I read a very good book on CSS programming at the local Barnes & Noble: Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML (which is now in my Amazon wishlist btw). I was inspired and started tinkering with my blog. From what I can tell, making those little clouds with the rounded corners would be a pain in CSS so I kept those as tables. But I’m ditching the table infrastructure that positions the clouds for CSS techniques. It’s not done yet, but it looks good so far. The file size between CSS and HTML appear the same so I have to ask what the point is. Still, it’s good to know the latest way to do things.

I learned tables way back when in 2000 or so for a multimedia anthropology class (!) when I was an undergrad. Since then I’ve gotten pretty good at making a layout that doesn’t break. I guess it’s very unintuitive but by now it’s pretty natural for me to stick in an invisible gif as a spacer or put a table within a table to keep its shape. Kristin didn’t get it when I tried to explain it to her though so if I learn an easier alternative I can hopefully pass it on to her.