There's a light here on the porch for someone | Tolerance

My cat has his paw softly on my right forearm as it rains and we listen to the new Band of Horses album "Infinite Arms." This band has released another quietly epic album that makes you wish you were driving high down the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way back from North Carolina. Or drinking a bottle of wine at dusk on the deserted coast of Nordhouse Dunes as you watch the grasses swish around in the breeze and think how scary Lake Michigan looks being so big and dark. Or listening to rain from inside a sauna in the Keweenau in the early evening. Little secrets that you and cats keep to themselves come trickling, then pouring, then tumbling. And you feel ok about it. Not sad.

I'm also thinking about the concept of tolerance. It's kind of like being able to grasp onto the non-tangible middle of something. Not going over and out, but not back and inward either. It might seem uncomfortable to exist near boundaries, but you've probably found yourself there for a reason. 

find a boundary. explore and love it/them.

Albers had success doing just this, so come on! The closest example (literally) is my newfound/old cat. He sleeps with his little head up against my hip and his arm extends out to touch me; however, if I pet him on the side when he's in this state he'll wake up excited and bite me. I'd rather have a sighing, fat submarine furball cuddling his face into my side rather than yet another injury, so I appreciate and respect his boundary. With animals it's so much easier. Humans . . . not so much. Cats know who they are and they rarely change their minds. If they do, food is probably involved. I can identify with that though.

Bring on the Bright Lights | Design Inspiration 5/11/10

Today I was inspired by:

brick walls and wood brushes in Photoshop
torn tape
the color gray (which is becoming my new favorite color)
Alfred's rain-soaked blanket (a nice dark navy color)
Pam on The Office
Over-exposed sunlight photos
My dad's leftover crabcakes (an appropriate food to be made by a crabby but lovable man)
The miniature swamp off my porch
Regi's white mitten
Transparent PNGs
PSD to WordPress 
"Solace" by Scott Joplin (which was coincidently the ending song to Parenthood tonight - very weird if you ask me)

so what else.
Don't forget to put a LOT of yourself into everything you do. Even if it's adding cheesy dropshadows or not capitalizing the first letters of your sentences. Or mirror imaging everything like Verizon. Or making everything look like a Coca-Cola commercial. No, I'm not being sarcastic. 


take a step back in order to look forward.
It's difficult to instruct people how to do something you think about very deeply and frequently. Perhaps not everyone thinks this, but I found myself at a loss for words while instructing someone riding my horse. This is not normal because: 
a.) I usually talk way too much, and 
b.) I love talking about horse-related anything at all times.


So you'd think I'd be spewing words all over the place, but I couldn't form a sentence that gave any special insight someone else couldn't give. Callista was doing just fine and receives first-rate guidance from our trainer, Sue Moessner, all the time, but I felt like I should have had something more insightful to say about my own animal whom I've spent hours and hours of time training and communicating with. Yeah his canter is funky going to the left and he acts like a little brat sometimes, but I was impressed (and always am) at his grace and presence. It was nice to see him move instead of being on him and fidgeting with my leg or reins or whatever. 

There are a million bay Thoroughbreds out there, I know, but I am just as in love with mine as the first time I saw him. 

Ok, I'll shut up now and go to bed.

Dork Libs

I randomly Googled mab libs because my sister and I used to laugh until we were purple putting in boobie-, nosehair- and dukey-humor into these things in the car on the way to Florida or whatever long road trip our parents were taking us on. Here are my pretty lame web design themed ones which I found mildly amusing:

"A Special Valentine"

It's fun to let people know you care about them by making them valentines for Valentine's Day. Follow these instructions to make your own bricky valentine:

1. To make the valentine, you will need pieces of red paper and pieces of ochre paper. You will also need scissors, some CMS's, and a marker or ActionScript.
2. Cut the red paper into the shape of a(n) CSS.
3. Cut a smaller CSS shape from the ochre paper.
4. Glue the ochre paper CSS onto the center of the red paper CSS.
5. Use the marker or ActionScript to write a Valentine's Day message to the person. If you don't know what to write, try a phrase such as, “Won't you be my interactive Valentine?” or “Meadow Fete thinks you are as legit as Peter Morville!”
6. You may wish to add other decorations, such as social medias or other paper shapes. Now you have the perfect cross-browser valentine to give to someone special!
7. Be careful when using your Drupal, and remember to clean up the area where you have been blogging. 

"Things That Drive Me Bonkers"

I just hate it when…

Mom serves Drupals for dinner.

My pet Firefox chews my web app.

Ross Johnson gets mad at the class for being interactive.

My best friend Pink Panther decides to hack with somebody else.

I get debugged for something I didn't do.

Dad makes me wear databases to school.

My favorite TV show “American Idol” gets canceled because the station has to broadcast a news conference.

People embed into my bedroom without knocking.

You can do your own if you feel so inclined...