When you figure it out, will you please tell me?

Take a look here, Julian; I hope it helps. I've tried to answer both questions, though I'm not clear on whether the answers are comprehensible to everyone or not...

Damn it! Jason, I mean. Sorry about that.

jason, I can't help much with the first, but I think I can help with the second.

When you are editing, make sure you are typing in the HTML box. This code also works in comments.

what you see below, replace [ and ] with > and < (html brackets)

for a link -
[a href="www.yoururlhere.com"] Text of the link [/a]
example:
lpsrocks' blog

It should automatically show up in blue.

To embed a Youtube video, you need to use the HTML box again in the Edit Post. Then go to Youtube, on the right-hand side, there will be a box about half-way down the page with two options -
URL [and abunch of code]
Embed [and a bunch of code that looks like this...if it doesn't disappear...
]
cut and paste all of that into the HTML window

hope that helps...

Lisa

oops, of course the embed code disappeared, but it starts with [object] and ends with [/object]

and of course, my html brackets are backwards

I want to edit my comments...waaaahhhhh

rob, you're the Pope now...can't you make that happen?!?

I can attach a youtube video, but anything else HA! wouldn't happen.

Go to youtube. Find your video. Then, youtube has this little set of boxes to your right where you find all the information about the person who uploaded the video. There's a little box with writing in it that says "embed" next to it. Copy everything in that box.

Then, go to OS. Use Firefox for all this stuff. Safari craps out on about half of all things you try to add. After you've written your post, or before you've written your post, or you know, whenever/wherever you want to add the youtube video, you put the cursor. Click on the html button at the top of the page. That will bring up a box with everything in it you've done so far. Go to the place you want to add the video within this box. This is easier if you just add at the beginning or at the end so you don't have to fiddle about in the other html text. Paste the stuff you copied from the youtube site. Click on the part at the bottom that updates the page.

Your video should be there in this weird yellow box of nothing. When you save to see your post, whether you leave it in Draft or not, you should be able to see it.

For links, don't use Safari. Use Firefox or something else. Highlight the text you want to use as the link. Then, click on the chain button at the top of the post. A new, tiny window will come up. Post the full URL into the first box. Put a title of it, whatever you want, in the last box. Click on 'insert.' And that should do it.

I'd like to know how to make photos bigger myself.

odette - see rob's post, linked above for resizing pictures and creating horizontal and vertical space around them

I haven't had any luck with the drag method, so I use HTML

here's the short version - using your nifty little HTML button, when you're in that window, your image tag will look something like this

[img id="cid_26338" src="files/korculafarmersmkt1223353008.jpg" alt="Korcula Farmer's Market" hspace="5" width="285" /]

that is the default width assigned by OS; I added hspace for horizontal space around it before adding the caption

to make it bigger add a height="###" and change the width="###"
the numbers equate to pixels

does that make sense?

oh, and don't put the "a" before the height
it was a hiccup, like add a height tag

If you do embed any video not from youtube, be careful that it doesn't autoplay. Here's what happens when it does:
Sarah Palin Interviews

Very sad day on the JodiBlog.

Good luck!