7 Minute Miles Header

We found a throwback Target 🎯

Pic posted March 18, 2024

Fort Myers has a Super Target near our hotel that is…not really following the latest Target design standards


flourish icon

Buffy’s Buckaroo Flip

Pic posted March 8, 2024

Breathe in that fresh victory air, pardner, ’cause you’re the Flip champion in this town! @TwoDots


flourish icon

The Tapestry Token in Mid-Winter’s Waning

Pic posted March 6, 2024

That was a really hard one – Two Dots in general has been extra hard lately. Hope they aren’t just trying to increase booster sales…


flourish icon

Maison Margaux is just beautiful

Pic posted March 4, 2024

Chef has a winner in the North Loop


flourish icon

Special Delivery!

Pic posted February 24, 2024

From your friends at the Arctic Atelier @TwoDots


flourish icon

SWCT Color Block Set 2

Pic posted February 22, 2024

More great work from Star Wars Card Trader by Topps


flourish icon

George “Fathead” Washington

Pic posted February 22, 2024

I can totally relate to this new look


flourish icon

SWCT Color Block Set

Pic posted February 7, 2024


flourish icon

Fathom’s Fantasy Flip

Pic posted February 6, 2024

You have risen from legend to heavenly hero. Congratulations on conquering that Flip! @TwoDots


flourish icon

Love this Richard Thompson tour artwork

Pic posted January 26, 2024

No Minnesota dates so far, but I’m ready for another show


flourish icon

Parakeet Paradise

Pic posted January 19, 2024

I partied with some feathered friends in the Parakeet Paradise and they gave me the Budgerigar Badge! @TwoDots


flourish icon

Wondrous Workshop

Pic posted January 15, 2024

We’re not just elfin’ around! @TwoDots


flourish icon

7 Minute Miles design standards

Posted January 9, 2024

It’s been almost a year already since I launched the latest design of this website. I wanted a dark, responsive design with larger fonts and for the most part, I’ve been very happy with the result. This week I made a few more tweaks to the font sizes and padding, as I thought the headlines on mobile devices were a little too big. I’m also not sure my viewport settings are 100% correct, so I need to spend a little more time on the mobile validation sites.

One of the things that I love about personal web publishing is that you can generally code pages to the exact standard you want. I’m not a professional designer by any stretch, but I generally know what I like (and there are a million examples online of what not to do). I also love reading brand guidelines from big companies that aim to preserve their look and feel. Here are some of mine:

  • Colors: black (#000), white (#fff), red (#f00) and gray (#ccc)
  • Fonts: Futura, Verdana and sans-serif
  • Photo captions: italicized
  • Image width: 1000px (was 850px)
  • Image styling: 25px white borders, film frame for concerts and movies

I still support five primary post types on this site: standard, image, link, quote and status. Each of these have their own sections in my style sheet and the home page template has if/then loops to lay each one out differently. Made a few tweaks this week to the quote and link styles (and don’t really use status now).

Comments have been off here for a long time now and I still feel that most public websites are better without them (hope the Star Tribune will eventually turn them off, along with their annoying auto-refresh tag). I do wish there was a better way for people to communicate with me here – perhaps there are some creative plugins I’ve yet to discover. A few other editorial choices at 7 Minute Miles: no ads of any kind and (starting this week) no more jumps on longer posts (i.e. – “click to read more” links).

At some point, I may go back and try to re-style some of the images for the current design standard. When I used to have a white background, I’d often use black drop shadows in Photoshop and now those images just don’t work right. My CSS file still has a bunch of entries that I could probably remove without breaking anything. Also thinking about adding back an RSS icon (with a link to the feed) and creating some personal business cards with the site design elements.

The annual site anniversary post isn’t scheduled until March, but I did take a look at the WordPress Jetpack stats for this site in 2023: 6,406 visitors, 19,074 views and 822 likes. Two very old golf posts still are the most popular: past champion “Reflections on Spring Hill Golf Club” with 238 views and the new #1, “Somerby Golf Club Notes” with 326 views.

Thanks for visiting!

Edit (2/2/24): changed the image styling standard to a 10px white border


flourish icon

The Crafty Confectionary

Pic posted January 7, 2024

Love, Dots, Chocolate. Life is truly sweet. @TwoDots


flourish icon

Marshmallow Mills

Pic posted January 7, 2024

Sweet! Yum! A mouthwatering manufacturer. @TwoDots


flourish icon

The 21 Pyrites in New Year Nexus

Pic posted January 3, 2024

No way was I really in the top 100 worldwide #TwoDots


flourish icon

Jingle Bell Flip

Pic posted December 24, 2023

Great work with that Flip — you’re definitely on the Nice list now! @TwoDots


flourish icon

2024 Color of the Year

Pic posted December 7, 2023

PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz 🤔


flourish icon

Archmage’s Apothecary

Pic posted November 30, 2023

Since 2014. Try our Toadstool Tonic! @TwoDots


flourish icon

The Widdershins Woods

Pic posted November 15, 2023

Take a walk in the Widdershins Woods as the leaves whisper secrets @TwoDots


flourish icon

So far behind on Two Dots rn

Pic posted November 14, 2023

This was a surprise – finished 366th in the world on day two


flourish icon

They’re always watching…

Pic posted October 17, 2023

Old statues still guard the Abandoned Estate @TwoDots


flourish icon

Explore the Opulent Overgrowth

Pic posted September 24, 2023

Good Vibes only in the cheerful channel @TwoDots


flourish icon

Summer Holiday

Pic posted September 13, 2023

It’s been an absolute dream! – Good vibes only in the Cheerful Channel @TwoDots


flourish icon

Mouflon’s Capricious Flip

Pic posted September 9, 2023

YOU WON! (Ooh, sorry for shouting—wouldn’t want to cause a rockslide…) #TwoDots


flourish icon