Can’t Stop Developing for the Web

Alright, this will be the last of the major changes for a while. I promise.

I think I’m finally happy with the layout. Version 4.0 was functionally nice, but the look of it was a little all over the place. I think this one flows better and has a nicer palette of colors that blend well. There are still a few minor changes that I need to tackle. For instance, I’m not sure that I like the bright teal color in my right sidebar. I threw that color in there for readability since the ashtray background swallowed up the text.

I’ve also changed the left sidebar nav. I’m still debating on whether or not I need to split them up with headers that say “Writing” and “Reviews” so that people don’t get confused. If you’re a new visitor, I’d appreciate your comments. I do, however, love the cool “depression” effect the buttons make.

Well, that’s it for Web design. I’ll put up some movie reviews this weekend.

This Screenwriter’s Big Break?

Not to give away too many specific details, but the actor who read my screenplay is - in his words - “[my] biggest fan.” His management is trying to get him reservations for the Speed Racer premiere tonight. If he goes, there’s a good chance that Mr. Big Name Producer will attend as well. And if he does, then Mr. Biggest Fan will pitch him my script. So, yeah, a ton of big “if’s” still stand in my way, but you know what? I’ll take it.

Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted.

Well, I feel accomplished.

I won’t be marching into the work week feeling like I didn’t do anything over the weekend. Spent the day overhauling my site, as you can see. The more I Stumble, the more site layouts I find myself incorporating into my mine. I know I’m still not quite where I want to be at, but I think I’m getting close.

I better be. As much as I love Web developing, I hate struggling with cross-browser issues. If you run into problems with the new layout, please let me know. Thanks!

True to my word, I’ve been working on a few site changes. As you can see, I’ve moved the Recent Comments, Recent Posts and Subscription area to the top and added a snazzy background. I saw a similar design on someone else’s site and thought I’d incorporate it. It kind of pushes the content down, which sucks, but it’s not so far down that you can’t find it before the pagefold on 800×600 screens. Hm, actually, I guess that depends on how many toolbars you have at the top of your browser. Oh well. Let me know if you hate it.

And let me know if anything looks broken. The IE6 renderer I’m using appears a little buggy and I can’t be sure if my site is actually broken or not. I appreciate the help.

Man, I need to be more punctual with these things.

After much heartfelt consideration, I’ve decided against blogging about work in earnest. Yes, I have work stories that will charm and delight you with all of the insanity that I’ve been through lately, but the telling would lose its edge without sharing my disappoints - which typically requires that I bash certain coworkers. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and I’ll save those tales for my personal blog - whenever that gets off the ground.

Tonight (in just a few hours, actually) I have another restaurant review to get to. Speaking of which, I think the hubbub regarding Dr. Godt has all blown over. I think all of the people he CC’d on his email to me use Yahoo! mail, because for a while there, I was seeing a lot of referring links from mail.yahoo.com. I was expecting a flurry of flames from the entire Godt clan, but they read silently instead, shrugged their shoulders and moved on. As far as I can tell, what had happened was that Dr. Godt ate at Spaggi’s on January 24, enjoyed his time there so much (he’s treated like family, after all) that he felt compelled to write his own review. Afterwards, he Google’d for other reviews and found mine. And you know the rest.

Well, now that things are slowing down at work and I find that my tax refunds are coming in, I’ve invested some time and money in my computer to play those games that I’ve been neglecting. Strangely, I don’t feel compelled to play marathon sessions like I used to just a few years ago. Man, I used to just let everything else in my life go to Hell so I could stay home and play video games for 14 hours straight. Now they’re only fulfilling for the length of your average movie. I don’t know if that’s because I’m outgrowing games or I have more interesting things to do with my life or if it’s because of all the damn bugs that are crashing my system! Whatever the reason, gaming isn’t as much of a driving force for me anymore. Still that doesn’t stop me from shelling out half a grand for the latest graphics card.

If you’re going to do something, even casually, do it well.

January Movie Reviews

• Hitman
• Balls of Fury
• The Sentinel

January Restaurant Reviews

• Spaggi’s
• Tutti Mangia

Look for this next restaurant review soon.

Yeah, I’m a little late.

You know, I’m pretty good about following through with the things I say I’ll do. Typically, if I give my word that something will be done, I will even inconvenience myself to make sure I don’t break my word. That’s why I’m so disappointed that I haven’t kept up with my blogging as much as I claimed I would. When Working Author launched, I decided I would blog at least once a day to keep feeding search engines with new content. (I also wanted to provide you with my pearls of wisdom, of course!) Unfortunately, life — actually, work — got in the way and so many of my goals have fallen by the wayside. I’m hoping that I can keep the back burners hot enough to keep these goals from going cold while I climb over the busy season at work. We have a gigantic tradeshow to get organized in a few weeks and everyone’s scrambling to get their part done. Not everyone is handling the stress very well. Ah well; such is the workplace.

Unfortunately, I’ve also put my workout plan on standby, opting to use those early morning hours for more sleep. Admittedly, I’d have more than enough to work out if I didn’t spend so much of my nights slaving away to get this blog in tip-top. I blame all of you Internet Explorer 6 users. DAMN YOU! (Just kidding, but I hope you’re happy with the layout now. “Look Ma! No broken divs!”) Speaking of this site: The other casualty to my busy schedule is the Month in Review Post.

December was a bit barren when it came to site updates, but you can imagine that I was busy with tons of other things, including working 12-hour days (including weekends), holiday shopping and spending time with family. Come the end of January, things should be back to normal and I’ll be my punctual self. Without further ado:

December Movie Reviews:

• Dragon Heat
• Beowulf 3-D

December Restaurant Reviews:

• Harry’s Pacific Grill Pre-Opener (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)

December Site Enhancements:

• Gravatar - Sign up for the free service and you’ll be able to share you mug on every site you post comments on that supports the service…like mine! (I haven’t tested it yet, so don’t hold it against me if it’s broken.)

Bleh. Looking at that short list is embarrassing, like premature ejaculation. If you’re a return reader, thank you for coming back. Hang in there for a couple more weeks.