A Polar View

Sarah @ 4:51 pm | In Coding, Writing

Wordpress.org code, from the very first time I glanced at it, has been slightly confusing. I read an article stating Wordpress.org’s code is not PHP, I’m still quite dubious of that fact. Considering the only non-PHP file included with every theme is stylesheet.CSS and the PHP files are littered with <?php …>, despite what I read, it still looks like PHP to me.

However, I am not the type of person to let a smidgen of befuddling code I can’t make heads nor tails of get me down. No, not at all. I am the type of person to get so darn frustrated after trying plug-in after plug-in and fiddling until I can fiddle no more I simply abandon the project altogether.

What is the project?

Making the comments fit the blog. As of this moment they are too wide, too gray and quite unsuited to APolarView.com’s overall appearance. It’s vexing to the perfectionist in me and annoys my (unqualified) inner graphic artist.

The comments have been gray, wide and unsuited since day one. After trying and failing many times, I set them aside as a project to be tackled later. When it wouldn’t be so frustrating, when it wouldn’t contribute to the amount of gray hairs on my head and when it wouldn’t make me want to toss APolarView.com out the nearest window and wipe my hands of it.

It appears that day is today, for I came across a brilliant article at Nettuts+ titled Unraveling the Secrets of Wordpress’ Comments.php File.

Ladies, Gents, there was much rejoicing. What else could I do when upon skimming the article I discovered, ‘lo and behold, not only is it in-depth, I could understand it.

Each <?php if()>, <?php else()> and the biggie, every <?php comment_> tag is explained in beginner friendly terms. For that’s what I am, a beginner. A copy-paster who can’t write five lines of code to save her life.

A new goal is born, my fingers are ready to type and my brain is ready to learn. Let us hope I am up to the task. PHP Code is not poetry in my world. It is not writing. It’s a jumbled up mixture of letters that only make a teensy bit of sense if I tilt my head sideways and squint.

Perhaps if I attempt poetry from the Wordpress.org tags I will have an epiphany. See it in a new light and shout a hallelujah to the skies. Hmm. Now to pick a most esteemed poem and turn it into something worthy of the coders at Wordpress.org.

Buffalo Bill 's

defunct

        who used to                     

        ride a watersmooth-silver

                                  stallion

and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat

                                                  Jesus

he was a handsome man

                      and what i want to know is

how do you like your blueeyed boy

Mister Death 

E.E.Cummings

Okay, it isn’t literally written in code, it’s quite possible I cheated, I did have to utilise coding so all the formatting would appear properly though. For fun, I tossed in some HTML colour tags.

E.E. Cummings might not approve, coders may not think my effort passes the bar, as a beginner however, it is the best I can do.

For now.

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Sarah @ 6:00 pm | In Music, Writing

There is something about Beethoven’s music, whether it’s his infamous Ninth Symphony or a lesser known violin Romance, that sets my heart to soaring, my fingers to itching, my soul to longing and my imagination to wandering.

One of his perfectly placed pianissimo fermatas can bring tears to my eyes, one of his exquisitely crafted orchestral crescendos overlapping a pianist’s mezzo-forte trill can fill my heart near to bursting and one of his brilliantly set caesuras will have me holding my breath.

It is written in stone before a German Opera House that Beethoven gave us God’s Fire. Although I am a spiritual person instead of a Godly one, I believe Beethoven did give us Fire. He put the very essence of what lurked inside him into every piece he composed; anger, frustration, sadness, joy.

Beethoven himself said:

“I have never thought of writing for reputation and honour. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.”

Ludwig Van Beethoven lived to compose and wrote every piece with quill and ink so the emotions in his soul would be freed.

There are many reasons I write, many reasons I started writing long ago — one of the main ones being why Beethoven composed. What I have in my heart, my soul, waiting to be plucked from my imagination needs to be set down.

Whether I use quill and ink, fountain pen, ballpoint pen or the keys tap-tap-tapping away beneath my fingertips, I will write what I must for I know no other way.

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Sarah @ 4:48 pm | In Thoughts, Words

Words. They’re all around us. Everywhere we go. One of the few things man has created that are as inescapable as they are necessary. And as the only true sentient being on this planet called Earth, words are one of the few things man alone possesses which our survival actually depends on.

We can recognise words before we take our first stumbling steps. We can associate a word to an object before we can gift our parents with one of the moments they wait for from the day we are born — that proud, happy, wondrous instant wherein a child says her very first word.

Why is the moment so great? Why are words so important?

Verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions. There are a plethora of terms available to describe what a word is, its action, its function, but none of those definitions answer the question. None of them tell us why a small child saying ‘ball’ for the first time in her life can bring tears to her parents eyes.

Words have power. A near immeasurable amount. Written, spoken, signed or touched, every word has the chance to have an effect. Hate. Love. Death. Life. Despair. Hope. Behind every word lurks the power to hurt and to wound, to lift up and to inspire.

It is our ability to understand and solve complex problems that separates us from the beasts. Our ability to feel a myriad of emotions. The fact we are aware of our existence. That we can think, reason, learn, grow, invent, build.

However, it takes very little for a person to be considered beastly. All one must do is dive into the part of themselves that knows what words will tear down and injure. To chose the wrong words, forget that words are a powerful tool and should be wielded with care.

We are human, we’re imperfect, we’ll never use words to the utmost of their potential but that should not stop us from trying. It should not stop us from treasuring the gift we’ve been given in words and using it to the best of our ability.

It’s certainly never stopped me.

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