Posted: 2009-07-14 11:39:21
Wow, what a productive last couple of days! It's nice to feel like you've actually accomplished some thing, instead of always feeling like there's more to do. So what are all these accomplishments that I speak of? Read on, dear reader, read on...
This past Saturday, Katie and Russ got married up in Lake Geneva. It was a nice little ceremony and a great reception. I was reminded, as I usually am at weddings, that I'm pretty crappy at keeping up with old friends. I know the phone works two ways, but I certainly don't do my part to stay connected with people. Emily and I talked about it for a while, and I really want to try and be better about going to hang out with people, chatting with them, staying in touch. I have alot of really cool friends, and I need to do a better job actually spending time with them.
(Accomplishment #1: Get back in touch with old friends and realize I need to do that more.)
Sunday, The Van Goghs went into the studio to lay down a 4 song EP. We worked with Brett over at Gravity Studios, and in about a day and a half, we have an awesome little EP. The songs sound great, the mixes and everything sounds really good. It is definitely the best recording experience I've had. Keep a look out here for those songs available for download, or just come to one of our upcoming shows and snag a copy for yourself!
(Accomplishment #2: Record a kickass EP and have an awesome time in the studio.)
Yesterday I had meetings with two placement agencies to help me find freelance work. Since going freelance, I've been finding a decent amount of work on my own, but a little help never hurt anyone, and this could be a great way to find some cool new projects. So I went downtown and joined Creative Circle and The Creative Group, hoping that they might know of some super high paying client that needed me like oxygen. I'm really enjoying the flexible schedule of freelance work right now, but that really just means I'm working less, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
(Accomplishment #3: Take another step toward making freelance work for me.)
It was crazy beautiful in the city yesterday, so since I had a bunch of free time, I decided to take advantage of that. I waddled down to Millennium Park and set up shop on a park bench with nothing but the hum of the city and A Crown of Swords. I read for a good two hours in with a sprinkle of sun filtering through the trees. Amber later met me down there for some lunch in the grass. It was a really nice way to spend an afternoon.
(Accomplishment #4: Really enjoy a summer day in the city.)
And last, but not least: I've finally got this site updated! All new design, all new content, and hopefully all new loads-of-fun!!! All the new content isn't here yet, but I figured if I waited till I had everything done that I wanted, it would never get launched. So point A) The blog is no longer on the front page. The purpose of this is because I want this site to really be a site about me, with my web stuff, music, and anything else, and the blog is just part of it, but not the sole focus. Point B) There is a new RSS feed. Let me try that again.
THERE IS A NEW RSS FEED!!!
Which means, if you subscribe to this blog via Google Reader, iGoogle, Yahoo! or any other RSS reader, you need to update your feed or you will not get these posts any more. Just click the little RSS icon (the orange and white striped thing) in your URL bar and subscribe using your reader of choice. Thank you.
(Accomplishment #5: Finally get the new site launched, to lavish applause.)
As you can see, tons of accomplishments in the past week, and you, the reader, even get to benefit! Moral of the story: Don't forget your friends, never stop pushing for a better career, and always become a rock star and launch a new website. Then you can be like me.
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Posted: 2009-07-06 16:20:55
As you may have noticed, this site has a new design! I hope you like it.
I'll still be ironing out some of the kinks over the next week or so, and (I know you're gonna hate this) there will be a new rss feed. I've decided to go through feed burner. Right now, my RSS doesn't work (as a result of some of the changes I've made), but rest assured I'll have it back up and running soon.
As always, feedback on the new design and functionality is always appreciated.
Bry
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Posted: 2009-07-01 06:29:42
Man oh man have I been busy. A week away in Canada, though pretty sweet, will also put you behind in your work a bit.
I know I've promised to get this thing updated, and it's really really close! I should have some time in the next couple weeks to finalize the new design and get everything up. I should also have some pretty cool pics from Canada up here for you shortly, as well as some details as to what I was doing up in the wilderness.
Things are going well on the job front. Steady work is coming in, and I'm still enjoying this sort of freelance gig I've got going on.
I'm thrilled that it finally feels like summer here, and my scooter is enjoying lots of use. As I look outside, it's kind of gray right now, and I'm not sure if I'm gonna brave it or not. A little water never killed anyone, right?
Except millions of people who have drowned.
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Posted: 2009-06-16 11:57:27
Upgraded wordpress, screwed up my RSS feed. Should still work, but the post links are broken. Working on fixing it!
[edit] Nevermind, I fixed it already. Thanks for bearing with me! [/edit]
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Posted: 2009-06-10 07:40:51
I'm a sucker for gadgets. I love technology, and I also happen to be a pretty big impulse buyer (don't look in my trunk...). This often results in my jumping on the newest and coolest gizmos on the market (hello HDTV, iPhone, PS3, etc).
This trend tends to carry over into my computer software as well, specifically my browsers. As a web developer, I need to have multiple browsers on my computer for testing purposes. But as a general computer nerd, I like to have the newest (sometimes beta) versions of these browsers. Sometimes, this can be a double-edged sword.
You see, when developing a site, it benefits the end user for me to test it in as many possible browsers as possible. Now, I write semantic code (meaning it is correct as far as the standards-setting W3C is concerned). This is great for modern browsers (under which IE8, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome fall), but for antiquated browsers (mainly IE7 and IE6), standards-compliant code means nothing. They live by their own rules and will render my pages however they see fit.
I know I've mentioned it before in this blog, but I really get frustrated that IE6 is even still around. No one uses their old Nokia anymore because the world of cell phones has advanced far past that. They simply aren't capable of delivering the experience that people expect from a phone.
This same premise holds true for IE6: It can no longer deliver the internet experience that people want. Its javascript support/speed is horrendous, it can't handle any CSS3 features (hell, it can't even play nice by some CSS2 stuffs), it doesn't support any HTML5, and the worst part is: It never will.
This brings me back to my initial qualm: I like to have the best and brightest. I don't have IE6 on my computer, or IE7, or Firefox2, or Safari3. I want to experience the web as best I can, so I keep all my browsers up to date. And you know what? They are all free! It is to my advantage, as a consumer/user, to have these updated browsers. Whether I'm using gmail, searching amazon, or playing flash games, an updated browser is going to work better than an older one.
Our old PC (and I mean 9 years old, which is like 63 in computer years), asked me if I'd like to upgrade to IE8 yesterday. But I had to say no, because I still need IE6 on there to test for our clients who are unknowingly (or possibly knowingly) crippling their browsing experience.
So what is my solution for all this? Well, for any personal sites I build, IE6 support is out of the question (in fact, I may add a little something in there to persuade any users of old browsers to upgrade). For my freelance clients, by default I will only support modern browsers, adding in IE6/7 as an additional cost. I think things are starting to move in the right direction, but it's going to take some action on both the internet-savvy and the technophobes parts to really move forward.
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Posted: 2009-06-01 20:00:44
It looks like the economy is finally taking a turn for the better, but things still aren't great. That's why my decision to leave my full time job seems kind of crazy. Why give up the security of employment for the great unknown? It was actually I really easy decision, and I feel great about it. Here's why.
I've always been intrigued by freelance work. I like the idea of setting your own hours, working in coffee shops, having a gnarly beard, all that good stuff. But I know that with the freelancing lifestyle comes a lot of responsibilities and burdens. I've wrestled with the idea of going freelance several times before (after all, my field is very geared towards one-off projects), and recently the stars aligned and I took the plunge.
To keep matters private, my boss and I didn't see eye to eye on an issue, and I took the opportunity to start my career in freelance. Scary, right? Well, not too bad. I've worked out an arrangement where, though I'm no longer an employee of my job, I will still be doing work for them. Only difference is, I'm paid hourly (and at a much better rate!) and I don't have to get involved in any of the menial office tasks.
The way I see it is this: You've got some pluses and some minus to freelance.
Pluses
Higher hourly rate
More free time
Make my own hours
Choose my own projects
Expand my professional network
Minuses
Less stable
More responsibility
No benefits
Take care of all my own finances/taxes
And I'm pretty sure I could add quite a few more to both.
I've found some really good resources both through LifeHacker and FreelanceSwitch. I've started accounts at Freshbooks, Shoeboxed, and Outright to manage my time, expenses, income, taxes, invoicing, etc. The great thing about those three is that they all integrate with one another! I'm pretty nerdy when it comes to organizing things, so I think this aspect of it will work out really well for me.
The other plus side is that I have two really good sources of other freelance work right now. 1) Amber's new company has already offered me some work, and 2) Amber and I do freelance stuff together already! I don't think it will be too difficult for me to keep the work flow up.
I've made some fairly bold decisions in my short lived career (left Motorola, dropped out of school, took a crappy paying admin job...), but I'd say that all of them have worked out for the better. I've found that sometimes, the only way to get where you want to be is to build your own bridges (so goddamn deep!!!)
Wish me luck.
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Alan said:
Hey, you're just fine by me.