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February
22, 2006
I recently went through
my second bout with breast cancer, and during my recovery, had the opportunity
to spend some time revisiting my pages. It is definitely time to
sweep away the old cobwebs. The whole colour scheme of deep wine
red and grey seems so heavy and overpowering - almost oppressive.
And once again, the navigation has become somewhat cumbersome with all
the changes over the last two years. This winter was particularly
trying for my whole family. On top of my illness, my husband broke
his leg and our son was injured significantly when he fell from a ladder
at work on the same day his father was undergoing surgery to repair the
fracture. This site really needs some brightening up after a long,
dreary winter. |
March
15, 2006
I finally purchased my own
domain. I'm not really sure why it's taken me so long to do so, but
I do know that the catalyst was the disappearance of my guest book, which
was hosted by the Phenomenal Women of the Web site. And I've finally
decided on a colour for these pages. Yellow! It's bright, like
the sun, and cheerful, like the first daffodils poking their little heads
up through the ground. |
April 1, 2006
I discovered in early March
(through a message from Web Ring that the Phenomenal Diva ring was up for
adoption) that the Phenomenal Women of the Web site had vanished.
All attempts to view the pages were met with the ominous messages -- “The
operation timed out when attempting to connect www.phenomenalwomen.com”
or “The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web
site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust
your browser settings.” I tried a couple of different browsers and
waited several weeks before taking any steps to rectify the no longer functioning
links.
The disappearance of a web
site is not unusual, but it was the manner in which this web site ‘ran
away’ that I find bothersome. My guest book had been hosted by the
Phenomenal Women of the Web since 1999. And I paid for that service
- it was not a free guest book. As a businesswoman, Nancy Imelda
Schafer should have, at the very least, forwarded an email well in advance
of closing the guest books so that members could archive the messages left
by their visitors. Those comments posted over the years are irreplaceable.
I think of the some of the notes left by people I met through time and
those people are now gone. Had I not backed up my entries, the writings
of Grandmother Beth would have been lost forever. This dear lady
passed away nearly 4 years ago.
The Phenomenal Women web
sites - and there were many - touched countless numbers of people.
And hundreds of thousands of web pages are linked back to the different
divisions. Unfortunately, many sites owners are now left with broken
links and not even so much as a courtesy, one-liner, stating the web site
was closing. |
May
6, 2006
After nearly six weeks of
coding and re-organizing, the new pages are finally ready. I had
forgotten what an enormous undertaking it would be to completely scrap
the old design and start from scratch again. But a task such as this
is somewhat cathartic, too. It is time to simplify my life and get
back to the things that used to give me such pleasure. Quiet Sunday
afternoons, with a cup of tea, spent wandering around the pages of art
sites used to be both incredibly relaxing and enlightening. Time
for myself … time to share my discoveries with others … time to connect
with distant friends ... time to relax and recharge before starting a new
work week. |
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