Making potica for Christmas was my grandmother’s tradition, and when she couldn’t manage the work any longer, I decided to learn so the tradition wouldn’t be lost. My mom, my brother and I got together to make one a few days ago — it took three hours but was totally worth it. It’s also really boring to watch at normal speed, so here’s making potica in under a minute:
Music: Another Christmas Song by Stephen Colbert
New Theme: Duotone (WordPress.com Blog)
My pal and fellow Automattic designer Noel Jackson released a sweet new theme on WordPress.com called Duotone. It’s pretty much the most beautiful photo blog theme I’ve ever seen, with a harmonious color scheme automatically selected from the images you post. Check out the demo at http://duotonedemo.wordpress.com.
Very proud that WordCamp Atlanta is moving to the Atlanta campus of my alma mater, SCAD. The move to the new venue means tickets are no longer sold out, and there’s special pricing until Friday. Let’s turn out a good southern crowd for the first WordCamp of 2010!
I do a lot of blogging. I write anywhere from one to ten posts a day and comment on twice that. I just don’t do it here. I communicate with my coworkers at Automattic via a series of private company blogs, almost all using the P2 theme. I also write a lot on Twitter because it’s fast. But it’s frustrating knowing that I don’t really own what’s there. At the same time, I’ve watched the cool stuff my colleagues have done on WordPress.com, and felt jealous of how easy it all looked. Since we released the new version of P2 with support for child themes, I decided to make the leap and move my blog to WordPress.com. I’m looking forward to making a lot more child themes for P2 — it was really fast and painless to totally change the look of the theme while keeping all the cool functionality (and not having to muck about with PHP).
I’m still using the P2 theme, but gussied up a bit with Custom CSS and Typekit (a new feature on WordPress.com). I’m not taking advantage of any Automattic insider trickery; anyone can do what I’ve done here. Feel free to make use of my code in your own P2 child themes.
Here’s to a refresh for the new year!
I had the pleasure of working with Coley Wopperer on this year’s Automattic holiday card. It turned out so well, we decided to share her illustration with everyone — and who doesn’t love desktop wallpaper? You can download high-res copies of the illustration (and one perfect for the iPhone or Android) on the official WordPress.com blog.
Being in south Alabama where the winter snowstorms come to us as cold and dreary rain, I’m a big fan of the WordPress.com snow for the holidays, but if it’s dragging down your browser (hello, Internet Explorer users!) these links are for you. :) End the storm or let it snow!
There are very few remaining tickets for WordCamp Atlanta, January 8–9. I’ll be there, along with several of my Automattic colleagues. Start the new year out right by grabbing one of those last spaces. Update: Sold out! Hope to see you there. :)
WordPress Blog: WordPress 2.9, oh so fine. The gang has released the latest version of WordPress, with some awesome new features like easy image editing and a trash can (so deleting a post or comment is no longer a moment of truth). They’ve done a fantastic job with this release. I learned last week that I’ll be deeply involved again with version 3.0 (if you have no idea who I am, I created the current visual design of WordPress that we introduced in version 2.7, along with my Automattic colleague Andy Peatling). That work will begin in earnest after the new year, and I can’t wait. :)
The most fashionable footer I’ve ever seen, anyway.
She loves that stick.
