodbye blogger. you've been good to me, but i fear it is time to return to the full .Mac fold. and here is my main reason.

i've invested lots of time and energy (and money) in my Apple... "stuff," namely the software. it comes down to a simple matter of putting my efforts into something i've paid for. i paid for the iLife suite for a reason, and when i am using the Blogger/Google stuff, i'm essentially wasting my money. and i don't like wasting my money. at least not like i used to. and Blogger wasn't playing nicely with the web domain i purchased from GoDaddy. after multiple test postings, i realized that every time i posted a new entry, i would have to go back in and re-setup particular parts of my blogger home, and that's just a waste of time.

so it is with a fond adieu that i begin work back in the fullness of the .Mac services. you'll find the setup and the format essentially unchanged. i'll be playing with settings and templates as we move along. what i have up now is what i like, but it may not play nicely with everyone, so your feedback is greatly appreciated and asked for.

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the the brand new Official S.H.A. website. see y'all there.

oh, and update your bookmarks.

remember that gumbo i made earlier this week?

man, do i wish i had some gator meat to put in it now.

war damn eagle, boys. you (and we!) deserved it. just remember: we still have over half of the season left to play.

to brandon cox: you've stepped it up and proven yourself as the de facto leader of this team. sure there are still a few stumbles and miscues, but... well, we all know that there are, at times, perhaps, extenuating circumstances that may factor in. which makes it all the better you just beat Florida two years in a row.

to the running game: no more fumbles. please.

to the defense: incredible job. y'all got tired, and it showed, but ya dug down and pulled something up at the end of the game. your next step is to learn to play without mr. groves. leaving on crutches is never a good sign.

to the wide receivers: thanks for showing up. magnificent.

to "the freshman:" enjoy this. it won't get much better than that, my friend.

it really doesn't.

decisions, decisions...

aye carumba. life is tough. so many decisions to make in the next couple of days, so little time. we're talking life-altering, earth-shattering decisions.

that's right: its .Mac service renewal time again, kids.

here's my dilemma:

• if i dump .Mac altogether, i can consolidate all the super powers that the gods of Google hand out so freely into one and not worry again about having separate accounts for photos, email, blogging, etc etc. and its free.
• however, if i stick with .Mac, i stick with a personally proven system of everything altogether in one. i am absolutely in love with the way my .Mac account seamlessly can tie everything in together in a software suite and make it look stunning, gorgeous. plus, 10 gigs of server space doesn't hurt, either (coughNickcough). however, its another $99 for another year.

i've had my .Mac account for a long, long time, since the old days of iTools, when it was free. i really like my .Mac email, if only for the purpose of signifying me, immediately, as an Apple user (yes, i still take pride in that). and my Mini doesn't always play nicely with all that Google offers. and with the imminent addition of a MacBook this coming Christmas, i'll be able to finally update a .Mac blog without the hassle of having to always be at home to do it.

but Google is free. and justifying ninety-nine of my own dollars (as this is a personal expense, not a joint expense) for .Mac is tough. i don't work like i used to, so i don't make as much as i used to. but i have to make a decision by October 1 on this. after that, my .Mac account expires and all hope is lost. ok, probably not all hope, but some.

if i do end up sticking with .Mac, i'll be abandoning my blogspot account and switching everything over to .Mac. this means you all will have to change your bookmarks (again) to keep up. as such, i'll keep you posted on my decision.

excited!? you bet!

witnesses to history, you and i are to history this evening:

• jackie and i walked in just in time to bear witness to NBC 13's very first HD broadcast. as in, the local NBC channel will be broadcasting all their news and things in HD. they're the first in the city, probably the state, to do so. as in Montgomery, the local NBC station here is head and shoulders above the rest. and its funny because just about a month ago i was musing about how i wish a local station would take some initiative and step up to the HD plate. kudos to them and their hard work. it really does make a huge difference. and yes, i really am excited about this.
• when you visit here, you may (or may not) notice that gone is the luke-sha blogspot address. it has been replaced with an easier to find URL: http://www.luke-sha.net. why? because i can, and it was cheap. you don't have to change your bookmarks or anything. google, er, blogger will automagically redirect you to the correct address. am i that vain? i don't think so, but hey, we can all have our moments, right?
• the Sox, for the first time in... well, a long time... have outright won the AL East pennant. and its great that Dice-K got the win tonight to clinch it. good on him, and good on the Sox. upwards and onwards, boys! lets get a Sox v. Cubs World Series and make the world implode!

and that's about it. g'night!

-disregard that second one. we're still having some technical issues there.