Day 7: Do Some More Personalizing

This is part of the UU Blogging Workshops’s Zero to Hero Series

Today’s assignment: create and upload a simple header, or test out a few different backgrounds.

So, I threw together the WMAA header in Photoshop. I wanted something that pulled a number of different elements from my history. Plus, it goes along with the tagline and other curious questions. My blog has always been about random thoughts and experiences; some serious, some playful, all important. So, here’s the explanation for the image header…

Captain Kirk. What can I say. Growing up, science fiction made up a huge part of my book list. Asimov, Roddenberry, Clarke, Herbert (and more) inspired me with takes of the human race far into the future. Star Trek was one of my favorite stories. It’s the hopeful future of humanity; the dream of world community that allows us to go beyond our world and explore the rest of the universe. We just need some awesome captains to lead the way.

Cherry pie. I like pie. Pie is good. What else can I say; I like dessert. Life needs something a little sweet now and again. Plus, I’m a foodie. That slice of cherry pie has most likely been soaked in bourbon and contains pieces of bacon. For some people, food just isn’t that interesting. I know a lot of people who are very picky eaters and that’s ok. It just means there is more culinary deliciousness for me to investigate!

Rubber ducky. He’s the one. Jim Henson has made some amazing creatures over the years. Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth… these shows and movie unlocked the fantasy for my small child brain. Where my early teen self was obsessed with sci-fi, my younger self loved the stories brought to life by Henson and his colleagues. Modern CG will never be able to replace those puppets.

The universe. While I love fiction, I also love science. There is nothing cooler than learning about the mysteries of the universe. Recently, Bill Nye (the science guy) debated noted creationist Bill Ham on the origins of the universe. It really makes me sad that debate even had to happen; it’s one thing to have faith in God, it’s another to ignore confirmed evidence just because it happens to disagree with a book noted for its allegory and parables. Science is what will get us up and out there to the great unknown… it has power and mystery enough for me. I just wish it were enough for everyone.

Magneto. Comic books were a fun distraction while I was in high school. I loved the art and creativity that allowed super hero stories to come to life. I got involved in reading graphic novels too, like The Crow, Watchmen, TMNT, Black Hole and a lot of the Dark Horse series. These were more adult in nature, offering mature stories but with just as amazing artwork.  These taught me that heroes can fail, the good guys don’t always win and life is not as black and white, good and evil as I used to think. That we’re all a collection of experience and we have more power than we give ourselves credit for.

Just a little trivia behind What’s My Age Again and other curious questions. What are some things that inspired your blog/header?