Status of album release
December 18th 2006

Argh! Just let me start by saying that I now truly understand why it takes some artists literally years to come out with a new release. I have been busting my chops on this thing and have been asked many times, "When's it coming out?" Well, the truth is it's finished. My first solo release "After" is complete. It is purely a monetary issue now. I had the money in my hands to get the first batch printed and presses and wouldn't you know it, life happened. I had to use the money to fix my broken down car, replace my laptop's hard drive which failed (and yes I lost data) and purchase a new copy of Quark Xpress 7 (due to my hard drive failing). The good part about it is that it gives me more time to do tweaks and refinements on the album. To my fans I appreciate your patience. Someday when I'm a wealthy rock star, the money thing will no longer be an issue lol.
I'm sure you've also noticed that I've been delinquent on my blog. Guilty as charged, however it's not as if I have nothing to show for. I am hopeful that "After" will now be an early release in 2007.

Designing Websites
September 29th 2006

For those of us who tinker with this it can be both an exhilarating joy and a deep pain in the arse. We’ve come a long way since the days of basic HTML and we can do a whole heck of a lot more with the web now then we could even five years ago. It’s constantly changing. Can you even begin to imagine life without it? Yet most of us have been there.
The role of Graphic Designer has changed considerably over the past few years as well. New technologies have enabled the graphic design world to do things quickly and efficiently without the help of third party people such as programmers for trivial and everyday things like forms. A great resource I’ve come across for this is www.freedback.com. This site allows you to quickly and very easily create forms for websites in minutes and it’s absolutely free, however a word of caution, they have plans you can pay for as well. If you want to maintain a certain level of professionalism I would recommend investing in this. Their plans are relatively inexpensive and eliminate the annoying advertisement page that pops up after you click “submit”. A clever little stunt to get folks to buy their service though it’s well worth it.
Anyway, as I pursued the path of programming several years back I came to a crossroads, which helped me redirect my life into a much more happy and productive existence. I think this piece of advice is good for most people out there and not only website designers. Before my dramatic revelation, I thought that I could make more money learning programming myself instead of outsourcing it to another party. I quickly realized that this was a futile effort on my part, however not everyone is like me. I realized that if I learned programming that I would eventually become a programmer and I didn’t want that. I’m an artist. I like to do creative things. I know basic programming though I leave the hard stuff up to the people who are good at it.
Do what you do best and stick to it. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try out something new. You should. However, if you’re as right-brained as I am you may have a hard time with it as I did. It’s better to stick to what you like to do because chances are you’re going to be the best at it.
Now, a programming language that’s quite easy to learn and take it from me, if I learned it anybody can, is HTML. You probably won’t be hand-coding all of your sites, however it will help you troubleshoot when you’re developing sites, especially if you’re using a WYSIWYG editor such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive. These are fantastic tools and they totally open the endless possibilities of web design to the creative public. The drawback is that we live in an imperfect world and WYSIWYG is not always What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. This is where knowing HTML can be extremely useful. A book I would definitely recommend is “Sam’s Teach Yourself Visually HTML”. This is an excellent book and if you’re impatient like me you can literally go through it in a day though I would recommend you take a little bit more time to let it sink in.
If you would like to see some of my past work you can view it at www.revelationinteractive.com. Click on the “Digital” portfolio icon at the bottom center of the page. Until next time my friends—happy whatever it is you do!

Layoffs
September 28th 2006

Something that’s been on my mind since yesterday and for a very good reason. My company is currently eliminating positions due to the drop in the housing market. It might sound strange to you how that would affect me since I am a graphic designer but it does. This drop in the housing market is affecting a lot of people. Thankfully I can say that I survived this wave, however it is uncertain at this time on whether or not there will be another.
Much like life in general. We take a lot for granted—food, clothing, health, shelter, money, etc. Folks, nothing is certain in life, at least in the average life. We need to take time and give thanks everyday for what we have. You’ve heard the saying “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” and that’s so true. A job you can recover from but your life you cannot. I may seem to you like I’m getting a bit too deep for you but really I’m not. I’m simply being real. We take chances every day we get out of bed and to be quite frank, every breath we take in is a gift from above. Ladies and gentleman, you only get one life. I’m sorry but it’s true. If you believe else you are sadly mistaken. You don’t come back as some other person or creature. You never had a previous life so get that out of your head. Does this offend you? If things are even a bit difficult for you now then why in the world would you want to come back and do it over again especially as some animal? You only get one chance which leads to the question: How are you going to live it? Think about it and at the end of the day call your mom and dad and tell them that you love and appreciate them (even if you don’t) and give your significant other a hug. Remember: One Life. Love well.

Destiny
September 27th 2006

Today I wanted to talk about this majestic and powerful word. The Oxford American Dictionary defines destiny as 1. The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future: she was unable to control her own destiny.
Or 2. The hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate: he believes in destiny.
The first definition seems to have sort of a negative and foreboding tone to it where as the second one is one I think all people would like to identify with. Another definition, which is one of my own, I would like to add: To have a greater purpose in life and to be set-aside for something special. I think that it’s safe to say that we would all like to have this for ourselves. We all want to be special, feel special and be made to feel that we are special. However, life at times can be cruel and make us feel quite the contrary.
The truth is that we are. Humor me for a moment—this will be a stretch for some of you, I will be talking in terms of things you cannot quantify, calculate, measure, adjust, reason out, weigh, and the like. You’re either going to believe it and receive it or reject it because for whatever reason you cannot. You are created for a very special purpose and reason. Many people do lots of strange and crazy things to try to find direction for their life.
I believe the answer to this question is upward. Human nature is to look to something bigger than ourselves for the answers, whether it is religion, science, philosophy or what have you. It’s just built into our DNA. Even skeptics. They go beyond their means to find answers don’t they? That’s why they’re skeptical. But what if there is a God who has those answers? And what if He’s not as far off as we think? And just what if He’s desperately yet patiently waiting for us to look to Him for the answers? I believe there is and He is. I really don’t believe for a second that answers to life’s questions are that ambiguous and hard to find. I believe all we have to do is simply and I’ll say it again simply look to Him for these answers.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m am a big advocate of science and we’re finding answers every day as a result, however I believe that science too comes from something bigger. There are some things that science cannot explain away and that is for another blog, another day. Sometimes we are called to just simply believe. Children never question their parents when they are young, they just believe them. Why do you think that is? To be honest, I don’t want science to explain everything out because that takes some of the awe and wonder out of life, yet at the same time it puts even more in. Knowledge is wonderful and we are better off because of it, yet there are some things we will never know. I believe we as humans need this “mystery” in our lives. If we knew everything don’t you think life would be boring? Whether you agree with this or not, I believe everyone still has that child-like belief in them, some more buried than others. Consider this: which movies are the ones that everyone goes to see, you know, the blockbusters? Are they not either movies about the supernatural, heroes, or both? Do you see where I’m going with this? Everyone wants to be a hero, do something great, make the world a better place and be loved and affirmed for our contribution. People want to believe that they're special and that they are destined for something great. Again, we are. Sadly many do not find out what it is because they look to the wrong sources, sources that corrupt and defeat the purpose of their existence.
This is what I leave you with: if you truly want to know if God is even real and what I’m saying is true, then whey don’t you simply ask Him? He’ll answer you, I promise. Don’t believe me? Then try it. I dare you! I’ve left this with friends of mine in the past though most have not tried it. I had asked a friend of mine some time after a discussion on this topic if he had done what I had asked him to try. The reason he didn’t he told me is because he was afraid God might answer him. Please, don’t be afraid of God. You know this sounds cliché but if you just add another “o” to God and you have good. He’s not waiting in heaven somewhere to throw a lightening bolt at you, I promise you. He’s patiently yet eagerly waiting for you to ask Him. He loves you. Yes, that’s right I said LOVE. Don’t try to reason out who you are and what you’ve done, just come to Him and simply ask him like you would a friend, “Who are you and who am I?” and I promise you He’ll answer yet you must be willing to accept that answer.