a note about avatars

Every once in a while I get a technological tic, and decide I must immediately figure out how to make my webpages dance the hula, or teach the ipod to say comforting things when I’m feeling low. I’m pretty good at knowing at first glance if the technological demands are beyond the amount of time and energy I can dedicate, in which case I (1) give up and decide I never did like inanimate talking objects; or (2) I pay somebody else to do it for me.

Some time ago, maybe a month, I ran across a website where you could register your avatar. You know, those little pictures people put up under their names on discussion boards and the comment section of blogs. The idea was that you registered your avatar and then whenever you posted on an enabled board or blog, your avatar would automatically be included. I like my avatar, you understand. I’m proud of my avatar, I admit it. So I gave in to foolish pride and jumped on the bandwagon. I followed the directions carefully, uploaded the avatar, made the changes I needed to make to various templates… and it didn’t work. So I futzed with it for maybe an hour total, and then gave up. As I said, I usually know when to throw in the towel.

Now, a month later, suddenly the avatar is popping up in various places — mostly (but not always) when I respond to a comment on my own weblog. And here’s the problem: having given up on the whole idea, I now cannot find the original website where the whole thing got started, so I can’t turn the darn thing off or make any adjustments to the way it displays. Thus, if you see Einstein popping up in unexpected places, that’s the reason. The technology gods are paying me back for my hubris.