Author Archives: Kitta

An article was published in The Age yesterday about The Bloggies, it was mainly about the best Australian/NZ finalists and had some talk of commercial blogging thrown in there. ‘Blogs break out and hit the big time’ was the title.

I was emailed by the writer last week, but because I was in hospital I couldn’t reply until Sunday, which of course was too late. I am officially the mystery fifth blogger who wasn’t mentioned in it. The lovely Karen Cheng and creative Claire Robertson also didn’t get a mention, even though they are finalists (in a different category) from Australia.

Here are a few of the questions I was asked…

What does the nomination mean to you?
It makes me proud. It’s wonderful to have your hard work and dedication to your blog appreciated. Sometimes I look at my stats and think of my visitors as just numbers, because most don’t leave comments, and then I get nominated for a bloggie and I know they are really there.

When/why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in July 2002. I knew a few people that had their own blog and it seemed like an interesting hobby. I also wanted a testing ground to exercise my web design skills. A blog is a perfect place for someone interested in growing stronger in web design.

What feedback do you get from readers?
I receive emails from readers expressing how much they enjoy reading my blog and how it brightened their day. People say blogging is a selfish pass time, but the emails I receive beg to differ. Readers can and do get something out of reading blogs.

Is the blog form becoming commercialised?
Yes, anything popular always ends up becoming commercialised and blogs are becoming increasingly popular. Businesses and anyone interested in making a profit are starting to take note of just how powerful blogging and ‘word of blog’ (blogs linking to and recommending websites and products) is. That’s not a bad thing. So long as the person blogging is honest and truthful, which is at the core of blogging, there’s nothing wrong with commercial or business blogging. Readers can always smell bullshit on a blog.

I’m still writing up the great hospital entry, it’s quite long, and nap breaks keep interrupting the process, but I will have it done soon.

I have been in hospital for the last six days. I will blog about it once my brain has done a defrag of all the information and I’m feeling up to writing about it. Until then, here are some of the things I’ve missed this week…

• I seem to have been finally hit with trackback spam. Oh goodie.
• A ton of email – 1019 in total, including 438 spam messages.
• A young boy has been ripping of my design. He stole my CSS file, uploaded it to a free hosting account and then used what he wanted from it, including my background image. Normally I’d email him and ask him if he knows what copyright means, but after the week I’ve had I couldn’t give a flying fuck. So I changed the files around and I think his layout looks so much better now that credit has been given. See for yourself in the before and after images. 🙂
• Desperate housewives, ER, my restaurant rules, lost and all the other TV shows that started up this week down under.
• Food.
• Water.
• Sleep.

Update #1…

The boy who is stole my CSS and linked to my background image is still using the ‘devoid of talent’ background image and someone is posing as me on his tagboard. Hilarity ensues.

Update #2…

He has now password protected his blog and changed the site information on the CSS file to read ‘CSS for ecuadorz.blogspot.com’, changing anything else in the file (like the ‘devoid of talent’ background image) seems to be far beyond his knowledge base.

Update #3…

He has taken down his blog and the stolen CSS file. Viva la monkey!

This is it. I’m on one last prescription of antibiotics to try and evict the Clostridium Difficile infection that has taken up an un-welcome residence in my body. It’s making my body feel quite odd; a sort of weak, tired, un-coordinated, numb feeling which is hard to explain, but apparently just a side effect.

“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you about that, sorry. Your head dropping off is a totally acceptable side effect, nothing to worry about at all.”

Oh jolly good then.

If this antibiotic doesn’t finally kick C. Diff’s butt, I’m going to be dragged kicking and screaming (well, more like thinking of kicking and screaming, but not actually doing so) to the hospital for a week or more of IV antibiotic treatment. I do not want to be admitted to hospital, I will not be admitted to hospital… You hear that C. Diff, there will be no hospital you bacterial tosser!

I still have nightmares about the dry toast I had to consume the last time I was in hospital. The horror!

Happy Australia Day. Go forth and drink yourself stupid all arvo, burn the lamb and snagas on the barbie, and then gaze into the night sky which will be illuminated by some bloody expensive fireworks that are synchronized with that song you can’t remember the name of. Point and laugh at the drunk guy who tries to swim across the river and nearly drowns, and remember to run like hell when the fireworks fade so you beat the traffic.

Aussie, aussie, aussie…

Kitta.net is a finalist in the ‘Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog’ category in the Fifth Annual Weblog Awards.

If you would be so kind to vote for this blog, every vote counts, and every vote will go towards helping the little red monkey finally take over and rule the world. You have until the 31st of January 3rd of February, after which darkness will fall, and all who didn’t vote will be dragged out of their beds screaming “Oh god why didn’t I just vote” and made to watch endless 4am religious TV shows. So I’d go vote if I was you…

I’ve got some stiff competition in the ‘Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog’ category, Sergio even thought one of them was a lesbian, until he read more of her blog and realised that the girl he thought she was in a relationship with was really her sister. “You sick fuck” was all I could say. There really is something wrong with that man. Terribly wrong.

I had a look some of the other finalists and I spotted a few other WordPress powered blogs, which gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Last year Kitta.net was the only WordPress powered blog as a finalist, so it’s nice to have some company this year. If I don’t win again this year the large-pointy-stick beatings from Matt won’t be as severe, he’ll have to save some energy for beating the others.

Smoke from bush fires in the hills blanketed the sky over the weekend and made everything an eerie brown/orange colour. In the last few days six fires have raged through the eastern suburbs of Western Australia, police suspect arson. More photos on Flickr.

Never before in my life have I hated the three words ‘how’, ‘are’ and ‘you’ so much. I’ve actually lied, said I’m fantastic, just so I wont once again have to pronounce some insanely long name for what I have.

Currently, I have a nasty Clostridium Difficile infection, brought on by the antibiotics I took for the lung and throat infections. I’m not sure what’s worse, having Clostridium Difficile, or trying to remember how to pronounce it.

I have been referred to an immunologist as well, my doctor think there’s something underlining and it’s to do with my immunity, which has never been fantastic in the first place, but lately it seems to have gone on holiday down south and forgot to organise a temp. I’ve been ringing the immunologist office for the last three days and this is what I hear…

“Hello, we’re not here, and you can’t leave a message, goodbye.”

It is possibly the most annoying message in the history of messages. A simple “fuck off” would be less annoying or maybe even a “I’m currently banging the receptionist and she can’t take your call at the moment”.

I’d go to someone else, someone with better message manners, but my doctor wants me to see that particular immunologist because apparently they are the best. So far, they’re the best at blowing me off.

We had our house built over 10 years ago in 1994, and we’ve been living here since. One day I was having a conversation with my darling mother about the carpet…

Mum: “The carpet was laid in 1974.”
Me: “Wow, it’s really old then.”
Mum: “Yes it is.”
Me: “So umm, was here when you purchased the block of land and you just kind of built around it?”
Mum: “What do you mean?”
Me: “You said it was laid in 1974.”
Mum: “Oh, I mean 1994.”
Me: “Sure.”