Thursday, April 12, 2007

A "Little Gift" from Tsukuba

I am not sure why he did it.

  • Out of dismay over a blogsite so bereft of artistic design value?
  • Out of compassion for the elderly, infirm, and techie-challenged?
  • Out of boredom one "nothing-better-to-do" afternoon at Tsukuba -- with cherryblossoms yet to bloom, Nippongo exams a month over, and doctoral dissertation still a year away?
  • (Simply) Out of goodness of heart?
  • (Simply) As a way of saying: "What are blog buddies for?"

Whatever his reason, Dimaks of Ctl + Alt + Delete did the incredible : Design, without being asked, an exquisitely customized theme graphic for ode2old!

It was everything I wanted the theme to be -- the title bannered over a magnificent sunset, setting off the best of light and dark. The yellows and golds do not dazzle, the blacks and grays do not forebode. It is a graphic expression of: "the day is done, long live the night!"

How he knew exactly what to do -- I will let him perhaps blog about. (ha ha)

The good news is Dimaks answered, when I worried he might be deluged with header-customization requests after this gets published: "No problem."

The line forms to the left, buddies! Hey, no more freebies now. Dimaks got himself a manager. And she doesn't only like sunsets but also $$$. $eriou$ :)



41 comments:

auee said...

Your site looks great actually. I've noticed your little tweaks in the last two weeks & now everything's come together with a final wrap of the header... kudos.

PS... I find your writing tipsy-tips very... interesting
:-)

Anonymous said...

you have a strong fan base kasi. Galing naman niya. it's so appropriate for your blog's theme.

Anonymous said...

Your friend from Japan did a great job. If ever I would give in and begin blogging, I think I should go to him for help. I hope I can afford his rates -- but the manager seems forbidding. lol

Anonymous said...

Perfect!

A cool blog needs a cool header.

But hey, I don't feel that you're old at all.

Belle TH said...

wow, what a transformation! ang ganda na. hmmm, now, i know who to see for help as long as she doesn't charge much..hehe.

Leah said...

good work by Dimaks for sure. Very apt...and I thought you did it all by yourself.

btw, off topic, I've been meaning to play scrablle on line with you but I dont know your email address so I can let you know when I'm free. Maybe we can chat either thru gmail or Yahoo as well.

my email is muniblog@gmail.com

vernaloo said...

$eriously? I'll go straight to Dimaks...I know he will not charge me hahaha :)

Very nice Anna :)

Anonymous said...

impressive! and if it is from "the Dimaks", there's no question about it. i remember one of his sunset photos was used as header of the month in TsukuBlog (daily blog for Tsukuba).

you must have charmed him, dear Annamanila--now his sunset matches word for word your witty posts.

while Annamanila is romancing the keyboard weaving post after post, Dimaks is romancing his camera creating awesome sunsets and wonderful photographs.

Anonymous said...

ganda nga ng blog mo ngayon. :)

Forever59er said...

Auee!

You're amazing. You notice the little 'tweaks the past 2 weeks.' For me that's real blog friendship! And you're exactly right, the new header neatly wrapped it up, ano? The tipsytips -- am not sure if they'e useful.

Ty for all you are.

Forever59er said...

Noemi!

I don't know about having a strong fan base. But that tickles ... haha. I know I have made great blog buddies -- not too many of them -- but they're enough to make blogging so worthwhile. And I owe this in big way to noei who started it all.

Forever59er said...

jerry!

Yup, blog na. I will help you hehe. That doesn't sound too encouraging? Well, i assure you the blogging community has lots of good souls willing to help for a song.

Forever59er said...

Toe!

You know I always feel good and .. uhmmm .. young whenever you and verns remark on my cool. Yeah yeah. Ganyan talaga if you have a hip berks. haha

Forever59er said...

Belle!

Thanks for admiring my admirable header. hehe

Yes, you can ask Dimaks for help but you have to go through his manager. ahem.

Forever59er said...

Leah!

No way I could do that cool header by myself. I am learning ... ooh so slowly -- mostly through the help of so many pips. Will blog about the others later.

Yes, let's play online scrabble. I emailed you my isc handle (name). How about tonight. About 10, phil time? Even later. let me know.

Forever59er said...

Vernaloo!

Noooooo! Wala nang palakasan ngayon. This is business. hahaha

Thanks, am so happy with my site's new look.

Forever59er said...

Sexy Mom!

Yes, i remarked to dimaks about his mt fuji sunsets. Guess he put two and two together.

Charming naman talaga ako di ba? hehehe And I think dimaks is a student of history and antiquity. more hehehe

Nice meeting you Dine and lets do it again.

Forever59er said...

Lady Cess!

Thank you. I agree. :)

SASSY MOM said...

Good job, Dimaks!

I like the look! I'm also trying to improve the look of my blog.

Anyway, congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Ay, Anna! Inggit ako! Waah! Dimaks! Paging Dimaks!

Anonymous said...

Ang ganda! Ito na talaga, Anna! Pinakamaganda na ito kaysa doon sa una mong make over! Ang galing mo, Dimaks! Ako din! Hehehe

Abaniko said...

Hmm. This is an answer to my current problem. So how much do you charge, Ms. Manager? Haha.

Anonymous said...

Sayang di ko makita yong header image. Block kasi dito yong site na nag ho hold ng pic.

Anyhow, kahit di lumalabas ang banner, na bi-visualize ko naman sya. Malinaw kasi ang pagka describe mo eh.

Congrats sa bagong profession, Manage of Dimaks. (biro lang).

Wag naman masyado mataas ang charge, pwede ba dalawang $ ($$). eh kasi ang kita ko eh limang $ ($$,$$$)

Anonymous said...

Great header! Bait talaga ni Dimaks! :)

Happy weekend, Annamanila! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a very nice blog-friend. And it's a very beautiful header. I love sunsets too. :)

Now, he'll probably start getting requests.

Forever59er said...

Sassy mom!

You wish to improve your header? Aww, we got ourselves a client! hahaha.

Hope you're having a sweet, sassy Sunday. (teka, contradictory ba yung sweet and sassy? haha)

Forever59er said...

Rhoda@

Don't be inggit. No problem, di ba? Dimaks and I will do it for you at discounted, promo price.

Hope you're having a roaring Sunday!

Forever59er said...

Abaniko!

You can take advantage of the promo season -- similar to Cebu Pacific lol. Walang refund ha?

Have a fan i mean fun Sunday. :)

Forever59er said...

Myepinoy!

Di mo makita? Oooh, you don't know what you're missing. haha Anyway, I promise not to change it (jos ko, as if ....) until you have a chance to see it.

Aaah, this is my version of blog4 profit. haha.

Thank you ... this comment is what I imagine it to be.

Forever59er said...

Sasha!

Thanks .. so you got an eye for aesthetics too. haha

Thanks ... I have visited your site ... saw those smiling (some familiar) faces from the iblog summit. Will go back to your site ... in a few.

Having a sashaying Sunday.

Forever59er said...

Niceheart!

Very nice 'no? -- the header and the friend.

Alam mo ba, I inadvertently rejected your comment from overexcitement seeing you. Haha. So I reinputted it myself.

Does that happen to you too at times? Or is it only me ... the one and only blundering, bloopering blogger!! hehe

Have a nice, nice, nice Sunday!

sheilamarie said...

hi anna! love the design of your new header. it's so peaceful to look at. dimaks did a great job =)

i am not that good at tweaking or playing around with the templates. so where do we line up? LOL!

Anonymous said...

I was going to drop you a line that the new look is great! :) Yep, dimaks did a great job. Requests will probably be redirected to the manager hehe

Anonymous said...

tita! breathtaking header for breathtaking blog, congratulations! :)

Forever59er said...

Chateau!

Yes, I think so too, thank you. Dimaks did well, didn't he. Yes, this manager is ready for business. haha.

Forever59er said...

Sheilamarie!

I thought your site is terrific. But maybe its true we can always improve. Our friend from Tsukuba is willing to help .. but you might need to fall in line.

Thanks for the good reviews.

Forever59er said...

Kate!

It also made me breathless the first time I saw it.

Thank you for coming to admire it.

Anonymous said...

Great pic - bait talaga ni Dimaks. :) I love this new look even better than the previous one. Naku dapat madaliin mo yung mga requests mo, baka pag may PhD na si Dimaks mataas na ang professional fee niyan heheh. Joke lang po. :)

Forever59er said...

Kathy!

I see you can appreciate great blog designs. hahaha Eh oo nga, di malayo tumaas ang professional fees. Haha Joke din.

Thanks and hope you're a-ok. Init dito .. malamig ba dyan?

Anonymous said...

Hi anna, yup, malamig-lamig pa rito...winter wants to linger a bit longer, eh lumabas na nga ang mga sakura! Anyway, I can imagine how hot it is there...well, I guess I shouldn't complain eh?!! :)

Anonymous said...

Now I can see clearly your beautiful header.

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