Recently in Blogging Category
I was talking with someone the other day about freelance web design/development. As we were talking, they said something along the lines of, “I can't help but notice you talk more about the code than you do about the design. I thought you were more interested in the design side.” (both true statements). “So, if you're so interested in the code, then why claim to enjoy the designing more?” Good question. It all comes down to math. I spend more time working on the code than I do on the design. It'd be great if we could all code faster. That would be fabulous, but that's just not how it works. It's not that I skip out on a decent design. I do my best, but the actual building of the site takes longer. Like a chef, creating a new dish. They're familiar with all their ingredients. They're familiar with the pieces and steps to making a good dish. They have an imagination and a goal, but once it comes time to perfect that new dish, they'll spend more time standing in the kitchen working on it, than they will sitting at their desk coming up with the idea.
Steve at DeGraeve.com wins. It's not like there was a competition, just insane jealousy on my part. Sure, there are some options out there that let you upload a picture and it'll generate a decent palette for you. I didn't/don't want to be tied to somebody else's tool like that, and their generated palettes weren't as nice as Steve's. So, I looked around and tried out a couple pre-made options which I modified and hosted myself – but the colors generated by them just weren't right. (sorry, but I can't find all the links to the different things I tried)
Finally, I tried brewing my own, using a whole family of PHP functions with which I wasn't entirely familiar, and which didn't get me much further than the pre-made solutions. No matter what I did, though, I couldn't communicate in PHP what I wanted to do with the information I had. Unfortunately (or fortunately), since I work with databases all day, when I deal with arrays, they're just a bit sloppy, and don't behave how I think they should.
I knew it was going to be an uphill battle once I realized I was just trying to replicate somebody else's work. As we all know, a copy rarely turns out as good as the original. Why bother with this? I want(ed) to dynamically generate a color palette (which could be plugged into a CSS file through some magic) and have the accompanying photo show as well - to give the photos a better visual continuity. It's somewhat similar to what Dave Shea has going on, but a bit more dynamic. Who knows, maybe I'll still go through with it, but I don't see myself trying to do the full, on-the-fly palette generation. </geekiness>
Well, technically it was all on MT4 before, but some of the pages still had the old template. I'll admit I'm going to miss that old template. I should build a little homage to it, just so I don't have to lose all that quality work. I had it on my site for a long time. But now the Billboard Charts, my About/Contact page, my not-super-impressive portfolio, and the page copies are all incorporated into the new look/feel. I'm working on some additions to the Billboard charts (more links to the actual songs, so you can more easily reminisce/dedicate). Want to know what I learned about MT4 while I was doing these conversions? MT4 is flippin' sweet. I won't geek out on you here, but I fully admit I love the new system, and I doubt I've really even scratched the surface.
- January - In Memory of Mr. Cup Noodle - This started a little spree of mine of writing haikus on this blog. I've probably had more Cup Noodles in the past year than the previous 5 combined. No correlation.
- February - American Idol Delusion - I feel like I've wanted to talk about that one ever since I saw the show the first time. Yes, much to my male coworkers' embarrassment (and a little to mine), I watch it still and look forward to the new season.
- March - Give 'em a Call - A new guy start at work and in his first few days somebody warned him of this quality/tendency of mine… months after I blogged about it. Go figure.
- April - Picky Eaters - Continues to be one of the most perplexing things to me. I think I fairly categorized them though, which is pretty good after all this time.
- May - Mousecapades - Had I known how much this would impact/bother me later in the year, I might have moved then. I still really like our home. Despite being born this month, she doesn't really get blogged about until late July.
- June - Superstitions - My only entry for this month. I was busy because I was almost….
- July - Done with School - A horrible post to have to actually read, but a significant thing for me to accomplish.
- August - Site Revamp… Again - Mainly due to my upgrade to Movable Type 4, and also because I was bored with how it was before. Too bad I never really finished all the stuff on these lists, but I made significant progress.
- September - Recipe Collection Revamp - This took a bunch of work on my part to get this up and going. Similar to the mice, had I known what would happen the next month, I wouldn't have spent as much time on it. Oh well.
- October - G2 20071012 - Just a finishing piece to various musical adventures this year. This double disc compilation for Maria turned out to be quite a success - better than the previous G2 this year.
- November - Unique to the Taker - I had a number of more thoughtful (as opposed to humorous or mocking) pieces this year, and this was probably one of my weirdest to most of you. I've thought about this post since I wrote it, and I now see a small flaw in my theory. Oh well.
- December - Ouch - An instant classic for me. Looking at the colors I provided, it's little wonder to me why make-up colors are what they are… if people want to look bruised and battered. Go figure.
Although I'd love to go through and pick the best pictures of the year and best events, I'm going to be honest here – I know most of you don't care. Thanks for making 2007 what it was. Here's to 2008 being even better, both as a dinky blog/site as well as for each of us personally.