Masthead (39k image)
Monday, February 28th

Custom Flashy-flash (ie - I WANT THIS JOB.)

Jon
02.28.05 @ 08:42 AM CST
listening to: NPR - Who would'a thought?
feeling: Sleepy, but good.

So, I spent all weekend working on re-learning Flash, which I have not used in about 5 years. There are a couple of things I got out of this that work out okay.

First, is that I now know flash WAY better than I did the last time I worked in it. I don't know what was up with me then, but I don't think I grasped the structure.

Second, I've decided that I really enjoy the Flash drawing space. It makes me curious about the FreeHand drawing space. I LOVE illustrator. It's my favorite program...but I really liked drawing in Flash this weekend.

Anyway, so I spent all weekend working in flash, and relearning flash, and I came up with this.

Tuesday, February 22nd

Professional...

Jon
02.22.05 @ 03:48 PM CST
listening to: NPR

Have I told you how much I hate professionalism?

It has ruined many a perfectly good dilettante.

 

Preparations...

Jon
02.22.05 @ 10:46 AM CST
listening to: NPR, what else?
feeling: endlessly frustrated...

Today I have crossed a threshold.

I no longer care if anyone here ruins my work, because I am leaving.

There is no need to jealously protect anything here that I have done that is good. They will ruin it in time, as soon as I leave, and I know that now. Things will go back to being run by people who are far more satisfied with fitting in than standing out.

My question to them is, "How do you expect to get noticed?"

Their answer to me is, "Huh?"

But, today I have crossed a threshold, so it's okay that I no longer have the patience to explain the principle. They would forget as soon as I leave anyway.

Monday, February 21st

advice needed

Nicole
02.21.05 @ 12:31 PM CST
listening to: none
feeling: yuck

Okay so everyone has had one of those days when they wish that they hadn't had gotten out of bed that day. Well that has definately been the kind of day that i'm having. I forgot about my italian quiz so that was a bomb, i didn't get to take a shower because I woke up late, it snowed but not hard enough to cancel classes, i ran into the teacher that I hate and she told me that I am still spending to much time on all the wrong things in the paper that I wrote, well if the paper is my opinion then shouldn't I spend time on what I find important not what she found important? I hate school. But I'm not so sure that life will get better once I'm out of school so somebody,,, what is the point again? plain

Friday, February 18th

I write about Ad stuff?

Jon
02.18.05 @ 09:51 AM CST
listening to: NPR
feeling: Groovy. Lalala la la la la, Feeling Groovy. (Not really. But I am in a Simon & Garfunkel mood.)

I write about Ad stuff?

I thought I wrote about business and the internet and, yes, advertising, but mostly design.

"Well, Jon," you may say, "You haven't written a damn thing about design in months on this blog."

"Well," I say to you, "I think everything I write about it about design, because most of the things I am writing about are things that are not fulfilling their potential because their creators have either not considered the nature of what they are creating, or they have lost focus somewhere during the process. Design is not how it looks. Design is how it works. Graphics do work. They do just as much work (if not more, in a more subtle way) as ads, or a bridge, or piece of electronics."

And then you would say, "Damn. Why do you have to be so heavy all the time?"

Thursday, February 17th

If I had 10 Million Dollars...

Jon
02.17.05 @ 04:00 PM CST
listening to: NPR
feeling: Blah/Grrr...

If I had Ten Million Dollars...
...I would quit my job, invest prudently, and spend my time building websites that did something useful or supported something worthwhile. I would get a degree in computer science and a masters in design, and maybe an associates or something in 3D animation, and I would make things that were cool. I would contribute to our progress toward a future where the collective intellect of the human race is networked together and we experience the web as a place in an of itself, not as a 2 dimensional thing that we drill through like a book or magazine.

I wish I was building something worthwhile right now.

I will be part of the future of the web. Future generations of keyboard cowboys will know my name.

 

New Cool Site...

Jon
02.17.05 @ 11:22 AM CST
listening to: Nothing at all
feeling: okay I guess, still nervous...

Dig this article: http://www.uie.com/articles/design_intuitive/

Wednesday, February 16th

Food

Jocelyn
02.16.05 @ 04:14 PM CST
listening to: None
feeling: Fine

We all have our place on this blog....Jon write ad stuff, Nicole, school stuff, I write about food. This weekend, in attempt to straighten out my vision after being buried in a book for too long baked cookies. I was going to bake a cake, from a mix, because it would be quick and tasty. We didn’t have icing, so I decided to make cookies from scratch. Healthier ones than average, but by no means, 'healthy'. They still required a stick of butter, but instead of regular flour, I used whole wheat flour and brown sugar. With added raisins and walnuts, they're packed with nutrition, right? Anyway, they're good and they're gone. Sunday I made roasted squash and apple soup and made walnut cilantro pesto to dollop on top of the soup. I’ve never made squash anything successfully. I was even hesitant to try a piece after it had roasted, for fear it didn’t taste good. Even my first taste of the soup was frightening, but damn its some tasty soup. I would buy it at a restaurant! Last night I baked chicken with cranberry and wild rice. When that came out of the oven, I did a cheer in the kitchen because it looked soo good, juicy and tender.

 

A turn of events...

Jon
02.16.05 @ 11:20 AM CST
listening to: NPR - As always...
feeling: I can't tell. All this snot is keeping me from thinking clearly.

Okay, so I know I post on here a lot about advertising, but you are going to have to deal with it.

I am reading all these posts on Ad websites about how traditional advertising is going to go away, and it's all TiVo's fault, and it's all the Web's fault, and it's all iTunes' fault, blah blah blah.

The other night Jocelyn and I were waxing philosophic on the concept of TiVo and advertising, since we recently got one, and it occured to me that a)My wife kicks ass, and 2) I go out of my way to watch good ads.

Perhaps it is because I am some kind of Ad-perv, but I spend a little time every day watching good ads online. Maybe there is something to the whole viral-video ad thing. People pass around ads all the time via e-mail. Hell, I made an ad for one of our loan officers that got passed around for a while.

So...I guess what I am saying is, perhaps it isn't TiVo or the Web, or any other thing that is NOT TV or Radio, or otherwise chocked full of ads that is destroying advertising, but the quality of the ads. I think the vast majority of Network Television programming has proven that people will watch anything that is even mildly entertaining...so maybe try creating something that we'd go out of our way to watch.

Tuesday, February 15th

Valentine's Day

Nicole
02.15.05 @ 07:54 AM CST
listening to: typing
feeling: not to bad

Okay so as we all know yesterday was the big V'day but what we don't realize is that although people complain that it is a holiday made up by "the man" to make people spend money it is now not about "the man" as soon as people bought into the idea that v'day is a true holiday and we must buy stuff then it became a fact that we all must follow like robots. In order to prove that it isn't important Kevin and I decided to stick it to the man and not celebrate, besides we have no money. So instead on Friday we had our traditional Friday night candlelit dinner and that was it. While we thought that no one would care what we did there was a great deal of disappointment amongst our friends that there was no grand statements. I guess some of the lonely people try to live out their romantic lives through those who have found love. Oh well to bad for them. I hope everyone else had a happy v'day. smile

Monday, February 14th

Business as Sports...

Jon
02.14.05 @ 09:32 AM CST
listening to: That
feeling: Nervous...

So, I've had this thought rolling around in my head for the last few weeks...or maybe just since the SuperBowl®. I've been thinking about my complete and utter disinterest in sports for the last few years...and I think it's come to this: Business is Sport. At least, that's how I see it. An effective ad campaign is the same to me as a brilliant, hail mary, shot in the dark pass. Financial planning and accounting and HR is all brilliant defensive strategy (and as recent SuperBowl®s have proven, a good defense can be your best offense). Getting a job right out of college is the draft, and changing jobs two years later is Free Agency.

It figures though, that the part that I like it the offense. I think the part MOST people like is the offense, the Advertising...that is, most people who see things my way.

I think MOST people, in a real majority sense, would rather watch than play, just like in real life...but they gotta make a livin' somehow.

Thursday, February 10th

Sustainable Design...(part duh)

Jon
02.10.05 @ 01:44 PM CST
listening to: NPR
feeling: Full...of Burrito!

Okay, so I have a comment that I'd like to make about sustainable design.

What exists is LAME. I listenned to this whole thing about how people are putting 'green' roofs on big skyscrapers, and how the theory is that it will produce more O2, reducing CO2, and rebuilding the ozone layer, AND acting as a thermal barrier for the roof of the building and saving energy. Problem is, it don't f@ckin' WORK, and the expense FAR outweighs any benefits, and the gardens require gigantic amounts of maintenance.

What people don't seem to understand, is that this crap has to be useable. As it turns out, Architects are just as bad about this as Software Developers and Product Designers and Electronics Manufacturers...and I am noticing it more and more.

Maybe it's because of what I do, and my own frustration with my own work, but I have a hard time believing that people are getting paid large sums of money to build us incredibly scientifically advanced, useful, and powerful technologies, and then we disregard it because we can't figure out how to use it, and we won't read the damned manual.

Here's what I want. I want some scientifically proven way to save some energy, make a little less impact on my environment (or at least use some materials that the environment won't try to DESTROY: Hello, I shouldn't have to water the foundation of my house!), save a little money, and not need a degree in Earth Science or Horticulture to do the upkeep.

Is that so wrong?

 

Sustainable Design

Nicole
02.10.05 @ 07:45 AM CST
listening to: none
feeling: angry

Now that I can think straight. I have some complaints about sustainable design. You see it's really about true reaction to one's sight. But then again it's not because they don't want you to move anything unless you can reuse what you're moving or you're adding more to make life more sustainable. Then once you figure out if you are harnessing the wind and the sun and the rain in appropraite manners for the earth you have to think about the culture that is not going to take well to all of these new materials that you are introducing into their primarily brick world. Well that's all for now.

 

lectures

Nicole
02.10.05 @ 07:42 AM CST
listening to: the honk of rush hour
feeling: sleepy

Ok so I wanted to go to this lecture really bad last night. I got of class I picked up dinner from the Thread I got in the car and got gas. I have a half hour to get to 117 S. 17th st. should be a piece of cake, even at this time of day. You would think so unless you've ever dealt with city parking. 20 minutes late to the lecture and the guy is making his closing remarks and people begin to leave. I was so pissed.

On a happier note atleast I got to spend sometime looking around the AIA bookstore. They have some great books their. If I had a lot of money I know what I would do with it. Take time off and read alot of books.

Wednesday, February 9th

The Tao te Chiat/Day

Jon
02.09.05 @ 02:36 PM CST
listening to: NPR
feeling: Phlegmy, still...

Have you ever had the urge to recite advertising slogans as if they were sage advice? I have it all the time, so I am starting a post in which I list all of them that I use.

So, to start it all off:

New guy at work likes to tilt at windmills, and has decided to take a stab at organizing the group "dump" folder on our file server. My advice, "It takes a tough man to make a tender Chicken."

 

Asparagus Q. Molokai

Jon
02.09.05 @ 02:17 PM CST
listening to: An old episode of CrossFire with Frank Zappa on it.
feeling: Amused...

So, although I am not amused by the antics of spammers and virus writers, and I have no idea if this is deliberate or the sort of coincidence that can only happen as the event of the bizarre logical evolutions that can occur inside a computer, but I just received a virus e-mail message from "Asparagus Q. Molokai."

Badass, right? I am going to have to start a whole list of these. They are getting funnier.

EDIT! In Fact, I am posting more of these after the jump, so into the Archives you go!

Tuesday, February 8th

I am sick

Jon
02.08.05 @ 03:10 PM CST
listening to: The audio from a Gilmore Girls DVD
feeling: ILL!

Okay, I stayed home from work today, sick, because yesterday I should have, and today I feel worse. The really lame thing, besides the fact that I am basically convinced that I am sick because I either a) Ate something evil at a SuperBowl party, or b)My stomach is upset from the extraordinary amount of PHLEGM I have swallowed in the last 48 hours, is that I left my USB drive, containing my resume and all the files I need to do serious work on my website, at MY OFFICE! Freakin' CRAP! The thing I would need to do any legitimate work done on this wasted "I don't want to puke on my boss" day, which he will undoubtedly accuse me to using to hunt for a new job, or conduct personal business, or some other activity which, although he probably bears me no ill will, would resent me taking off time to do, is IN MY OFFICE. I know that sentence is very convoluted.

All that being said, the only thing I have been able to do all day is do stupid fine-tuning work on my site, which I finished long ago, and put up this Photo Album of our trip to Cozumel.

Cozumel, in case you didn't know, is an island off the eastern coast of Mexico. I didn't know that before I went there. It's very cool. Looking at these pictures has me thinking of freelance photography. I'm not bad at it, if I do say so myself.

 

waking up

Nicole
02.08.05 @ 07:39 AM CST
listening to: alarm buzzer
feeling: pissed off

Anyone ever slept through their alarm? Well today I did until the growing announance of the damn buzzer. But I guess after 7 hours of sleep almost any noise would be annoying. plain

Monday, February 7th

Work-Force foolishness...

Jon
02.07.05 @ 09:58 AM CST
listening to: Nothing at all.
feeling: I think I have an intestinal parasite...

I am about to go into a meeting where I am going to explain another of the brilliant labor-saving systems that I have developed that make it possible for me to simultaneously wear IT and Sales-Support hats, and fight the uphill battle against "The Man" (AKA - Tony and Gary) every time I want to do something that doesn't suck.

In short, I am about to document myself right out of a job. Wish me luck!

Thursday, February 3rd

sorry

Nicole
02.03.05 @ 07:44 AM CST
listening to: nothing
feeling: sleepy

Sorry I haven't written but I should soon. Gotta go I have class. We're learning how to put in sound into our presentations.