I figured it would be easier to do a poll than to visit you all pesonally and find out what browser you're using and what resolution you favour, although I'm sure the home visits would be far more entertaining.  If you would all be so kind, please click your way through this poll and I will reward you with completely non-existent treats at the end of it!

Poll #817043 Curiosity
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 43

What browser do you generally use?

If you selected "other", which browser do you use?

What resolution do you use?

If you selected "other", which resolution do you use?

What sort of monitor do you generally use?

Which of the following do you prefer?

Thank-you muchly!

Today, I would like to thank the Australian government for giving me money.  Huzzah!  I like it when you give, rather than taking away.  This more than justifies the advance spending I did on all that manga.  Actually, it might even signal that some more buying is in order...  I mean, seriously - if we have to choose between gifting my Timothy with a new computer or me with more manga, then what's more important?

Or I could just be a little bit addicted.

The other thank-you goes to lj_releases for alerting me to the fact that I can use image placeholders on my friends page.  A double huzzah for you!  No longer do I have to worry about large, un-cut images distorting my layout or sucking up my download limit at work.  'Tis wonderful indeed.

In other news, I shall soon be attempting to convert my layout to S2, which means the current one may look either a) exactly the same, b) totally hideous, or, c) incredibly default-ish.

It's no longer Summer here in Australia.  That's right - for the next few months, you won't hear me complaining about spending forty degree (104°F) days in a house with no air-conditioner.  Instead, I'll be moaning on about rain and hail and thunderstorms and being caught in a combination of all three whilst waiting for a bus.  You might hear me talk wistfully of spending cold days sitting by an open fire, reading books as a child.  I may even throw in a mention of our lovely central heating system for no extra cost.

The reason for this lesson in Seasons of the Southern Hemisphere is all pretty much related to my previous layout, which featured a lovely beach and the words "Summer" and "sun".  And since I'm sitting here, surrounded by "Autumn" and "misty rain", I'm sure you can imagine that this image of sunny bliss was getting on my nerves, rather.

So I changed it.  It took a while to find the right image, but find it I did.  In fact, in an act of unprecented good luck, I found two matching images.  Not only were they perfect for my header, the finished result in which I smooshed them both together keeps inspiring me to write stories, whereas my old layout had a habit of making me want to go to the beach and leave my shoes on a stretch of pure white sand.

If you feel like having a look and giving me any feedback that comes to mind, simply click on this link.

Speaking of writing - I've been doing some.  It all started with that mini LJ outage the other day.  There I was, stuck at work with no LJ to muck about on, when I suddenly thought of dropping by FictionPress in the hopes of finding something to read.  I realised some of the links on my profile page were out of date, so I did a little updating there and inadvertently began reminding myself of how much fun FP used to be.  FictionPress used to be my main reason for being on the internet, before I discovered LJ... as a direct result of FP.

To cut a long and rambling story mercifully short, I have decided to write a sort of serial to put up on FictionPress.  It will be written for fun and for something to do during the long, boring days at work.  In fact, I've already written the first instalment, giving me a May word count of a bit over two thousand words.  It's so much fun to write something purely for the enjoyment of it.  I've actually stolen some characters from an old story and they're flourishing in their (slightly) new environment.

All in all, I feel very productive.