Eternal Sunshine

An educational journey through the Web Design world.

As promised here’s a little gathering of the books I’m considering purchasing for this summer. Which gives you an idea of how little a social life I’m likely to have…and may not even miss. I am that lame.

Design Related

• Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook (Pioneering Series)
  by Dan Cederholm
• The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques
  by Corrie Haffly
• HTML Utopia: Designing Without Tables Using CSS
  by Rachel Andrew
• The Art and Science of CSS
  by Jonathan Snook
• The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks
  by Rachel Andrew
• The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
  by Jason Beaird
• CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions
  by Andy Budd
• Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter)
  by Dan Cederholm
• Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics
  by Jennifer Niederst Robbins (Author), Aaron Gustafson (Technical Editor)

Not Design Related

• Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion
  by Daniel Jones
• My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith
  by Kevin Smith
• The Vagina Monologues
  by Eve Ensler
• Slut!
  by Leora Tanenbaum
• The Female Brain
  by Louann Brizendine M.D., Susan Wels
• Female Chauvinist Pigs
  by Ariel Levy

Clearly, I have no life. lol

I’m seriously considering a lobotomy. I think the braindead feeling would be a welcome change from the information overload I seem to be experiencing lately.

In actual design world news not a lot has been going on. My blogs all seems to be feeling less awe-inspiring lately. No articles being e-mailed to myself for later enjoyment. My time has been all too taken up with final projects and trying to remain some sort of sane.

My final project for my Web Dev class is not design wise up to my usual standards, but it fits the mold and will likely change several more times before I’m actually happy with it. Here’s a quick shot of it as it stands today, in all it’s boring unfinished glory.

That’s sadly all there is for me at moment. I’ve got a pretty hefty list of books I plan to purchase for this summer’s learning. I won’t be taking any classes so I plan on filling my few months off with that. If I feel up to it I’ll post a list of the books I intend to get, $ providing.

Just a quick note in thanks for the beautiful (and free) theme created by Design Disease thanks to Smashingmagazine.com. More specifically through a Google search.

One of these days I must/will/need to/should create my own, but for now this is pretty and well done. Thank you anonymous interweb friend for your beautiful work.

Thanks to the morning Digg crawl I give you:

42 Must Bookmark Resources for Web Designers

I must admit some of these are already in my bookmarks just by glancing at the page but the rest are on my ‘when you have time, check these out’ list.

Well it’s official. I’m not taking any classes this Summer. Mostly because the offerings are pathetic. Not a single thing that will either take care of a needed credit, or just anything I want to take in general. So this summer shall be my own way of learning. Woot!!

I’m working out a mental list of everything I want to accomplish by summer’s end. Some are personal, some educational, but all things to keep my busy and the brain working. I give this until June 1st, then I’ll just be playing video games and catching up on my sleep.

In no particular order I give you:

Things to Accomplish Summer 2008

• Re-write Resume
• Get DisasterDesigns completed and online
• Research possible college options for future bachelor degree finishing
• Write/Call MSU regarding what I would need to do to finish my Psych degree
• Take on a few freelance jobs
• Work on the Marty/Me book project that is collecting layer upon layer of dust
• Read. Read. Read.
• Learn ASP.NET
• Refine Flash skills
• Create no less than 5 CSS templates for use with sites
• Improve layout technique and design in Photoshop
• Learn. Learn. Learn.
• Eat better, move more
• Organize files on computer more efficiently
• Start an IRA
• Save $. Save. Save. Save.
• Start looking for companies to potentially apply with in the area and out of state
• Write daily entries here
• Sell things I don’t need.
• Start creating a more professional wardrobe. Comfortable but office appropriate.
• Plan out for a better financial year
• Relax and enjoy the sunshine

I’ll likely add to and subtract from this but at the moment that’s a little window into the things I want to accomplish with my ’semester off’.

Oh yeah, and I’ll be working full time as always. I just can’t get enough of doing something all the time. I am a sick, sick puppy.

Been tinkering with the layout for my portfolio. I’m just not happy with it, yet. I like the ideas I have going in parts of it but as a whole it’s not nearly as polished as I would like it to be just yet.

I’ve been looking at other sites for inspiration again, which I love to do. I like to see what other people are doing, critique it purely from a visitor’s standpoint. Really i just like to see what others in my soon to be field are up to. Where they are drawing inspiration.

So far i have to say I really like Shifting Creations page. I don’t necessarily love the style of the whole thing but I love the content choices and the little touches. Especially on the About page, the little comic versions of himself are a nice touch I think.

Without further babbling here is where I’m at with my current little diddy. I may complete it, I may start over. With me you never know. I get one idea but the next day something else entirely different will strike me as a better option.

Finally getting my swing back. I re-did the front page for the domain last night. Feel free to check that out here.

I’m also getting ideas flowing in regards to a site I should have put up years ago; My own portfolio. At this point my design is down on paper and I’m looking at other pages to spark some ideas of what I should include and what I should not bother with. Also, sadly, it’s giving me the motivation to do something else I have no done in far too long. Update my resume.

I just found this site, newark1.com in my little process. I’ll have to sit down and give it a good read later but there appears to be a wealth of information on everything from color theory to placement. There’s also a blog. I smell a time suck…but at least this one will educate me, unlike Guitar Hero…

After I get my design portfolio up and running my next big goal will be a redesign of this page. I appreciate the work other put have put into the templates I’ve been trying to learn from, but I feel like a thief in a sense, even when allowed, using someone else’s work on my page.

Mid Semester and I haven’t written a word since it began, sad isn’t it.

I just finished my very first full Flash game, which I’ll post (maybe) after I do some finalization type things to it.

My website is up for my advanced web development class, but it’s nothing spectacular do to the constraints given in general for the assignments.

If there is anyone interested in seeing that it is located here.

That’s about all this girl’s got right now. Too busy with work and life in general to really have been into anything else. Haven’t really even had time to poke around my usual Design blog haunts…depressing really.

It has been entirely unintentional that I’ve already faltered on my plan to write in here at a relatively consistent rate.

Classes have begun and are entering the full swing of taking away what little free time I have to begin with. Work is trucking along at a steady pace of too quick, and so it all goes.

I have been getting into some more interesting ActionScript facets in my Flash Game Design class. I unfortunately don’t have any examples to really post at this point.

My Advanced Web Development class website is up but at this point it is nothing worth screaming about. I will be re-designing it for our next assignment using pure CSS. I’m looking forward to it. I would have preferred to have done this from day one. If anyone of my very tiny reader’s base is at all interested it is located at http://rebel.lcc.edu/mearst/

As far as my surfing and new article finds I don’t have much of anything new and exciting.

I have gotten thoroughly addicted to teamsugar.com’s my sugar feature which now let’s me have all their sister sites in one place. It’s a very chick based little community but, hell I am after all a chick…so that’s that.

Until I have something of actual import…I’m out!

Ah, another afternoon of Digg-ing.

This should be helpful for my Flash Game Design Class. Now if only that pesky homework would get finished on its own so that I could play with all these ideas…

Best of Flash Tutorials