Hooray, I am heading home for the day to pick up some extra things such as my sleeping bag, an extra box of household stuff I didn't need when living with three girls, my Dreamcast modem, and a couple other miscellaneous things. This will also give me a chance to get out of the apartment as it will be shown to potential renters tomorrow afternoon. All of us will be moved out by May 1st, so the landlords are already aware of the vacancy. :) I happen to hopefully be moved out in a week or so.

I forgot about this or that Tuesday, so I'll be doing it here Wednesday night. ;)

Dial-up or Cable? Being a computer geek, I can say neither. Dial-up is low connection rate, and cable means you share with your neighborhood. DSL is the way to go.

Wal-mart or K-mart? Wal-mart for my every-week needs, K-mart only if it has a gift item or something...which means I've not been there in years.

Butterfly or Dragonfly? Butterflies look better when they sit still.

Plus or minus? Definitely plus.

Liberal or conservative? Liberal is better than sitting in a conservative rut.

Do you believe in God or not? Yes, but this itself is a long story fit only for 5 days and over 100 hours of talking time.

Sun or moon? I can look at the moon, but the sun pushes me away or makes me tear up. Obviously, I have to be more romantic than utilitarian and say the moon is far more alluring.

Exercise regularly or not? In heart, I do. In practice for the last year, gods no. But that is justified and once I get into my new job and have money to spend on a membership, I'm there 5 days a week or more.

Coffee or tea? Coffee is ok, tea is ok, but I do not go out of my way for either one.

St. Patrick's Day or Easter? I am not particularly fond of either.

I think I have a next personal project in mind for what I want to do, and thankfully it will be one that takes a lot of planning and playing with graphics in my spare time. In other words, it could be 6 months away. I am thinking of creating a new web site, something apart from this one that is extremely self-centered (and rightly so, being a personal web site).

My plan so far is to work on two of my abilities. First, I want to further my Photoshop graphics abilities by making a much more graphically intense web page. And second, I would like to more fully utilize the pseudo-DHTML Javascript tricks that I recently learned in my quiz project. This would mean that there would be one or just a few pages, and that clicking links (image links this time) would replace only portions of the web page with new content, as opposed to always reloading a brand new page.

That is my plan, and I know no one really cares, but it helps to put my plans down on paper in a number of places, not just on a notebook sheet of paper that can be easily thrown away and forgotten.

I am sitting here in one of those thoughtful moods, teasing me with the thought of doing some writing, but just down-to-earth enough to keep my mind too fuddled with things to think about. I was just proofing and offering Jamie some feedback on her poems and I thought I would ramble on a bit about criticism and feedback.

I love critiquing things, partly because I love when people do it to me in a thoughtful and constructive manner. If I ask someone for feedback, I don't want: "I love it, it looks fine." I want any obscure opinion that one could make, just in case I missed something. And even if the opinions do not incite any revisions in anything (web pages included), I feel all the more robust for having heard them.

I love offering feedback on Jamie's poems, and anything of hers. She knows that I would not hesitate to say I don't like a particular poem at all (I believe I may have done that in the past, but I do not recall a time). I, in turn, know that rejection of a piece will not be met with the brick wall of "you know nothing do not insult me." She can take that feedback or leave it, it matters little to either of us I think, if it is not taken.

I think that is cool, and I wish all people could truly deal with constructive criticism and also give out the same.

Besides, she writes great poetry that I love to read, hehe, even if it takes me a week to work up the Mood to go over them thoughtfully and creatively.

For my benefit and others, I tend to record what movies I see and some of my thoughts on them. But not every movie I see is worthy of commenting on the news here, since I do see a lot. Therefore, I have added to the movies section, a little sidebar with updates on recent movies I see, as well as a very abbreviated opinion on them.

Other than one non-critical issue in IE6, I am declaring my website redesign to version 4.0 officially finished!

Again some changes will be occurring one page at a time. I am finally getting around to making my page cross-browser friendly. I think I finally have the right formula so that the pages view in IE3+ and Netscape 4+. That is a good thing! Unfortunately, as I cross over, some pages will look a bit ugly for a day or two.

This should be the final phase of this new design, as no other issues are foreseen at this time. About time!

Best Picture
In the Bedroom
I guess it is easier to say no to particular films than to pick a winner. Moulin Rouge, while great, was still half musical. Lord of the Rings, while epic, would not stand on it's own very well with just this film nor without the book behind it. There is no payoff, no real climax, and no end in just one episode. It also tends to feel slow when watching it a second time. Gosford Park and In the Bedroom only have one thing going against them: not a blockbuster. However, I feel In the Bedroom was such a moving film that it deserves Best Picture. Unfortunately, I have a feeling A Beautiful Mind will win it. Amelie should be here, as should The Man Who Wasn't There.

Best Actor
Denzel Washington, Training Day
Russell Crowe and Sean Penn I still feel are overrated, although not untalented by any means. Will Smith did great, and he no doubt put the most blood and sweat into his job. Tom Wilkinson, I believe, is a close second in this category for his In The Bedroom performance. I read a review of In The Bedroom, and it stated something to the effect that it is a movie that stays with you after you leave it. I agree. I cannot believe Billy Bob Thornton is not here for The Man Who Wasn't There. Denzel had the single most passionate and compelling performance in this category though. It was brilliant.

Best Actress
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
As much as I loved Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge, Sissy Spacek had a great performance in In the Bedroom. I think if Kidman wins, it'll be for her multiple lead roles last year (The Others) and the fact that she sang!

Best Director
Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings
Great picture, but just because he makes a blockbuster does not mean Ridley Scott should be nominated. Same goes for Ron Howard. David Lynch (Mulholland Drive) did great, but the picture is still too confusing to really say he was effective. Peter Jackson did great with Lord of the Rings, and I think he and Robert Altman (Gosford Park) will be the leading guys. Again, where is The Man Who Wasn't There, and a few others that escape my mind at the moment.

Best Supporting Actor
Sir Ian McKellen, Lord of the Rings
Ian McKellen is as much a main actor as there was in Lord of the Rings, and I do feel he should take this for his screen presence in that movie. It was brilliant. James Gandolfini should be here for The Man Who Wasn't There, plus he also had another strong performance in the year in The Last Castle. Ethan Hawke does not belong at all.

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
No contest.

Cinematography
Roger Deakins, The Man Who Wasn't There
Nice to finally see Amelie and The Man Who Wasn't There nominated. Roger Deakins should win it though for the black and white effects.

Worst Movie of Year
Zoolander

Movies I Liked that Weren't Nominated
13 Ghosts
Kiss of the Dragon

I added a weather link to the right menu under Misc. This way anyone anywhere can check out the weather for my city and see if I'm sweltering with heat or avoiding the blizzards.

I was just looking over my news and thinking, "Gosh, I have no clue what to post." I guess at first I thought there was nothing to post about, but then it dawned on me that there is way too much to post about that I can't even think about it all.

Anyway, someday I shall get to it, but I have a new job I must move for (wahoo!) and I just got a minor contract for some work with TeamSphere (just some nightly 4 day thing). This should effectively tie me up for the next month, after which I can get back to being a bit normal.

MS IE 6 does not seem to like having DIVs and TABLEs playing in the same sandbox, so there are still some issues on some pages when viewing them using IE 6. Hopefully I can install IE 6 and still keep my own 5.5 browser, just for debugging purposes.

Here's another list of things to choose from, this or that.

January or July? July is too full of humidity for me in the Iowa parts, so I would opt for January, but only for that reason.

email or letters? I guess I write a heck of a lot more consistent emails than I do letters.

milk or orange juice? I love milk. In fact, I think there are addictive chemicals put into milk. I can never seem to drink just one glass, it always turns into a yearning for another after the first is gone, and so on. I love milk. Orange juice is really good though when it has those chunks on it and is really fresh and authentic.

digital or film camera? Most of my pictures head to digital anyway, whether they're scanned or done at the photo shop. And I'm not a big afficianado of photography, so to me, simply easier is better.

camping or hotel? I would love to go camping in a real campground away from anyone as opposed to a camping rest stop with 12 other camper trailers. In those cases I would prefer the hotel. I miss camping...

pencil or pen? Almost always pen, I just feel it rolls better and you don't have to sharpen it. Crosswords and puzzles require pencils though, and I only use mechanical ones.

rollerblading or rollerskating? This is 2002 right? Rollerblading for sure! Ice skating? Ohhh, I don't know there.

fly or drive? Flying is fun and takes a lot less time, and airports are curiously interesting for me. I like watching the people. Driving has it's perks though, more varied music, better views overall I think too. I guess though, I'm a true modern person and would take the quickness of flying over driving over long distances.

Well, the site is fixed enough that I can update the news and everything works like it did before...except my archives of news posts are gone again. Thankfully I made this mistake early on when I have only about 100 posts, and not a year or two down the line.

Somdays I load up my web browser, point myself to my own page, and for some reason hope to see something new, some surprise post that I didn't make that would be just what I would post anyway. I guess I wouldn't mind being my own spectator...heh.

I am quite happy to have gotten a new mix from Jamie today in the mail, on Valentine's Day of all days, yay! This one is definitely getting a good share of playing time in the next few days as I swoon over it. Thank you Jamie! I'll start thinking up a list of songs for you next as I attempt to finish my Music web page.

On browsing a bunch of blogging sites (web sites for people who keep their diaries and journals online and post to them [bloggers] and are *way* too into online blogging communities), I found a few ideas that were a pretty nice way of putting information about yourself online. One of those was a thing called This or That Tuesday. See, every Tuesday, this site author puts up a list of things and you choose which one, "this or that," that you prefer or like more. So here goes my replies to it.

Picnic on the beach or picnic in a park? A park can be nice, but only when it is completely empty or relatively empty. I hate a busy park, although a busy beach can be ok. However, the detractors would be sand on a beach and the bugs in a park...so I'd call this an even draw. I find just as much enjoyment in watching the grass and trees in the wind, as I watching and listening to an ocean.

Atlantic ocean or Pacific? I'll have to say, everything about the Pacific coastline seems a lot more intriguing to me than the Atlantic (minus Miami and the Caribbean). I would have to say the Pacific also because the wind would be in my face, as opposed to the wind at my back as I gaze over the Atlantic.

Museum or the ballet? While ballet can be nice, I think there are more things in a museum, especially when spent with someone whom I enjoy discussing meanings, history, and art with. I would consider a museum to be a bit more fun.

Lots of pillows on the bed, or just a few? I love a lot of pillows on my bed anymore, though half seem to find their way to the floor by morning in my twin bed. I have 3 extraneous pillows, 1 bed pillows and a body pillow which I almost always curl up around, given to me by an aunt and uncle for christmas one year.

Home body or not? I think I tend to be at home only becase my computer is here. But I do enjoy being out and around on my own terms.

Introverted or extroverted? Introverted for the most part, about a 70% introversion and 30% extroversion. My extrovert side is only revealed to very close friends.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunrises are great, with the birds chirping, the world coming back to the life, the stillness just before you realize the sky is brightening...but it's so damn hard to get up early enough to see it! Sunsets seem a lot noisier and busier to me, but much more beautiful in terms of colors here in Iowa. Sunsets seems also more fleeting, ending in minutes, whereas sunrises seem to take hours.

Do you prefer ceiling fans or light fixtures? I find little aesthetic value in either one, so I would say I prefer ceiling fans only because of the added luxury of the air circulation. But also, they fill up more otherwise unfilled ceiling area.

Lions or tigers or bears? Lions are great; think The Lion King. But bears and tigers are more the solitary creatures. Tigers though, they're not only solitary, but agile, strong, and just plain marvelous.

The Beatles or The Monkees? Neither really, but if I had to choose, the mellower tone of the Beatles would be more to my liking.

Today I sent in an email application for a local job and the HR person replied back. There was this neat little quote from an anonymous source in his email which I really liked:

"speak well of everyone and you never need to whisper."

Very interesting!

Couple fairly major updates for the web page fell into place today. First of all, the hold infinity title image is up, courtesy of lovely/cool Denise. :) It actually was not what I had in mind, but I think it works a whole heck of a lot better than what I had already been playing with. It adds a measure of personality to the page, makes the title stick out a bit, and also sort of reflects the meaning of the words in a way.

Additionally, she inspired me to include the new semi-title image of the hands, taken from Michaelangelo's The Creation of Adam (a poster of those hands is on my wall too). This image not only adds an aesthetic flavor to the pages, but in gray-scale helps to brighten the pages up (more than that overly dark previous image) and add to the whole theme.

Went out last night and caught a late showing of Brotherhood of the Wolf. Whoa...I have to admit, this is one of the most amazing pieces of film I've ever seen. The opening was both horrific and at the same time jaw dropping. The sound is better than anything I have ever heard in any movie, and everything just plain works beautifully. In the action scenes, there is this Matrix feel with the stop motion and slowdowns, but none of it appears to have been wire-work or digital effects; but rather just plain slowing down and stopping the shots. And in fight scenes, you hear every thud, every splut of water, and every footstep and movement as if the microphones are right next to the people. It sounds like what you hear in football games when they hold up those big dishes and capture every grunt and breath from the field. The camera shots and editing and effects are amazing and totally add to the atmosphere of the scenes. Everything is as perfect as it can be, I think. As a bonus, the movie doesn't pander to or insult the audience. It you don't figure something out on your own, the movie won't do it for you; you'd better ask your friends. Many otherwise wonderful movies are tainted by having to explain things out to the lowest denominator in the audience, totally ruining the effect and the pride of having come to realizations about films.

Today I decided to hit McDonald's for lunch and something happened that, well, happens now and then at fast food places but usually I think nothing of it. I made my order at the drive-thru and then was told to pull forward and await my order. I thought, "Ok, fair enough, this'll let whoever is behind me that ordered an ice cream cone or something, be able to pull in and pull out while I wait."

So what happens? They walk out of the store with my order and I'm off before anyone else behind me is done.

Uhh...problem here. What did they or anyone gain from asking me to pull forward? The lady behind me didn't get to leave any faster. I didn't get to leave any faster. In fact, the girl that brought my bag out had to walk away from the counter, out the door, to my car, and back. If nothing else, this just was a waste of efficiency as that worker was away from a post for a while.

Sometimes it's amazing how inefficienct some places are. :) Then again, it's McDonald's...

I think I have reached a consensus with myself for a site name, at least enough that I am trying it out on the pages to see how it grows and how it feels. I was inputting my quotes today both as a means to get them into the random quote generator but also as a way to give myself some inspiration in naming the site. I ran across a quote by William Blake. You can see this quote by clicking the asterisk (*) just under the title at the end of the tagline. Beautiful...and I truly like it.

On a whim, I included a random quote generator on the right. I guess in looking for inspiration for a site name I've been listening to particular musics and reading through my quote notebooks. I thought it would be neat to have a random tagline on the page since so many looks useful and good. Instead, I decided that a separate quote area would do just fine and I can leave my tagline section alone. Also updated is the still life section, which now reflects the new site design. Wahoo!

So far, I think the front page is mostly done. The links on the right should expand out and go to where they should go. The only thing left there is a small spacer/bullet image in front of each link, just to diffuse all that red and move them a bit farther right as well.

Other pages are not really up yet, although the two About pages are completed for the most part. I'll start going through the other pages soon and porting them over to the next design. That should not take long at all considering I have the layout down pat now.

Other than that, not a whole lot happening today. Today was a "stay inside my room all day" sort of day, although I was able to set up a phone interview with a guy Thursday evening for a job position that I would REALLY want. Too bad by posting about it, I no doubt jinxed myself, heh.

Wow. I started making web pages in 1996, and here I am, still tinkering with my site. I have no doubt my site would always look more professional if I wasn't always moving things, trying new things out, and otherwise continuously tweaking it here and there in my pursuit to learn more things. Alas, maybe now will be different.

After, gosh, over 5 years of having a presence on the world wide web, this site redesign is version 4.0. I remember my first site both very well and very vaguely. Ryan McGinnis, my high school friend and roommate for a few years in college helped me learn HTML: "Here's View Source, now go look at things you like and copy." Well, I looked around and found a nice (at the time) site on Geocities that I promptly copied and started tinkering with. Out sprang a black backgrounded, single column, center-aligned, blue-break-lined web page.

It really was atrocious, but unfortunately I have no screenshots or code left from that site. Later, I think I redid my site in a brighter color, but I don't actually clearly remember (those were...odd...times in college those years). My next redesign, dubbed for the first time as a version at 3.0, looked much like my last one with a black background, a thinker statue, the night dreams day dreams title, and a color scheme dealing in purples and pinks. Version 3.5 (my last site which is still up in part) completely minimized my 3.0 site, hacked away tons of information and pages. In the end, I was left with what I feel was a great core of a site layout, with just the right amount of information I wanted to present. I even had a php backend management system.

Now, version 4.0 is here, and although no content will really be changing, this site will sport a whole new cosmestic look. In fact, this is the first time in a long time I've had a "brighter" web site or even page on this site.

Over the next few days I'll go about working on completing this site, and don't be alarmed if old news posts start popping up in this page. I'd like to keep my old news posts, and there's just not quite enough to make porting them over one by one a total pain in the butt.

Well, I guess I am over the initial shock of having this program, without warning, overwrite my index.html file (not that I don't have 3 backup copies) and attempt to take over my website.

But that really is ok since I've already made my final backups of the old site for nostalgic purposes, and have begun to amass the tools to support the new site which include this program and some other javascript snippets.

As for this page currently, well, since I'm doing the updates on here live, don't worry if something breaks or looks really really bad at times. :)

First entry, just testing to see what happens since this program seems to have decided to take over my site for now. Grrrrr.

If you see this site go down, either in whole or in part, be aware that I am just starting the meat of the planning for a redesign. One problem with some of the redesign work though, is that I do not have php installed on my home machine, and will likely be doing some upgrading and bugworking on the main site here, particularly with the news script.

At any rate, I've finally found my first gleam of inspiration and things are starting to very slowly take shape on paper...soon to be taking more shape in photoshop.