I find it really hard to enjoy things. Things I like very much I avoid almost at all costs. That is changing.. Slowly, but it is.
02017, November 27
Category: Thoughts
Tags: Abilities, Skills, Talents, Techniques
I feel as though this may sound like I’m stroking my own ego, and quite honestly that may be the case. However, I was reflecting on the time of 02008 (at least) when I first started a WordPress site for myself. I chopped up various templates, adapting the html/css to suit my needs, but leaving the php largely alone. Perhaps it was more like 02006? I forget.
At any rate, I was discontent with the designs and had in my head a blossoming one that I knew I had to create on my own if I wanted it done correctly. I think I took down the old WordPress around 2012 or so and put a static site up in its place. This persisted longer that I anticipated because things like life happen. That site fell behind the curve and probably hindered my own prospects in various job markets. The reasons would’ve been non-responsiveness, etc. etc. As I headed into summer 02017, I took the plunge and redesigned the site and set out to build my own template.
I didn’t know .php, but I did know how to set up a WordPress site locally, design a site, code said site in html/css. Needless to say, I think there’s quite a few more wrinkles in my brain. Eventually .php became like blocks to me because I could identify general principles I saw as similar to structure, semantics, and logic that simple markup possesses also. My ‘google’ skills also increased about 1000 fold, as well as my ability to parse information and distill common threads between them.
I feel good having accomplished this design and implementation. From the hand drawn, large scale wireframes to the fights with .php; This site’s redesign taught me many things about the 3d environments–both actual and virtual–that I work in as much as I learned about server technologies, functions, and the programing like. It also taught me many things about myself.
I enjoy building–in any form. Doesn’t matter if it’s Photoshop or illustrator, code or concrete or steel; If I can put things together I’ll call it building. This even applies to putting letters together to form words, and the words to make sentences, etc. The thing is, too, I think I’m pretty good at it all. There’s some naturalness to it that I have… A knack if you will. It does take a ton of study and patient tuition though. I am not, however, so conceded to think I’m great, fantastic, or amazing at anything. I build things the way I want them to look, and always shoot for stability, durability, maintainability, and sometimes scalability. To that end, I really enjoy being in front of a computer, specifically my current laptop, and writing, designing, and/or coding. If I get tired of that, I just hop in my ‘hard/dirty studio’ and wire up an LED array, or weld a sculpture together, or whatever. If only I didn’t require sleep…