I remember the first time I ever put up a website. This one in fact. Just knowing that it was out there where everyone in the world could come see it (even though no one did) was a huge rush. Kinda like the first time they call you name in an elementary school assembly for getting an award for perfect attendance for the year. You stand up knowing that everyone is watching. At least they could be watching. In fact they are all just talking with their friends but you don't care, this is your moment. My brother just saw his new first logo on his first website. I think he kinda got the same feeling. I was thinking about that and how I felt the first time. It was the same as the time someone bid on my first Ebay auction. Then, unexpectedly, I got it too. Deal-Tracker.com has been up there where anyone can look at it for months. Several people have looked in fact. But today was different somehow. Maybe because we are done with the test deals. Maybe because it can actually start earning money now. Maybe because after 6 months of planning, and programming, and meeting, and writing, and researching, and planning (no, we really have done that much planning) we can officially consider it launched.

K, I really am looking for feedback on this one. Positive, negative, love letters, hatemail, let's have it all. Even if you don't get to read this blog entry until it's old, gimme your thoughts. After you go check out todays deals of course. And sign up. And buy something.

I’ve decided that I’m going to start putting titles on my posts. I’m also going to start calling this site a blog. Everyone else is. So this is a blog and posts are now blog entries. I have a buddy who just landed a pretty sweet job back east at a major OS vender. At first I was thinking that I wouldn’t be able to make such a bold move and just get up and leave everything behind. Then I got thinking about it and how stupid would it be for me to not make such a bold move. Everyone has to move on sometime. From elementary school to junior and then high school and then college, from single to married, from no kids to one or some, from employed to unemployed or vice versa, from holding on to old habits to calling posts entries, from a good job to a better one, from regular employment to starting a business, from holding on to old memories to making new ones.My son was asking about heroes. I told him you didn’t have to have sports stars and spidermen for heroes. A hero is someone who sets a standard or an example. In fact I don’t have any “famous” heroes. I think my heroes are those who are able to look forward and move on no matter how hard it will be or how comfortable they are. So to my dad, Mike, Grant, Jon, Paul, Jim, Hans, and my wife I have to say thanks. You have been my heroes. And maybe starting to name posts entries and give them a title is not a big deal, that’s ok.

The Internet is an amazing thing. I can't remember what it is like without it anymore. I can't imagine doing bills or research for a term paper or even shopping the old fashioned way. I don't even have to leave my house anymore if I don't want to. In my opinion, one of the biggest benefits of the internet is that it has made it possible for the little guy to say "oh yeah, well I'll show you" and actually back it up. For example, a cabin owner who normally relies on the Sundance ski resort to rent out his properties can say to Mr. Redford, "You sir, are a greedy leech." And then turn around and rent his cabins out online for 1/4 the price. And still make more than he would have if Sundance had rented them for him. Simply amazing. I would put a link but I don't know if it would give him trouble. If you wanna check it out, email me.

So I guess the moral of the story is this: If you are going to call me up and ask me to disrespect my marriage covenants, be prepared for me to write something about it here on my website. Now I understand that not everything is about me. But here on this site, everything IS about me. It's mine MINE MINE!!! It's a very interesting world with the new digital grapevine and all. Really this site was created as a place for me to put my bookmarks so I could have them everywhere I go. Then it morphed into a little about me for my close friends but then again, it is right out there where just anyone can come read it. So should I be surprised that more people than I intended will come read this and possibly be offended? Nah, but really, who cares?
Oh, just one other thing: If you are going to call me to complain about what I posted here, READ IT FIRST!

I saw Field of Dreams the other night. Roy asks Doc Graham if he had just one wish, what would it be. He wishes he could go back to the "glory days" and get to bat just once in the majors. It got me thinking. If I could go back, would I wish for just one chance to get up on stage with my band and play one song to a crowd of 50K, would I wish for it? There's nothing quite like hearing tons of people cheering for you. I was thinking probably not. What's the point? I would rather wish for more time to play with my kids. More patience. To be able to provide them with some of life's better comforts without spoiling them. For the wisdom to do so. Then all of a sudden, I got a call from someone from high school who is trying desperately to get back to the glory days. And they weren't even that glorious! She wanted me to come along for her road trip to the past. It took quite a while to understand that it wasn't a joke. So here I am, with a wife and kids, full time job, school, bills, commitments, schedules and all the other makings of a midlife crisis. And I wouldn't trade it for all the glory day road trips in the world. It'll be interesting for her. She's expecting everyone else there to be 15 years younger. I think she's in for a serious wake up call.

My server was down. Now it is back up. I got a new phone. I accidentally got a really nice one. Hey it was free. Yani is going part time. Jonathan is starting Kindergarten. I am headed back as well, I just haven't registered and school starts Wednesday. This should be interesting. What do you suppose the odds are of me getting all the classes I need to get my associates this semester? We went to the annual Moon-Lake-athon again. I got burned pretty bad this time. I haven't had a burn that bad since I was a kid. My car broke (was sabotaged?). I took it to a new place. Easy Lube. Run by a guy named Truman Pratt. I think I may have just found the worlds last real honest mechanic. Ok I 'm sure there are still several out there. I was ready to pay for a new alternator. He let me know that it looked like the cable had come loose (was loosened by Big-O tire?) and I didn't need a new alternator after all. He just tightened things up and recharged the battery and charged me a small service fee.

I had another birthday. I decided that after you turn thirty, it doesn't really matter if you have a birthday that doesn't end with a 5 or 0. It was a typical Friday afternoon. I had finished up everything at the office for the day and was winding down with half an hour of Tac Ops or so. Amber, the new receptionist comes back and gives me this unhappy look like I had forgotten something on my to do list. Then she says, "I'm sorry I forgot. We can have ice cream or something on Monday." I paused for a moment like I knew what she was talking about without tipping my hand. "You know, that's alright." I said. " I won't worry about it as long as that ice cream is here first thing Monday" Then I realized, "Hey, wait!! What's today?!?" Maybe I should have taken the day off or something. When I turn 35 I'll try to remember. Til then, who really cares?

Here's the story of the last 8 weeks of my life: "Mambo is cool! - Mambo SUCKS! - Mambo's pretty cool - Mambo sucks. - Mambo Freakin ROCKS!!! - Mambo is the biggest piece of CRAP! - Mambo is so sweet. - Mambo-phpShop is cool. - Mambo-phpShop is lame. - Mambo-phpShop is the coolest shopping cart ever! - Mambo-phpShop Freakin SUCKS!!! - I hate this website!!! - Mambo-phpShop is so flexible. - This site is gunna rock. - Maybe I should do my own store like this one. - This site sucks. - This site is pretty cool. - Mambo sure sucks. - Mambo is OK I guess. - Mambo is so freaking cool. - Why don't they make vista like mambo? - Mambo-phpShop is so sweet, I love that it is so easy to hack apart. - I hate moving databases. - Why wont this thing just move?!?! - Mambo is so lame. - Mambo is sweet" So there you have it folks. Mambo is free.

What is it with cookies anyway? Is the world such a place nowadays that we don't even trust websites that we frequent? I'm afraid so. It isn't quite that we fear the sites though. We fear the unknown. I like to call it cyberparanoia. A cookie typically stores information about your connection to a website. In my case it stores session information for the sake of keeping stats on my site traffic. OH NO!!! I'm gunna get your IP address! Big Freakin Deal! So I can see what time zone you are in (or at least what time zone you want me to think you are in), so what? Well, for site managers, that can make a big difference on how a site is updated and redesigned. When you know a little about your audience, you can create content geared toward your audience hence making the site appeal more to the people who already visit it. This is by no means a great overview of cookies, just my opinion. Paul, turn on your cookies.

Once again, the realization that all art classes was a bad idea has been hammered home. If you have regular classes, you get a couple papers maybe. Maybe a couple of tests. A lot of studying. I tend to cram pretty well though. If you have all art classes, you get all final projects. Luckily I managed to pull off the one class that I was really worried about. But here I am 4 days after my last final presentation and I am still recovering from lack of sleep. A couple things I have decided: I can actually draw. I can also paint to some extent. I really do love Photography. Since I haven't had any painting classes yet the painting thing came as kind of a surprise. Sure I'm no Michaelangelo or Picasso but let me show you my Picasso rip off. (my color theory final project) I actually plan on continuing to draw and paint. I don't know if I'll ever try to sell my work but who knows? And another thing, if anyone ever tells you that Picasso wasn't an artist and that they could do just as well, they are a moron.

I've been designing websites for almost 8 years. When I went back to school 2 years ago, I thought for sure that I would be majoring in either computer science or graphic design. However after just one photography class I was hooked. I changed my major and got all excited to make the move from a career in design to one in photography. Since then, I have designed more websites than I had in the preceding 6 years. A good solid knowledge of photography has only improved my design. It's funny, people always ask how I make the connection between the two and the more people ask, the more my mind boggles. They go hand in hand! That is why I am unable to do a double major in design and photography. The degrees are so similar in fact that only the upper division photo and graphics classes don't cross over. So this semester I have come full circle. I am switching back to graphic design. It's a good thing that just about all my classes still count toward the BFA in design.

For the first time in a long time, I have been able to put in a full week at work. It's funny how much it feels like I have made it to the end of the tunnel when I know it is just a bright light. I guess if you travel long enough in the darkness, just about any light seems bright. I have forgotten how it feels to ponder a normal expense like normal people do. I can't explain how good it feels but if you have even gone from average yuppy salary to poverty level and then halfway back up again, then you know exactly what I mean. It feels oddly pleasurable to think about going to buy a gallon of milk and throwing in a treat for the kids. They don't understand what has changed and they think they have been particularly good to deserve it.

This semester I don't have any of those anoying generals where you have to write one of those papers you have absolutely no interest in. In fact, I don't have to write a single paper this term. I was thinking how sweet that was and then I got my midterm assignment for my color theory class. A color wheel. Sounds easy enough right? Well, I guess it was easy, just time consuming. Most color wheels have 6 colors. some fancy ones have 12. This one had to have 168 colors. I was trying to decide between a big clock and a globe that I could keep in my office. So why not do both. Mixing the paint is the hard part right? How bout a little visual narritive.

Step1: - 1 hour Preliminary sketches.	Step2: - 8 hours Map out lines and paint first 8 sections.	Step3: - 4 hours Paint next 4 sections. Redo one section.	Step5: - 9 hours Paint remaining 12 sections. Redo one more.

Is it a Blog? Is it a journal? What ever it is, everyone seems to feel the need to keep one. It's funny to watch though and see how long people stay with it. I was thinking the other day that I had been doing this for at least a year or two. Well, check the archives. It's been a while. On occasion I go to check out my friends online "whatever these are's" and no one is keeping thiers up to date. WTF guys. Come on Grant Jon and Kyle. Where's the news? Mr. Nemelka is keeping his updated, why not everyone else? I don't know, maybe it's better not to say anything unless you really have something to say. I mean, after all you have made it this far into this post and what have you really gained from reading it. Maybe you now know the names of my friends who have sites. Maybe it's not a complete loss.

My first magazine advertisement came out today (or at least today was the first time I got to see it.) It is available to readers of the Jan 2005 issue of Connect Magazine. It feels like the first time I redesigned a companies website and pushed it out to the live internet sometime in 1998, yet better somehow. I hope this marks the begining of a continual growth pattern. Most graphic designers are making the move from print to web. Most with much difficulty. Having learned to deal with 72 DPI and 640 x 480 resolution (remember those days?) I find it quite liberating to say "hmmmm, how high should I take the quality of this one" knowing full well that it is only going to print at 300. I think that is why established print designers have more success moving into flash than HTML. They can't deal with all the rules. I wonder how many web designers are making the move to print like I am. Feels like driving on the wrong side of the road in England. You know you are doing it the right way but no one else can figure it out.