Monday, May 13, 2013

Website Update, Google, and Bookmarks

Hey all! My website, www.stacymckitrick.com, has been updated. My husband and I are not graphic artists, but I think it turned out pretty good. If you have time, or are just curious, please check it out and let me know what you think!

Do you Google your name? Most of us probably do, huh? Now, when I Google my name, my website comes up first, which is good (and I’m not complaining!), but I noticed that Google asks me if I meant Stacey McKitrick (she’s the country and western singer). However, when I Google her name, it doesn’t ask if I meant Stacy McKitrick. I guess when it does (and it will, I’m being optimistic here), it means I’ve finally made it big. Right???
 
I’ve decided to get some bookmarks made up for when I go to Dragon*Con (they have a table there where people put their promotional freebies out), and they were going to look like the picture on the right, but unfortunately, the picture’s resolution is only 72dpi, which means it will turn out grainy. If I up it to 300 (like all the places I checked required), then it will turn out blurry. Another option is to take another moon shot with a higher resolution (and I’ve already fixed that on my camera), but what are the odds the next full moon will be surrounded by clouds (because I really love the clouds)? I mean, I took that picture back in 2011! I do have a couple of months to play around with (and my husband was kind enough to put an appointment on his phone to alert us to the next full moon), so we’ll see how lucky I can get. Pray for good luck, please!!

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day. The kids stayed after breakfast and we sat around all afternoon playing the board game Ticket to Ride. That is one fun game, and kind of addicting. I even managed to win one of the games (yeah, shocking).

Penguins did give me a nice Mother’s Day gift and won on Saturday, making it to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They certainly put me through some stress (as well as all the other Penguins fans out there), though. I hope they play better in the next round. At least they MADE it to the next round. It could have been worse, I know!

So, when you Google your name, does Google think you mean someone else? And what was the last board game you played?

Happy Monday!

 

Stacy

 

10 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Re: printed bookmarks
Make sure it's 300 dpi and in the CMYK color profile.

If your original photo is very large, you can reduce the size and raise the dpi. You can only push it so far, but it is possible.

Re: Google
My name is unique enough that I get very little competition. But one year, I let the url for my web site lapse and a big company snapped it up. They do that sometimes to make you pay them more for the dot com extension.

I said no thanks and stuck to a blog ever since.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - I know about the 300 dpi, but don't know how to make a photograph be CMYK. I'll have to check into that, too, I guess! Gee, isn't anything EASY?? Of course not!

As for my URL, my husband is very good at renewing it. He knows all about the games that are played once it relapses.

Jen B said...

That is great about setting an alarm for the full moon! I'm sure you can get an equally amazing photo! Bookmarks are a great idea!

The last board game I played was Apples to Apples. Fun game for a big group of people. :)

Jennette Marie Powell said...

Great how your website matches your blog! Love the moon photo - cool that you took it. Most (if not all) cameras don't do CMYK, that's for printing. Just use Photoshop or whatever graphics program you use to prepare the bookmarks to convert RGB to CMYK. Ask one of your graphic artist friends if you need help. :)

An Australian politician comes up a lot if I search on Jennette Powell (but the top results are mostly me), but if I search on Jennette Marie Powell, they're all me. :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jen B - I would like to hope I can get a good moon shot, but I'm not holding my breath! :)

Jennette - See, I forget I have these graphic artist friends. Must remember that when I have a new picture to work with! Nice that you're on top of the search, too. But, does Google correct you if you misspell your name? There's the test!

Jemi Fraser said...

Website looks great! Love your voice throughout :)

I was happy the penguins got through too - cheering for the Leafs as we speak & hoping they can complete the comeback! :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jemi - Thanks for checking out the website. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback (and nothing negative - shocker!). I'm feeling much better about the site, now.

And I saw the Leafs didn't make it. Sorry! :( Maybe this means you can be a Penguins fan?? Ha ha!!

The Happy Whisk said...

The last board game I played was a quiz type of puzzle game. Who am I kind of questions. Was fun.

Sounds like a great weekend and your site looks good. Fun stuff, this Internet.

LD Masterson said...

Good grief, Stacy - you and my son should get together. Lately every time I see him, he's reading Jim Butcher and I know he loves playing Ticket to Ride.

I checked out your new website. Looks great.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Ivy - I don't usually play board games (usually card games), but my kids find some really good ones.

LD - I've just started Jim Butcher (and I'm liking it so far) and my daughter discovered Ticket to Ride at a board gamers meeting and wanted to share. Glad she did!