Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

I Actually Worked

I wasn’t able to actually make a “proper” blog post tonight as I was actually doing something that had to do with work.

“You mean to say Mr. Bushman you actually don’t work at work when your working?”

Well yes I do but when I do my normal work I still have 9 hours to kill and part of my job is actually just being there. So normally I can wonder around the Internet playing with my websites and writing articles you all pretend to read to make my feelings better. But tonight I had a task. Apparently the secret got out at work I was technically inclined and so now I’m making and managing the website and other tasks. Tonight’s task was put together some video footage that was taken earlier in the week. Meh Whatever, it is still what I would normally be doing but for someone else. When I started putting together some of the clips I really got into it and ended up making the video actually mean something. The time also flew by and before I knew it, it was 6 am.

Anyways check the SideDoor site out and the video that is featured on the homepage now. [CLICK HERE]

Free The Bushman sticker (when I get my rear in gear and get some actually made, anyone what to design a logo 🙂) goes to the first person to tell me how many times I said “actually” in this post

All I Have to Say is Ugh!

Ugh, that all I have to say for it all.

That is what I have to say about my lack of Blog posts lately on The Bushman. I figured this would happen when I started writing entries my other site. I think I’m going to have to step back and take a different approach to it. I read a great article today about not worrying about anything but your content when you are starting a blog. Readers wont come because you have a nice design or because you can cram out 3 crappy posts a week. They come because there is truth and value in what you write even if it is only once in a while. Then when you do start to write more article they can actually get something out of them. So that is what I’m going to do with CanLiving. Screw scheduling posts for now, I’m just going to try and get at least one good article out a week for now. I will hopefully still remember to post up my weekly thoughts here because I know you’re all DYING to hear about how I sit around all day thinking about going outside but never actually do and then get bored, depressed and end up worrying about stupid things like making enough money to survive when I go to school…… Oh Sorry I went off track there for a second. (Sweet run on sentence right there)

That is what I have to say about work unfortunately. I got back from holidays 2 weeks ago and I am only now on my first night back and it wont even be a full rotation. I don’t want to rant about it because they are all nice people there but they all new when I was coming back. I have worked there for 5 months now (which makes me the longest working night person) and since the first month I started I wrote out the schedule so that it actually made sense. Everyone had the same amount of hours a month. Which to me is very important because beside the fact I like to work 160 hours in a month, I like structure. It only makes sense, would you apply for a job where you can never get a set schedule? Working a proper rotation for me is very important because we work nights and it is sometimes hard to adjust. But because I was away I didn’t make the schedule and now for some reason I wasn’t put back onto it until tonight April 3-4 and only work one more night after this before getting 4 days off again. WHAT? That doesn’t even makes sence. Whatever! Maybe there is something waiting around the corner for me, who knows.

What makes you say Ugh?

Pick That Theme!

Well as it seems I have finally decided on a theme for my blog I though I would explain a little about the importance of a good theme.

A Blog Theme
The theme is what people see first, it is the most important thing about your site other than the content. So that is why you need to pick the right one. There are hundreds and hundreds of themes out there for you to pick from so finding the right one isn’t always easy.

What do you want? Because of the very many configurations of themes it is best to decide what it is you want in the theme before you start looking. Do you want two sidebars? Just one?  What do you want to put in the sidebar, Flickr Badge, Twitter updates, blogroll, etc? Do you want a header with a picture and the title of your blog or just the title? Do you want page tabs above or below the header or just have them in the sidebar? Would you like full posts of the main page or just snippets? The list of question can go on and on. I bet at this point you think wow I didn’t realize there was so much to think about.

One of the main things to think about is “How visible is my content?” Your content is why people will be coming to your site therefore it is the most important thing on your site. So you want it visible easily and quickly. You want the colour of the font to show up the best it can against the background colour, as well as having the font size readable but not to big.  You also don’t want all your sidebar widgets distracting your readers. I’m sure there are many more tips on making your content visible and I’m sure I will touch on more soon.

The last thing I want to talk about in this post is something I’m not even good at, so I guess this post is another one of the “do as I say not as I do” posts.
Don’t Change! Since starting The Bushman 7 months ago I have had 7 main themes as well as some random ones I would throw up to try. That is what not to do. It is all right to change your theme every once and a while but not every month.  You don’t want to confuse your readers by always changing the look of your site; they want something that is constant and always there. You want them to be able to navigate through easily with out have to relearn where everything is.  I would suggest if you are going to change your theme ask your readers first, write a post explaining to them that you are interested in changing the theme and ask them for there opinion. A good way to gain loyal reader is get them involved.  A mistake I made was I wanted to go to fast. I constantly wanted a theme with more sidebar space for the extra things and then at one point I hit the peak and have now settled with a theme with less clutter in the sidebar.

So when you’re out there looking for the best theme for you, try and remember some of those things. Also when you are looking don’t automatically rule out paying for a theme sometimes they can be the best for your site and what you want to do.

If you have any tips or suggestion on picking a theme let everyone know below.

Honolulu to NWTBlogs

I changed some stuff as you may have noticed. I simplified the site so that I could come back to reality. Its just going to be like my notebook where I write personal things, to do lists, stuff I’m working on, you know that sort of thing.

Just an update from Hawaii: Spent all day in Honolulu shopping with my brother. I got a couple new hats and will try and get some picture of them to show. I have now bought 4 new hats since leaving Yellowknife. Not much more to tell you about Hawaii now but will let you know how things are going off and on. I put some photo of the first couple days up on Facebook and Flick (I’m not going to link them, you can find them on your own).

Man does NWT Blogs ever look good. It is becoming more and more popular and I honestly can’t wait to get back to Yellowknife try spread the word even more. One of the newest features Amy has put on the site is the Twitter feed for us norther bloggers. It seems like @EclecticBlogs and myself @the_bushman are clogging it up with our constant updates but you will also see @amsiebee and some others. Among other things one of the newest bloggers on the site is a friend of mine and you can find his blog HERE. I hope he keeps it up. I think blogs are a good way to keep in touch with people, let out anger and plenty other reasons.

I have also been lacking in the area of feeds. I have 132 unread posts in my feed reader. Looks like I have some bed time reading to do. Looking forward to it.