the weblog of m.kelley

As some of you might have guessed from the lack of posts, I’ve been extremely busy. The new job is going well, great actually. A bad day working on websites is better than a bad day or a good day at the old place. Lots of projects going on, the clock is ticking on one of them so it might get more barren around here.

Over the past week, I’ve changed our (work’s) 5 year-old tabbed menu into a css, javascriptless, wonder. The new boss has a good grasp of CSS, but I kinda shocked him when I showed what all I could do by handcoding. Took me most of a day, but instead of 12 graphics, we’re down to 4. 88k to 3k.

I’ve also been going through a vendor’s code, more and more, as I keep finding code that disgusts me. Again, the new site will be tableless and (according to them) all web standards. So my question today was, “with all of this talk about standards, why do we have javascript rendering images and text?”. So, like I did with the menu mentioned above, I tore into their little widget and recreated it with more accessible version of javascript and css. I seriously, feel more sure of myself, as I work with these huge company’s coders and see how much CSS knowledge most of these people use just through Dreamweaver. I have a strong feeling, that if I just opened up the code-side, they would be absolutely lost.

The Sacred Cow Tipping redesign is still upcoming. I have some ideas based on what I showed off about three weeks ago. More based on what I’m doing at work…although I’m on Movable Type and not Teamsite. I’m also looking at redesigning the personal site and even keeping a tiny blog over there for more design-y things….don’t know yet.

I’m doing a bit of blog consulting and wish I could do this full-time. I can’t really be anything but vague about it, but it’s an interesting project. It won’t be “mine” but it will be nice laying the groundwork for someone to have a killer blog. I’m still hashing out details, but it’s nice being an old-school blogger who no one knows. Being on the C-List (hell D-List) has it’s advantages.

I’m still trying to find “my place”. A mindset or a grouping of thoughts. But I have so little time to think about anything but work, that off time is just veg time. I miss music, don’t know if I actually want to play again, honestly. I’m just so burned out on that aspect of it. I’d almost consider being a manager for a band or an artist. I’m *that* much of an asshole and might be actually good in that role.

Ok, enough of this ramblings…..

or “Things that rocked on the last night of Riverbend.”

Wondering up to the museum stage and just discovering a band. Oteil Burbridge & The Peacemakers were awesome and just a new band I happened to walk into. Very “free” band, make me want to do something similar.

Standing at the front of the stage for Derek Trucks. Awesome band (again) and just a great group of musicians who (again) made very “free” music. I liked the Peacemakers better, but I love Derek’s style of playing.

Again, I wound up heading up toward the museum stage…although this time it was to use the restroom. While I was standing in line, I could look to my left and see the back of the stage and the drummer’s head. The drummer started playing one of the best drum solos I’ve heard in years. So after I “finished up”, I decided to just sit down on the sidewalk and eat a smoked sausage and hear this great band, that turned out to be Robert Walter’s “Super Heavy Organ“.

I kept saying, I think I’ve seen that drummer before….it is Johnny Vidacovich {see also} one of the “masters” of New Orleans style drumming. Never saw him live or heard his playing before, but it’s really made me want to pick up some more of that stuff. Just awesome.

Overall, even though I saw very little of the Allmon Brothers, it was a great evening, musically. Wonderful drumming and music from people who aren’t gonna be on mainstream radio. Made me want to play again. One of the best musical times I’ve had in a long time. Almost religious….

Not for me, but for multiple people from my last place of employment*. I have a few people, very talented people, who need to get out of that hell hole and into a job. These people have some Photoshop & Illustrator experience and a whole lot of experience with QuarkXPress. Some have variable data experience. Let me add, right now they do not care what they’re doing, so long as it pays about the same and offers them respect. They all have my personal reference and it’s something I just don’t hand out too often.

Leave a comment and I’ll pass the names along…..

* Mass exodus in process. Programming work going to India and process in place to make a 2nd shift for art there as well. The place treats experienced people, some with BFA’s, like they were an illegal out on the plant floor, assembling products.

After a long day, we’re back in town. The wifey and I took my Mom out for her birthday. She didn’t want to hang around town so we went driving with no goal. So instead of the “IHOP & drive to Dahlonega”" plan, we kept the IHOP part and drove around Atlanta.

First a stop at Harry’s market, then a drive around the CNN center…the last time Mom was around there was when there was an Omni and no one even thought about a Phillips Center or even a Georgia Dome. Then we decided to feed Mom’s craving for hot dogs and headed to The Varsity. Of course, it was a good time for my yearly “Varisty Pill” : a couple of Slaw Dogs, onion rings and a Frosted Orange. Mom dug the place and it was nice to just get out and do something different. We should have stopped there, but we wound up at the JC Penney’s outlet.

Like I said, it was a long day and I still have to call a friend before she moves out of town. Maybe I won’t be too bad tomorrow and I can actually enjoy not having a full week….

(this kinda rambles, more stream of consciousness than structured -mk)

People have been swinging in and out of my life lately. People from my past, who I’ve secretly missed, have been chatting again thanks to MySpace. You lose connection with these people and then you just strike up conversations and see why you were friends with them half a lifetime ago.

It’s rare I get a hardcopy newspaper anymore, but this past weekend I purchased a Sunday paper and noticed not one, but three of my old friends in the wedding announcements. I lost touch with these people too, but you get to catch-up and think about times you’ve had in school.

It’s also odd thinking about how old some of my friends’ kids are now. Someone who’s younger than me (32) has a 14 year-old kid (!!). The thought of being 30 or even 32 with a teenage kid, scares the shit outta me. They’re good people and good parents, but I know what I’m like now and just think me with a teenager would be quite comical. I couldn’t do what they do.

My class hasn’t had any reunions, which isn’t too bad since most of my friends in school were either younger or older. But I guess it’s my time in life to want to see some of these people again. I think it’s “The Big Chill” syndrome, personally…although I really didn’t have a “college experience”.

I grew with a lot of these people, but then you just move on into adulthood. It’s an unusual time, to talk to some of these people and see that we had similar experiences….saturn return (or retrograde, help me out Evie). I know I’ve changed in just the past 2-3 years and shed a lot of my issues that I’ve had since childhood. I just like talking with my old friends when it seems like I’m not doing very well with more of my “modern friends”.

Without digressing too much, I know we typically shed our friends in 7 year cycles. But I think we’re breaking this now with tools like MySpace and blogs and email.

“Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on”
- “Stairway to Heaven”

I think a lot of people can identify with some of the lyrics in this beautiful song. While it’s not just it’s beauty it is the meaning.

We all see certain paths that we wonder about. We wonder if we should go down that path to which we’re expected or the one of chance and change. We look back and see when we made our own path, that intersects with one of the other paths, like a city block. We make our choices, then we travel down and look back in the rear-view mirror and can see what we left behind.

Sometimes life is painful. The feelings of loss, abandonment, and sadness. Other times, it’s wonderful! It’s beautiful! Even the mundane can bring wonder. There is no fault in looking back, seeing the vision in the rear-view mirror. We can look and wonder about what could have been or what was. We just need to make sure to not hit the car in front of us.

My employer is currently looking for a web savvy writer. Someone who can take what is in current marketing specs and trim it down for an online audience. While this will be part of the job, it will also entail writing for other marketing projects…so it’s not a 100% web position.

This isn’t in my team, department or division, but you will have to deal with me on some level.

If you’re interested please leave a comment. I’ll reply via email and please reply back with your resume and references.

I’ve been swamped, but I’m still keeping a list of links that interest me.

1.) Project Access Partners Provide More Than $6.5 million In Low-Income Healthcare – I developed the original logo for this organization, don’t know if they use it or not.

2.) I’m using Konqueror under KDE on SUSE and GNOME on Ubuntu. Safari/Webkit nightlies under OSX. KHTML on Windows using VMWare Player, seems to be the only way I’ll ever have KTHML/Konqueror under Windows.

I’m not sure where this new-found interest in Linux came from. I’m guessing that it’s because I’m back in the Windows world and quite shocked at how much more progressed Linux has become. I’d say it’s about equal with Windows 2000 currently. Still not the easiest thing to mess with, but it’s still better than nothing at all. The installs are much better and the support forums, Ubuntu for example, are sooo much better than dealing with Slackware or Red Hat hackers 10 years ago.

I’m even to the point of considering a Linux-based laptop as my next machine. The Powerbook is nice and I really dig OS X, but for my needs I can handle having a Mac for Photoshop & file server needs and using Linux for web browsing.

3.) “Is there a way to easily have browsers seek out the new css page now?” – Great solution…..

4.) What happened to MacEdition?

5.) Concord Road Residents Object To Cell Tower – Invoking the “important to Homeland Security efforts.” line, is the weak way out of a weak argument.

6.) I have a lot on my mind about everything from gas prices, to Tom Cruise pulling a Michael Jackson and trying any/everything to have his name in the news, to the NSA spying being more widespread than thought. I just don’t have the time right now to jot anything down.

My basic question is, “When will we say we’ve had enough”? When will a 31% approval rating, thousands of deaths in Iraq, $3 gas, and internal spying make us rise up and make a change with votes or by calling our representatives?

(more…)

It’s a little before 6am and I just got in. I washed my face, drank a diet coke and sat down to do a bit of web surfing before I hit the bed. The moon was lovely, shining fully and guiding my curvy drive home. The wind was warm, not at all feeling like an April wind, more like something near South Georgia in June.

As I sit typing, my body feels like it’s sinking into the couch and tilted. My depth is a little off and I feel this weight on my shoulders. Feels like it’s keeping my head from sinking into sleep.

It’s the odd perceptions that happen during this time of day. After being up all night, doing god knows what, my mind is playing tricks with words and visuals. Time to save a document and get a few hours of sleep….

I started the new job this week. I’m far too tired and dealing with info. overload, to be of any blog-use. But I will say, that a dual monitor Windows 2000 setup requires far more mojo than a Mac setup. My new t42 IBM ThinkPad is not that bad of a machine, just getting the dual setup took more effort than it should. Aside from that, I’m learning the ropes and already have some ASAP projects that require me to get my Teamsite thinking together.

I’m still in the “meet everyone, get the hang of things” mode, so I’ve had about three meetings a day and multiple projects just to get into the groove.

I’m also based in Downtown Chattanooga again, so if any of you local people want to join me for lunch one day, just let me know.