I didn’t feel like working today. I felt even less like going to the Embassy for more pages in my passport. Both are important … but … instead, I flaffed off at Blog Design Blog.
I totally had plans to extract information for a future DWB feature. Honest. Then, when I reached Blog Design Blog’s gallery, I found the beautifully designed tj mapes and the hilarious Time Breakdown of Modern Web Design found me.
First with, then without Jay’s help (hi Jay!), I created our own breakdown graph. Obviously, the credit goes to TJ and the site he got the idea from (hi TJ!).
The Breakdown of a Modern Web Designer
Now, Jay’s been here for over two weeks. Meaning, we’ve been working across the room or down the hall from each other for a lifetime. Meaning, I can yell over to her in times of frustration and she back at me. Skype not needed. And since we’ve been updating, tweaking, problem solving and deciding (with not much time off), there’s been a LOT of frustration.
Especially as she’s been feeding me coffee. Every day. Yup. She lives dangerous like.
So first thing in the morning I have my pot of tea and get right to work. Hours later (many, MANY hours later), she struggles awake with Frappachinos bought from our neighborhood cybercafe / coffee shop. Jay gets one for her. And one for me. That’s right. Danger lives just around the corner.
Jay’s even taken to siding with Chris, a sure sign of overload. My caffeine overload. Her Cat overload. Which is why I found the Time Breakdown Modern Web Design so perfect (with tweaks of course).
From TJ: This is a 100% honest insight to my life, work and play … Just yesterday I spent about 2-3 hours trying to figure out why only in Firefox of all browsers was positioning a dropdown (select) menu totally different than all the other browsers … I figured it out in the end by using a hack for Firefox that I found on the web … All I have to say is, “Thank god for other developers.”
And all I have to say is, “Thank goodness for Jay!”
Another interesting post from TJ is What every cubical needs. Awwwwww. TJ, I feel for you, I do.
Hey all, if you have the time, have a listen to TJ’s Radio Station at LastFM. Very nice AND I can listen to the music. I know, I know … you are saying, “so?” But just listen. Ok?
I used to spend time at Pandora, but they’ve taken to redirecting a message just for me … personal like.
“Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative. We believe that you are in Thailand (your IP address appears to be xx.xxx.xxx.xx). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize …”
An apology? Soooo … it’s PROXY time! Um. Not. Apparently a new law in Thailand makes it illegal to use a proxy. Remember when YouTube and Mashable were blocked? Deep sigh.
But, I am proud of Thailand standing up for their beliefs. They have pride in their king, their culture and their country. Deserved pride. What other country can say that?
So, I can live without YouTube if I have to (now back online). I can even live without Pandora. But Mashable? Ummmm.
Well, here we are at the bottom of this post. And while it might not be proxy time, it certainly is Frappachino and Red Hot Chilli Peppers time … so … anon to you all …
PS: This post was supposed to go off tomorrow, but as my site was down due to being hit with a gig of spam late last night, my treat.
Technorati Tags: blog, breakdown, design, frustration, graphic, Web Designers
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March 27th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Hey, thank you for the shout out. I’m just getting my blog back up and going and trying to post more often. Thanks again for the kind words.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hi TJ,
It was my pleasure for sure. You have a fantastic blog (love the colours and design).
I read about your loss. That must have hurt, especially with the quality you put into your posts.
Good luck, I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you do next.
March 28th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hey,
Thanks for the link love. I got a question though, what does “flaffed” mean? I tried searching for it, but no luck.
Vinh Le’s last blog post..Buy, Borrow, or Steal the Best Books to Get Ahead
March 28th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Hey back Vinh,
With your great selection of blog designs to share, more link love is coming your way for sure. And of course, I’ve got you on the schedule for a feature. If you want to join in on the personalised banner, just holler and we’ll make it so.
Flaffed equals flaffing off equals goofing off. But with a sassy bite. I’ve been using it for over ten years, so I’m not sure where I got it from (could be British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand or American).
March 29th, 2008 at 4:12 am
That would be awesome. I didn’t noticed the banner changed at first, that is pretty cool.
I need to go work on adding more blog designs from my collection. I’m trying to get a good list of blog designs together and then focus on individual elements. Thanks again.
Vinh Le’s last blog post..25 Must Buy, Borrow, or Steal Books for Web Designers
March 29th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Great! The banner instructions (if you want to create your own, or if you want me to do one) is under contact > submit (just pass all that stuff at the top and go straight to the banner explanation).
I’m still working on this blog design. I went from two column to three. And now I want a header that’s not so simple.
Minimal can be beautiful, but with as many blogs as I see, I’m leaning towards something more fiddly. Like this –>> this. (But I’ll have to reduce the banner height ..)
March 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
Cool, I will get on that.
In regards to your blog design, I think it looks great. The header adds a nice personal touch to the design. But yeah banner height seems to be a big concern, a lot bigger I realized when people started to comment about mines. I think it makes my blog more memorable, I mean how can you forget such a huge header with flare. Can’t wait to see your finished design.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Thanks Vinh. It’s still in progress (changed already from what I posted). But I believe it’s an improvement on what I have now. I love your blog header, large, or not. It catches the eye and makes me want to see what else is around.
Btw - on the banners - the template for download is larger than will be put on the rotating.php (but not inside the posts) so that will have to be taken into account. I’m not sure how I’ll get around it in the future. I’ve already reduced the height of the existing rotating banners, just not the post banners. No time …
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
Great! The banner instructions is under construction ..nice site
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 am
This post was supposed to go off tomorrow /:|
nice post