sometimes i know just enough to be dangerous

i suppose there's nothing wrong with editing your blog template; people do it all the time. for most reasonably intelligent people it's a worthwhile pastime, a bit of tinkering, puttering around, a veritable stroll through a heathered hypertext meadow of meditative reasoning, providing both relaxation and intellectual stimulation. those people have a different definition of editing than i do. most of them would be smart enough not to completely eliminate all the XML code that provides the functionality that makes the blog what it is. me, on the other hand, i put on my heaviest steel-toed clodhoppers and tromp right through that pristine meadow, indiscriminately crushing delicate lines beneath my knobby soles, leaving only broken fragments of syntax to wither in my wake.

let it be known, and experienced vicariously by all who deign to partake in the sublime pleasure that is template editing, that the actual template file differs significantly from the HTML file subsequently generated by the blogging service provider. i feel completely stupid even admitting i could be guilty of doing what i did, but i daresay i'm resolved to bravely and resolutely bare my shame before the world in the hope that this profound and perverse self-flagellation will provide sufficient motivation to remember, and never repeat my heinous and unworthy action. let my trial stand for all time as a reminder to all: never, never EVER load the source code from your published blog page, make your simple changes to the portions which have nothing whatsoever to do with the blog/posts themselves, then save this file as the template for your blog; rather, let it be known henceforth throughout the world that the simple and extremely useful XML tags which allow the blogging service provider to parse that precious template code, insert the relevant post data at the relevant points (and thereby generate the HTML file which is subsequently published via FTP to your external server) cannot be replaced by/in favor of/with the actual post data itself!

so this blogger spent a solid hour trying to determine if the reason i couldn't see my most recent post reflected in that generated HTML document was a communications error, or maybe a change during my absence in some security settings that was preventing upload of files, before realizing that communications weren't the problem- it was pilot error all along.

so my course was set, and i've spent the last couple hours acquiring a new blank template, analyzing it to regain recognition of the pertinent bits, excising the relevant bits of code, and rebuilding my original template, so that the extremely long post prior to this one might actually be seen by (either of) my readers- and so i might sleep again at night, knowing i have re-entered the world of active bloggers. for those of you who might think to see a change or two in this page- there is one i haven't fixed, and that's the page hit stat at the bottom. actually, i'm not sure if it will pick up where it left off before i stomped on that bit of code, or if i'll be starting over again at 1 page view. oh, the exciting things you can learn when you make mistakes!

and so now, in this fashion, let me adjourn to the relative comfort of my bed and the well-earned sleep that there awaits me. more thrilling Current and Slightly-Past-Their-Pull-Date Events to follow at random intervals not approaching the 4.5 month crebablituge that overtook this blog late last year.

yes, i made that word up. no, you shouldn't have a problem with that, and i don't really care if you do. so there.