New: Faerie Wings Poster from Zazzle.com
I’ve also turned all the good 20 minute magÂics from last fall into “Magic MagÂnets.” Be watchÂing for more designs for sale in poster/magnet/card form. PosÂsiÂbly some t-shirts as well.
Say Hello to Monochrome Fade.
Say hello to the spiffy new Wing o’ the Wolf layÂout. Uses a fade_img jquery class that I absolutely fell in love with!
Read the rest of this entry »
Goals for Spring Semester 2009 (Jr. Studio)
Find the Spring 09 WebÂFoÂlio Here
Getting There…
Finally got the top nav lookÂing the way I like it. Â
MessÂing with ConÂdiÂtional Tags in the sideÂbar, which is defÂiÂnitely someÂthing I’ll be utiÂlizÂing in the ArtStudio139 site.  The blog has a bloggy side, and cerÂtain pages simÂply have links to sub-pages.  The home page has nothÂing but a search box so far, and won’t until someÂtime tomorÂrow.  Time for me to snooze.Â
Oh, and I’ve started using FeedÂBurner for my RSS.  So if you’re subÂscribÂing to the old address, by some slim chance, there’s a link to the new style up in the new header.  It says 16 readÂers, yeah that’s obviÂously a placeÂholder.  Right now my real stats read “1.” ha.
My next step is going to be getÂting the Folio cleaned up & spuffed up.  After that the shop.  I’m going to upload a couÂple of starter designs to ZazÂzle, a couÂple that some Church friends will enjoy, espeÂcially.  And maybe link to some good books on AmaÂzon.  Do a Movies about Art shop page, as well.  That may be a FriÂday task, because I’m also going to start on ArtStudio’s temÂplate tomorrow.
Other plans include actuÂally writÂing real artiÂcles now and then as a way to help me learn things… instead of just these goofy site updates. Â
There’s also a a show comÂing up, which I will not be on stage for, but will probÂaÂbly be backÂstage when the time comes.  It’s another Michelle Miller proÂducÂtion, but Steve and I were in Florida when audiÂtions came around.  SomeÂhow her favorite male actor got a part anyÂway though.  I guess there were only two girl parts that got filled in pretty quickly.  Oh well– I have too much on my plate right now, anyÂway.  Spring or SumÂmer I’ll get back in something.
Enough ramÂbling.  Time for sleep.
End.
Getting Ready for the New Year
As the snow falls outÂside, I decide to write a post.
The webÂsite is getÂting its new look, which Dustin dubbed “Cleaner” than the last.  This one is probÂaÂbly going to be slowly develÂoped over the next couÂple of months as I see new techÂniques I like.  I’ve already disÂcovÂered how I’m going to hanÂdle the top navÂiÂgaÂtion, but that will have to wait until tomorÂrow night.  Be expectÂing a new shop to emerge as well.
I should do betÂter with twitÂter now, too– I’ve found TwitÂter Tools by Alex King, which will allow me to update my staÂtus from here, which is going to be much more conÂveÂnient. I’m tryÂing to use this new 2.7 interÂface to its fullest. Oh, and, thanks to the TwitÂter StaÂtus app in faceÂbook, it also updates my FaceÂbook StaÂtus at the same time.Â
What other crossÂpostiÂness am I thinkÂing? Well, I tried to re-install the LiveÂJourÂnal crossÂposter to update the old LJ for my long-time friends more often, but eviÂdently it has a catÂeÂgory probÂlem with 2.7, so that will have to wait. I’m also going to bring back my faceÂbook photo album, if that still works, and put it in the “Life” section.Â
There are other things I’ve been doing for the new year– I’ve switched bank accounts and am now getÂting that comÂpletely switched over, and teleÂphone comÂpaÂnies to someÂthing cheaper, and I have now switched half my light bulbs over to the spiÂrally kind. I’m hopÂing to have enough dough saved up for Adobe CS4 by next semester.Â
As ever, I’m hopÂing this year will be betÂter than the last, although 2008 has probÂaÂbly been the best of recent years. I think I’ll redo my 43 Things to have some goals for 09.
So, as the snow falls, I finÂish this post– and preÂpare to go bunÂdle up the short one for some aweÂsome winÂtery art creÂation outÂside. Then it’s hot chocoÂlate and popÂcorn strings for the pseudo-Tree! Until the next ranÂdom post–
End.
It’s Cold in Ohio.
Well, after a busy week in Florida, Reni and I have returned!  I could do a whole series of posts on the trip– but I don’t really have the time right now.  Today is the last day of fall ’08– 3 more semesÂters to go! — and I’m busy printÂing and scramÂbling to get things ready to go.  I just turned in my poetry zine/paper to Dr. Jo and got sevÂeral “Wow’s” all in a row, so that was a nice feelÂing.  Wish I could squeeze in more EngÂlish classes.  So much to learn, so litÂtle time.
I’m really here to post quickly about my plans to do a new layÂout for the HolÂiÂdays.  New knowlÂedge in CSS, JQuery and design in genÂeral is promptÂing me to update.  So don’t be surÂprised if Wing o’ the Wolf gets a facelift around JanÂuÂary.  This layÂout won’t comÂpletely die, though– I’ll be using someÂthing simÂiÂlar on ArtStudio139.com, which should be going up in the next few months for Amy Landrum.
Alright, back to getÂting things together for my preÂtend portÂfoÂlio for my preÂtend interÂview in Junior Studio.
Big Changes!
Okay, so the site won’t look that much difÂferÂent from what you’ve seen before, but behind the scenes we’re lookÂing at a whole new stage! Â
First of all, thanks to the podÂcasts of CSS-Tricks.com the site is 100% CSS Designed now!  View the source– you’ll  not see a sinÂgle table tag!  FreeÂdom from genÂerÂated PhoÂtoÂshop Slice code and the headaches and comÂpliÂcaÂtions it brings at last!  Thank you Chris Coyier!
SecÂondly, I’ve moved the site to the new server– NearlyFreeSpeach.net.  Thom’s blog has been up there for about a month now, and if he’s had any trouÂble with it, he hasn’t let me know about it.  Their busiÂness model is really unique: you only pay for the disk space, bandÂwidth, and MySQL space that you actuÂally use in a given month.  Which is great for me because:
a) if I don’t get a lot of hits in a month, I’m seriÂously only payÂing a few penÂnies for the space I’m takÂing up instead of five bucks for a gazilÂlion gigaÂbytes I’m never going to use, and
b) if my site’s not workÂing for some reaÂson, they’re not getÂting paid, which means they’re going to do everyÂthing in their power to make sure we’re running.
Some other nice things about them– they have a TON of supÂport mateÂrÂial, every quesÂtion I’ve had has been answered in the FAQ’s so far. And they allow editÂing of .htacÂcess, which you can see the results of in my pretty new urls in the address bar. Instead of being “?p=485″ we can all see the title up there. That makes me smile. And, as you should all know by now, I like seeÂing words that imply that you’re talkÂing to real peoÂple with senses of humor. That’s how I try to work, and that’s how they work. It was really their FAQ’s that sold me.
So, NearlyFreeSpeech.net- if you’re shopÂping for server space, I highly recÂomÂmend them. And they don’t have an affilÂiÂate proÂgram, so they’re not payÂing me to say that!
Jessica made me do it …
I received a strongly worded mesÂsage from a friend of mine urgÂing me to write someÂthing in this box that would be posted on this site. At the moment, I have nothÂing earth shatÂterÂing, world changÂing, or even mind numbÂing to throw at you. HowÂever, I will write to make her happy.
Later, I do intend to write extenÂsively on topÂics such as movies, CDs, opera, musiÂcal theÂater and pretty much anyÂthing else I feel like makÂing you read.
Â
- Enjoy -
Looking Good So Far…
So, I’m workÂing on the new verÂsion of the site– and so far I’m pretty excited. I’ve already begun disÂcussing it with a few of the peoÂple I’ve had in mind as conÂtributers. I’ve put all my Stone Age images in the Art HisÂtory gallery to start it off. Next will be Mesopotamia. I’d like to get up to the Aegean before classes start to actuÂally be of use to peoÂple this semester.
It took three or four designs to get the look I wanted, and I’m buildÂing this one to last. Next I’m going to start deletÂing the more perÂsonal posts from the archives and leave the inforÂmaÂtional entries. I’m also going to redo my A-Store to fit with the theme, I’ll probÂaÂbly leave some of my perÂsonal catÂeÂgories as my conÂtriÂbuÂtions. I would still like to have a litÂtle more conÂtrol over the bookÂstore, so if anyÂbody out there in InterÂnet land knows of a WordÂpress PluÂgin that will do someÂthing simÂiÂlar with AmaÂzon serÂvices, and do it well, I’d love to hear about it.
The Google CalÂenÂdar needs to be made, as well. Maybe I should shop for another event orgaÂnizer. We’ll see.
I’m open to ideas and sugÂgesÂtions at this point– I’m still workÂing on sellÂing it to peoÂple. HopeÂfully this project will turn out to be fun for everyone!
Okay, that’s all for now.
Plays & Playing.
YesÂterÂday wasn’t very proÂducÂtive. Got back from Audrey about the job, I defÂiÂnitely still have it, and we offiÂcially start work next week. That’s good. I tried to install a few pluÂgÂins for makÂing some extra cash and makÂing the biz work a litÂtle more smoothly. The AMM AmaÂzon pluÂgin was one of them, I just need to make a new temÂplate. I’m always tryÂing to get away from the A-Store, for the same reaÂsons I like to run my own blog. I guess I’m someÂthing of a control-freak when it comes to this stuff. I also tried to do the PrestoGifto Cafe Press pluÂgin again, and I couldn’t get it to work, again. The third has some promise, Instinct’s E-Commerce pluÂgin. I’ve played with it before, it has so much to it, it’s like adding a whole other proÂgram that just hapÂpens to use the WordÂPress admin area. My main probÂlem was that I was tryÂing to do 3 things at once. I did get some groovy “a pixel’s a pixel” prodÂucts on my Cafe Press store. I’ll have to add a link.
Need to do someÂthing to the index page. I think I may just conÂdense EVERYTHING into wordÂpress pages, now that I’m getÂting into makÂing new temÂplates. I defÂiÂnitely think I’ll make WordÂpress my speÂcialty. Oh, and truejeska.com also rediÂrects here now. I just couldn’t let it go.Â
Today is my first Holzer-Free day. And since we’re fast approachÂing the end of school, I’ll be spendÂing it putting together my Art HisÂtory portÂfoÂlio & writÂing my paper on Time ManÂageÂment for WellÂness (that’s a laugh– I told him that was a good subÂject for me), then my social-interraction for the day so I don’t get crazy-cabin-fever. BroÂken Up play pracÂtice at 4, then a bunch of us are going to ParkÂersÂburg to preÂview Civil War (This Year’s SumÂmer Musical.)Â
I’m glad I’m doing BroÂken Up, it’s a small comÂedy with a perÂfect rehearsal schedÂule & it’s givÂing me a warm-up after my year-long theÂatre break. It’s also offiÂcially put me in ShiftÂing Stage, besides “offiÂcial graphic designer.” Michelle actuÂally wrote a play with me, Steve, Eric & JD in mind– I just got done readÂing it, it’s weird. You can totally tell it was writÂten for us. The main girl’s name is Jessie and she’s a 23 year old theÂatre major, the main guy is Adam, and he’s a 28 year old workÂing on his EngÂlish MasÂters. Had to change our majors from Art & Opera to not make it “too” obviÂous, I guess.Â
Okay– so I’m totally avoidÂing my Art HisÂtory portÂfoÂlio. I have a lot of notes to transÂfer to InDeÂsign. Off I go…Â
The End.
