That elusive "B"..

For several days I have been enchanted by that simple white on red "B" icon that showed up when I saved my daughter's blog to my Explorer Favorites list. BUT, try to find that sucker for use! I don't know, maybe it is the precious copyright material of some hopeful who imagines all will ante up big bucks to use it. If that's the case, then pathetic is the word that comes to mind. I spent hours trying to find a snatchable copy of it (I quickly learned you can't snatch it from the Favorites list, and besides, just today it disappeared even there, replaced by the mundane Windows "e" that is the universal MS symbol for 'exciting!'). I gave up in frustration. I slipped off to bed last night nearly a broken man, unsure that the world would ever reveal to me just how to gather up the little bits and bytes that make up the tiny "B" icon. Yet, almost like magic, the old days of Windows graphics began flittering through my troubled mind, and the little words 'icon' and 'bitmap' peeked out at me from behind mysterious dark clouds of nothingness (you know, that stuff that always gets in the way when you get to the good parts in your cluttered little mind). And, there I was, realizing that this was a horse that could be whipped, a mule that could be saddled, a hog that could be herded, a... well, you get the idea. In short, I knew I was onto something big and Windows was about to lose one more battle with the lessers of the world. I even celebrated my victory by daring to use the Windows useless Paint program that I am not sure I have ever used in over 15 years of Windowing. And when I did, I not only got a "B", I improved it so it is a black on red one. (OK, so I couldn't get it to go white on red. Maybe the guy that first made it has sent out vibes that turn things black when you try to make copies..) I eagerly attached it to my blog thingie on my desktop and hailed my wife, ready to proudly receive all the acclaim due my gallant effort. She came by, looked, said "that's nice dear", lightly pecked me on the cheek and sallied off to check on whether the dinner hot dogs were ready yet.

Is there no understanding or appreciation in this world, anywhere???