Naty and Po, around the house. They were too cute playing on the couch, so I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots. A few others mixed in from the day, like Po trying to sneak a treat while Naty was rummaging through the fridge.

Click HERE to see the full gallery

Well, here we are again. I got the bug, and I had to change everything … again. This time, however, there are some noticeable differences.

#1) I made the header image. I took one of our wedding photos and played with it until something cool appeared. How did I create this masterpieces? I have no idea … its just filter after filter after filter, and then I stopped looked back and said “cool” and that was it. Upload.

#2) Photo galleries are completely integrated into the site. Previously, I had a different layout for the galleries than the main site. This worked well, but wasn’t cohesive. Now, I have been able to merge the two. Instead of trying to re-write all the code for the Gallery, I can just focus on one style of layout and it is propagated across the whole site. Neat.

#3) The “about me” page is gone, and in its place are two more detailed histories of Naty and me. I want these to actually have some content and not just “filler”. I’m currently thinking of sort of a mini-biography. Sure, everyone who ever finds my little website probably knows everything about us, so why would they need to read it in resume format (with new and improved buzz-words)? I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

And finally …. well, there is no finally … it is currently 2:15 in the morning. Naty just woke up to tell me that I should have been in bed a long time ago. I’m wide awake, but if I don’t try to sleep soon, I’m going to screw up the rest of my weekend by sleeping right through it.

So, good night, sleep tight, and keep the bed-bugs to yourself.

I’m trying something new with our photo galleries. This should help me make the site easier to use, especially for smartphones, tablets, or any other mobile device you could imagine.

Thew new link at the top of the page shows the NextGen galleries (named because that is the software powering them, NextGen Gallery) which should bring you to a list of all the galleries. Then, clicking on any gallery will bring you to a much more visual display of all the pictures in that album.

I should also have a bit easier time integrating some highlight photos into my main news posts without losing the old-way of doing it should I still want to.

Here’s the direct link to the gallery.
The NEW Gallery

Bear with me for a bit, though, as I’m still learning and (of course) still tweaking. I’ll get it perfect soon enough, but it will just take some time to get it where I’m happy.

There are two separate ways to display the photo galleries. And, I like them both. The first is the “compact” style which uses less real estate, but also provides less information.

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The second way is the full “extended” version. It has all the fun details, plus a great section to fill with actual content. I really don’t know which one I like better, so I’m going to use both in the final gallery page, I think.

Speaking of which, here is the link:
Photo Album

The Streak. Everyone (or at least everyone in my circle of influence) knows that The Streak stands at 56. But, is that really accurate?

It was 1941, one of the greatest years ever for baseball. It culminated with Ted Williams hitting .406 through a Herculean effort (7 for 8 in a double-header to close out the season), it saw Them Bums the Brooklyn Dodgers queitly sliding into a World Series, and of course Joe DiMaggio’s streak.

The original hitting streak had stood since 1897 at 44 games by Wee Willie Keeler. It had stood for 44 years before Joe hit an innocuous single on May 15th. What followed was one of the greatest (I say THE greatest) performances in sports history. Joe hit everything. Over the course of those two months, he hit 56 singles, 16 doubles, 4 triples, and 15 home runs. His batting average over that time was a whopping .409.

What the record books don’t show is that the Streak is actually 57 games long, not 56. Joe, the only player to be named an All-Star in each of his playing years, hit safely on July 8th in one of the great All-Star games of all time. (This is the game in which Ted Williams, “the kid”, thrust himself into the limelight with a monster grand slam homerun to win the game for the American League. He was hitting .405 for the season at that point, and everyone got behind this overly-cocky kid from Boston.) The All-Star game doesn’t count for statistics, so it gets left off the list for games in the Streak. So, while the official count is 56, we know it is really 57.

On July 17th, against the Cleveland Indians, Joe hit three great grounders, but the Indians infield made three even better plays to put him out each time. The streak had ended.

–insert media fanfare–

Joe missed getting a hit in that game, but he didn’t just roll over and die. For the next 16 games, he hit safely in each one. That brings his grand total to “officially” 72 out of 73 games. With America on the brink of war, Joe DiMaggio united the country behind America’s pasttime.

Did you know?
In the course of the entire season, Joe only struck out 13 times.
Pete Rose came the closest in 1978 with his own 44 game hitting streak.
Joe’s batting average for the year was .357
His salary for the year was only $37,500