My attempts have been made using the Warp Tool which makes text distort.

I’ve Googled this problem only to be shown the Warp Tool method again and again. I just assumed I was doing something wrong.

Finally this evening I put out an SOS call on Twitter.

And God bless everyone who offered up advice. It was, however, Shawn Collins who saved my bacon. He pointed me to this YouTube video (below) tutorial from TutCast. Shawn – you rock!

The video is short and simple. Everything I love and it works like a dream.

It’s my WordPress theme roundup.

Here are 12 delicious WordPress themes I’ve found this past month.

The best part is that they’re all free.

Basico

Demo | Download

Berlin

Demo | Download

Big Square

Demo | Download

Black Magazine

Demo | Download

Bliss

Demo | Download

David Airey’s theme

Demo | Download

Fapowy

Demo | Download

JournalCrunch

Demo | Download

Puremag

Demo | Download

Sight

Demo | Download

Demo | Download

Demo | Download

Well, dear reader, this is one of those posts.

Three important things happened this week which I want to tell you about. Each thing is something I’m very proud of and, in two cases, incredibly honoured.

We’ll tackle this chronologically.

Monday marked my first session with a personal trainer.

And now I can’t walk.

I’m told things will get better. I beg to differ.

I’ve never been to the gym. I’m not someone who really thinks too much about my six pack. I enjoy life. I drink. I smoke.

I cycle to work during the summer months. Faithfully. But during winter I tend to hibernate. I’m 36 which is the unhealthy side of 35 for drinkers and smokers. And I might have a little extra padding. More than I really need.

My job as website manager and the way I spend my leisure time means I’m sitting in front of a computer. All the time.

It was time to get a personal trainer.

Circumstance led me to Lindsay Hamel who happens to be someone I’ve known (of) for years. And before you think that my blogging (or my dog’s blogging) has turned me into a millionare, think again.

In Winnipeg the cost of a personal trainer is not out of reach (like some larger cities, and certainly like London, England where I’m from). With a little less drinking and smoking, I should be able to cover it.

Just before heading off to my session with Lindsay yesterday afternoon I spied an incredible blog post in my inbox: Women in blogging: 125 fearless female bloggers by Kristi Hines who runs Kikolani.com.

Please know that I am just a Brit gal fumbling at blogging.

Imagine my total shock when I noticed myself on the list. Yes! Me. What was I doing there? It must be a mistake. Honestly, I felt sick and my heart was beating fast (further confirmation that my impending visit to Lindsay was a decision well made).

You must be familiar with these types of list – sometimes they appear in the weekend sections of the newspaper showing the top employers or entreprenuers in your area. In the blogosphere they’re also usually a fairly good indication of who you should be paying attention to.

I am honoured to be listed.

And the icing on the cake was, today, finding out that my dog’s blog Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu has been shortlisted for a Canadian Weblog Award in the ‘Best Design’ category. This means that she is in the top five blogs being considered for that accolade.

She was originally nominated in three categories. Independent jurors select the top five in 37 different categories.

Admittedly the other four blogs in the ‘Best Design’ category kick arse so I don’t know if Sadie’s will win but to be shortlisted is amazing.

I’m too late for Thanksgiving but I’d like to give a little tip of the hat to all that stuff: thank you for supporting me on Facebook while I moan about aching muscles; thank you to you dear reader for visiting this blog; thank you for inspiring me to produce content and get creative with Sadie’s blog. I have much to be thankful for (but Lindsay, I am NOT thankful for lunges).

All the themes shown below are free – though several of them do have pro versions with additional features.

I’m particularly in love with Platform by Pagelines which has a gizillion theme options even on the free version.

Codium Extend

Demo | Download

SilverBlog

Demo | Download

Plain Fields

Demo | Download

Platform

Demo | Download

Portfolio Press

Demo | Download

Prototype

Demo | Download

Suburbia

Demo | Download

thememagic

Demo | Download

Verbage

Demo | Download

ZenBlog

Demo | Download

A few of the themes listed below aren’t super new but are themes I like and want to share with you.

Vanadiumitic

Demo | Download

CP Minimal

Demo | Download

Fresh & Clean

Demo | Download

Portraiture

Demo | Download

eDeco

Demo | Download

Diary 1.0

Demo | Download

Blogum

Demo | Download

Silver Magazine

Demo | Download

Skeptical

Demo | Download

Titaniumifize

Demo | Download

Kozuka

Demo | Download

I’m obsessed with finding new and beautiful WordPress themes. I usually check at least once a day to see what’s new in the world of themes.

There are a lot of very badly designed free themes. When I find a great theme, I usually download it and check it out on one of my test sites.

For these reasons I’ve decided to write a regular theme roundup post showing the latest themes I’ve found. I can’t be the only one obsessed with this stuff so hopefully you’ll get a kick out of it too – and maybe a new theme for your blog.

There are lots of premium themes (paid) that I fall in love with but I’m going to focus on the free stuff.

Typominima

Demo | Download

Artarius

Demo | Download

Simplex Magazine

Demo | Download

Speaky

Demo | Download

UltraLight

Demo | Download

Sodiumific

Demo | Download

Bonus theme – Château

This beautiful theme isn’t entirely free but at 99 cents it’s practically free.

Demo & download

This is one of those times.

A colleague sent this link to me and if you have ever been a client of a web designer or you, yourself, are a web designer, I guarantee this is essential reading.

I can only post an extract. After you’ve seen it, you have to visit The Oatmeal for the full comic strip. Then you must buy the poster.

Go on. Check out the The Oatmeal for the full comic strip. Your sides will split.

1. Matt Forsythe asked me to.
2. I’m on a mission for the best theme for my dog’s blog. And it pains me greatly that I can’t settle on a theme I truly love. She’s nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award and I want her blog to be the best.

You need to know some stuff about me before you read the rest of this.

I am obsessive. I am tenacious. I will not settle until I find the solution to my problem. For these reasons I can tell you with confidence that I have scoured the web for the best minimal WordPress themes. Premium and free.

I LOVE going to a post like this and seeing a screen grab of the theme. It turns me off when folks don’t offer one.

There are many reasons for my listing below. If a theme is too complicated to use everyday then it didn’t make this list. I’m not stupid when it comes to HTML and CSS but I want an easy life. And so does my dog.

In no particular order:

Cutline theme – Sadie Shih Tzu is currently using this theme. Very versatile. Custom header (which matters to me) and great layout. Neoclassical by Chris Pearson is very similar and worth checking out.

Intonasi Mono – very new theme. Beautifully put together.

Early Morning – a child theme for Thematic.

Minimalista – by Bird Themes – these guys have three cute WordPress themes but this is my favourite.

Pristine – there are two versions of this theme. The other one comes with a header.

Pure II – from a brilliant theme developer who has many more themes worth looking at. This is the newest.

BASE – from another amazingly talented theme developer whose full time job is with Woo Themes. I really like this one.

WhitePress – a new theme that I found on Weblog Tools Collection.

Seven Five – I’ve been in love with this theme for a long time. An ultra minimal theme with a focus on social networks and life streams.

Koi and Vigilance tie for a place in my top 10 so I have to include them both.

There are other themes that deserve a mention:

Clean Home from MidMo which comes in two versions – free and pro.

Keep it Simple – I was using this theme on Sadie’s site until recently.

Grid Focus – another beautiful theme. It doesn’t make my top ten because it isn’t easy to use.

Modern Clix – this one didn’t make the top ten because I see it referenced constantly and it’s super popular. I wanted to offer something new with this post rather than giving you the same list of minimal themes you’ll see if you Google that search term.  However this is a great theme and is easy to use.

There are many places to look for good themes – too many to mention – but I recommend:

- Theme Lab

- Simple Themes

- tripwire Magazine – this post lists over 90 delicious WordPress themes

- GraphPaperPress has many beautiful themes which I’ve played around with. My problem is that they aren’t intuitive to use. I’m sure if you become a pro member you get more support. I feel obliged to mention them because they produce some beautiful work but it’s not for WordPress newbies.

- Of course you can also check out the long list of minimal themes on WordPress.org which includes some of the themes mentioned in this post.

- I know folks rave about Thesis. Again, I feel obliged to mention this theme because so many people love it. I’ve never used it and have heard mixed things about it. But it might be just the thing you’re after.

I warmly welcome your own suggestions about themes I haven’t mentioned here. Have you unearthed a WordPress gem? Please leave a comment below with a link to that theme.

What on earth is Facebook markup language? It’s the web coding used by Facebook that allows fan page administrators to add fun stuff to their pages such as images, additional tabs and more.

I’ve battled with it for several years. It’s only after getting a better grasp of HTML that I was able to do this.

I think it’s fair to say that there isn’t a week that goes by when I don’t achieve some kind of personal goal like this.

I read all the time.

I wake up most mornings excited to go to work.

I don’t have a degree.

At school my favourite subjects were history and communications studies. I excelled at them.

I did go to university but I was a little older than most in my year because I had to re-take courses and exams.

I left after six months. I was bored rigid. My major was women’s studies with communications and sociology.

I’m 35 and until three years ago I regretted not completing my degree.

At that time I got very lucky. I found my passion – a passion that I was able to experience in my day job at the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) where I’m the digital media manager.

I manage the NSI Online Short Film Festival. I commission content for the NSI Online Industry Centre. I also produce content myself.

I manage NSI’s online spaces – I’m the voice of Twitter, Facebook and all the other online places you’ll find NSI. I deliver social media workshops in Winnipeg.

Why does this excite me more than getting a degree or propell me into the office every day?

Because I live my life on an ‘acclerated learning curve’ to coin the phrase from Adam Singer’s recent post on Future Buzz.

I’m entirely self-taught.

I’m hungry for information like you wouldn’t believe.

I spend a large part of my spare time learning. Learning about the internet. Learning about anything I can get my hands on that interests me.

Nobody made me do this. And nobody told me to do this. It’s just the way I choose to live.

In his post, Adam says, ‘You know nothing.’

I think that’s my motivator. I have a perpetual appetite for knowing as much as I can. And as soon as I do, more comes along.

If you aren’t happy in your job or feeling unfufiled I urge you to read Adam’s post – one of the most important posts I’ve read in a very long time.

Yes, it’s true, most people don’t live like this. But they should.

I feel extremely lucky to be one of them.

With that self-recognition I’ve been able to pay it forward.

My learning doesn’t start and stop with me. I’ve travelled to Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary to deliver workshops on social media. For me, that is the ultimate fulfilment.

Not only am I learning like crazy but I’m trying my hardest to teach others.

What purpose does knowledge serve if it sits inside one person’s head?

So if you’re scratching your own head wondering why your life seems incomplete, please remember that a passion for learning can be vital to your success.

Photo courtesy of ittybittiesforyou via a Creative Commons Licence

But not entirely.

I don’t think much of Google Buzz, ok?

I love Google, for the record.

The basic premise: Google wants in on the social media thang. Google Buzz is their trump card.

Or something.

This is my comment on the proposition, not the product.

According to Google’s official blog:

Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It’s built right into Gmail, so you don’t have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch.

If you think about it, there’s always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don’t have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you’re sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.

So far I’m not that impressed with it – largely because I only use my Gmail accounts to log in to Feedburner, YouTube and a bunch of other Google-operated sites.

I’m also a prolific Twitter and Facebook user and don’t see the sense in adding yet another network to the list.

Sure, I can add my Twitter account so my tweets appear on Buzz but I’d rather folks just follow me on Twitter.

I can see the benefit for regular users of Gmail. Send mail and chat with your pals all in one place. Which makes sense.

Are you using Google Buzz? Let me know what you think.

Thanks to my friend, the wonderful Erica Glasier, for the illustration at the top of this page available under a Creative Commons License.