(no subject)

[oyceter]

After almost two years on LJ, I have finally changed my color scheme. Go look! Got the images off stock.xchng.

Shopped like mad on Sat. and Sun. with fannishly and the boy. OMG I miss shopping so much! Well, I got to go a bit in Taiwan with my sister, too, but usually there is no shopping to be done here unless my mom or sister are visiting, given that the boy is bored to death when I do it. Bought lots of pretty stuff. Apparently I am very into light pink right now. Also found a nice sweater for my sister. I really like having a sister and a mom who are roughly my size, so I can just swap clothes with them. Although I swap clothes a lot more with my sister, since our tastes are a little more similar. And I was thinking, and I realized that for me shopping isn't just about going out and getting pretty new clothes. Well, a large part of it is, of course. But a lot of it is also time to hang out with my friends and talk and ogle over assorted pretty clothes and shoes or to make fun of whatever crazy fashion people have come up with. And it includes the periodic stops for snacks and juice and street food (if we're in Taiwan). I'm sure this is one of those "duh" moments, but I never really thought about it that way before.

Part of me has always been a little ashamed of being so very girly and liking all sorts of frivolous pretty things because I'm a bit frightened that it's anti-feminist. And in a lot of books, being tomboyish and unfeminine is equated with being feminist. I used to not be able to figure out how to reconcile it, but now I guess I can be very stridently feminist (and pretty vocal about it) without it having anything to do with liking cross-stitching or floopy clothes or whatnot. Plus, nothing ruins a good shopping trip more than body-image issues. I think when it goes well, it's a giant game in which the objective is not wishing that you could fit into whatever clothes are there, but to find clothes that make you feel good. So the whole point isn't going around wishing that you could fit in whatever clothes there are, but to go find whatever clothes look good on you. I forget this a lot when I go shopping, which leads to much bitching about why I can't lose weight or why I have those dreadful things known as hips or why my arms don't look good enough. Or something. There's always something. When I was fifteen pounds thinner in college, I still had all these issues! Which was ridiculous, because you could see my collarbone sticking out way too much. Must always remind myself to just go look for things that make me look pretty and that I like, like a-line skirts and the perfect pair of jeans. I like clothes that make me feel good about my body, and I like walking around thinking I look good, because I am vain like that.

And it is the best thing ever having a girlfriend near enough to hang out with! I love the boy and all, but as stated before, I am a very girly girl and he is not so much the kind of guy who likes to sit around and look at clothes and stuff. I always think it's so interesting seeing how many people on LJ comment on fandom being their first real experience being social with other women. I'm totally opposite -- I grew up in a very female society, with my mom and her friends always around, and while I like guys and enjoy hanging out with them, I never bond to the same degree as I do with a good girlfriend.

Comments

[ladystarlightsj.livejournal.com]

Love that scheme! (makes note to go look)

[oyceter]

Thanks!

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

That is so beautiful. Wish I could figure out how to do that stuff. I'm limited to pretty basic layouts through severe lack of computer skills. ;(

[oyceter]

It's not too difficult if you know a little HTML. Well, and use S1. I haven't actually been able to figure out how to customize S2 yet, alas.

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

Pretty! Pretty pretty! :)

[oyceter]

Thanks!

I'm particularly happy with how it matches the icon I stuck up on my Friends page, purely by accident too!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

First of all, how'd you get a banner at the top of the page. Second of all, how'd you get the photo not to scroll? And third of all, why can't I figure any of this out on my own. It must be easy if everyone else can do it, but every time I try the steps are really complex and I can't get them to work right.

[oyceter]

HTML. And S1. Actually, the non-scrolling background is pretty easy, as was the banner -- it was the sidebar that was the hardest part.

I'm not sure how to customize S2 styles at all. I've only taken a brief peek into the code there, and it really confused me, so I've just been sticking with S1. S1's easy enough to customize if you know a little HTML. If you ever switch over to that style, let me know and I'll help you whip something up!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to do S1, and I program in HTML all the time! I just need someone to tell me step by step where I need to go to do all this, because everytime I look, I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to do!

This has got to be a breeze for a computer programmer like myself, so obviously I'm just not looking in the right place. Can you whip some instructions up for me?

[oyceter]

Er, I can try! I've actually only really fiddled around with Generator, but I can play around with some others. Which S1 style are you looking to use? And what exactly do you want to customize?

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I want a style that will let me have my links and other components like scrollgirl has. I like Generator, and Punquin Elegant. Mostly, I want to be able to have a picture in the background that isn't tiled and is still visible, and I want a banner at the top, and I want to have my customized links.

[oyceter]

Hey, I figure since I'm already sticking in coding and the like... want to email me (oyceter at gmail dot com) and talk over color schemes and whatnot? I can make you the banner also if you want.

Hee, I'm a horrible code geek.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you! I am working on a custom layout right now, with a Connor/Quortoth theme:

http://www.livejournal.com/styles/browse/

(user masqthephlsphr)

I am having problems picking the right colors. I want it to have that same khaki/jungle color scheme my current LJ has, but not all of its colors are listed in the customizing spot, so I'm not sure of the exact shade #'s. I also want a cool banner based on the pic I have at the top, with words and stuff, I'm not sure what yet. I'm also having a problem with the layout, which is Refried Paper. I stole the customization from kita0610 and started playing with it trial and error. I like Refried Paper, but I'd like the side bar on the other side, and I'd like to see my default user pic, and my calendar, and some other components perhaps.

[oyceter]

Hrm, gotcha. The calendar may be beyond me! I think it started as an S2 thing so I'm not quite sure how to get the code all interactive and stuff. And for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get my user pic on every entry that I have, which is the one incentive I have for switchign over to S2. I'll go ahead and steal your customization of Kita's and play around with it when I get home ;).

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Check out scrollgirl's customization. Hers is S1 and I'm pretty sure it's Refried Paper. I'm going to ask her if she can make it public, at least for a bit, so I can nab.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

And here's a question for you. How do you have more than one custom style in any one category, like this -

  [info] masq-lastn-test
  [info] oyceter-lastn-ocean
  [info] oyceter-lastn-poetry
  [info] oyceter-lastn-watermelon

LJ won't let me do that. When I try to add a new one, it says there is an error and gives me a button to press that takes me my edit page of the lastn I already have defined.

[oyceter]

Huh, really?

I made the Poetry and Watermelon styles way back when there wasn't an S2, so I suspect making a new style was a little different then.

When I went ahead and made the Ocean one, I just stuck in my style ID for Poetry in the create style page, since it's a public one.

Btw, you still need help making something, or is it going along ok?

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

If I have questions, I'll let you know, OK?

Thanks!

[oyceter]

Sure thing!

[fannishly.livejournal.com]

I love you! *kisses* :):)

[oyceter]

^_^

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

It looks fantastic Oyceter!

[oyceter]

Thanks!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Pretty!

[oyceter]

Thanks!

staunch feminist with clothes fetish :)

[rue10.livejournal.com]

Embrace the love of girly things! Because, really, adornment's been devalued BECAUSE it's considered girly-- not considered girly because it's inherently of less value. (On a somewhat related note, I think metrosexualism is, in a way, the male equivalent of the female's right to wear pants.)

I had an exboyfriend who called me shallow because clothes made me happy. What he missed in that assessment was that just about EVERYTHING makes me happy. I adore grocery shopping. I am very amused by turtles. It makes the world much more fun to live in. :)

Re: staunch feminist with clothes fetish :)

[oyceter]

Because, really, adornment's been devalued BECAUSE it's considered girly-- not considered girly because it's inherently of less value. (On a somewhat related note, I think metrosexualism is, in a way, the male equivalent of the female's right to wear pants.)

I like that! Just like my much maligned romance novels. Also, I figure there is no point in any sort of philosophy that ends up limiting my choices (i.e. you can work for a living but will be looked down on for staying at home or vice versa), so I personally think feminism is all about being able to do either and not being looked down on for either choice. Of course, now it's at that nasty place in which you feel sort of looked down on if you're not cooking or cleaning or the like and are expected to have a job! Gr.