I’m going through the rather arduous process of building a new theme for emmaandpete.com. It’s mostly done — I would say about 80% complete — but not applied across the whole site just yet.

I’m hoping it’s going to be easier on the eyes than the very dull grey colour scheme, a bit whizzier than the old layout and overall a nicer experience for you as a reader. If all goes to plan everything should be converted to the new layout by July 9th, 2011.

If you’re expecting more excitement about a new design, you’ll have to wait – doing this whole web development thing has reminded me how much I dislike it…and yet I generally like the end result. Weird, eh?

It turns out that commenting on this site is broken. I have no idea why it’s busted, but it’s not playing nice, and it may have something to do with the fact that I’ve developed something of a penchant for Belvedere vodka (straight, no ice) and had a celebratory shot after I managed to overcome something that had been bugging me for some time.

The upshot (pardon the pun) is that I may have also broken commenting, or it may have been broken for some time without me noticing. Whatever, that’s my afternoon’s task sorted – which is fine, because I’ve had a whole hour of fresh air this morning, so I need to regenerate and top-up my screen tan.

If you could do me a solid favour and leave a comment on this article, I’d appreciate it. Clearly leaving a comment on a broken website might be a bit of a struggle, but just fill the boxes in with info, click preview, then click submit — it’ll really me diagnose the problem and fix it, plus you’ll get a link back to your website if you’re not a spammer.

There may be two or three comment entry boxes. This is to be expected…it’s not normal, it’s not how it’s supposed to be, it’s just what happens…

It’s November again, which mean it’s time to wheel out NaNoWriMo for public consumption. I’m a terrible reader, I don’t currently have the concentration or staying power to finish books in one sitting, a sign of a distracted/troubled mind, I suspect.

They say everyone has one good book in them, but I don’t. Not at the moment, at least. I need and want to write more, but I don’t have any motivation to bash a novel out in a month. Rather than just let November trundle by without doing anything, I’ve thought of a variant on the NaNoWriMo theme. NaCoWriMo. Also known as National Copy Content Writing Month.

I’ve set myself the last quarter of 2010 to batter this website into shape, and a large part of that is solid, textual content. And lots of it. Whether it’s a blog post here, a Cooper Acres post, some coupon text, it all counts. Regular, useful posts during November 2010.

50,000 words is the NaNoWriMo threshold for a win or completion, so it sounds fair that I use the same target. That’s 100 posts of 500 words, or 250 posts of 200 words, or some other number of so-and-so words. I’ll even keep a running tally of how well I’m doing. Check the sidebar soon for the latest stats, I’ll have a whizzy home-brewed chart (courtesy of the Google Chart API and some confused bodging on my part).

Game on, then. another 249 posts like this and I’ll be home free.

We’re planning a regular video show for release later in 2009 2010. There are, however, no firm plans right now – rest assured we’ll announce when it’s ready.

Content-wise, it will be identical to Emma and Pete HD, but have a much smaller download size – perfect for iPods and average speed broadband connections. And impatient people.

In addition to downloads being available from iTunes and Mevio, there will also be a site Flash player so you can watch from anywhere, rather like YouTube.

We’re planning a high-definition video show for later in 2009 2010. There are no firm plans yet, but we’ll announce when it’s ready.

As far as content is concerned, it will be identical to Emma and Pete TV, but have a larger download size due to the increased resolution/screen size. It’ll likely be released in 720p format – ideal for your hi-def TV or computer screen, though a fast internet connection (or patient demeanor) is recommended.

In addition to downloads being available via iTunes and from Mevio, there will also be a site Flash player so you can watch from anywhere, rather like YouTube.