Why Do I Still Do This?

Better question: Why is this blog section still linked in the main navigation?

It won’t be for long.

I am once again ramping up a new version of this site. Not sure yet whether or not I will stick with WordPress, but either way it will be written in HTML5 and will in no stretch of the imagination be compatible with anything under Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.6 or Safari 4 (Chrome auto-updates, so I see no point in putting a restriction on a Chrome version number). The point is, I am not wasting any more of my life developing for IE7 or under. Hell, I may not even worry about IE at all. Nobody who really gives a shit about the internet is using IE anyway, so fuck it. Yeah – you read that right.

Ever since I started my new job, I haven’t had as much time for web stuff; ever since I started P90X, I’ve had even less time. So, who knows when I’ll actually have this thing finished, but I’m chugging away.

Whatever. Nobody is reading this. Which brings me back to my original question…

in Website News
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New Beginnings

The title of this post is an example of a phrase which has become common, even among the educated. It’s also an example of a phrase that pisses me off – it makes no sense. But, it is fitting.

There are quite a few changes going on in my life right now and in the coming months, but I’m only really excited about one of them: I have finally found work outside of the restaurant. In a little over a week, I will be getting up at 6am and driving through hell traffic and back, working normal eight-hour days, getting regular paychecks, and having weekends off. How sweet is that?

I accepted a “long-term” contract position with Apollo Group working as a Web Content Coordinator, adding and editing content on the University of Phoenix website. I’m really excited about getting out of the restaurant industry, but it’s kind of a mixed bag; because I’m working on a contract basis, I’m a little afraid I’ll be back in the restaurant in six months. As always, I’m hoping for the best. Tenacious positivity, as I like to say.

in Life
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My Plans for This Site

As I’ve been working with WordPress a lot in the past six months, I’ve come to decide that I need a real theme for the blog section. The previous version of this blog was a hack job, thrown together from the CSS file for the rest of the (static) site with a little WordPress-specific stuff thrown in. That’s not the right way to do it. So here it is – the new blog section.

This is the real deal, a fully functional WordPress theme, capable of being used by anyone. But, for the moment at least, I’m keeping it for myself. There are a few things to work out, and definitely some limitations that I need to be comfortable with before I let anyone else use/critique it.

As I was building this theme, I decided I would transition the whole site over to WordPress. I mean, why not? I’m about half-way through, but who knows when I’ll be done. I’ve been kicking around a few ideas about this blog and how I can actually use it for more than it was originally intended – as a family news type of thing. I’m setting up some custom post types and playing with some pretty fun stuff. One thing is for sure – WordPress Codex is “tha bomb”, and I don’t throw that kind of praise around lightly.

So, that’s it. Another blog post no one will read. Hopefully that will change in the near future; I really like writing.

in Website News
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Dear Google

I got an iPad for Christmas. I haven’t touched my CR-48 Chromebook since. Thanks for including me in your pilot program. Sorry it didn’t work out.

Yours,
Ryan Domingue

Sent from my iPad

in Uncategorized
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It’s been too long

I haven’t posted anything here in over two months because I don’t really like talking to myself. I mean, we all do it, but if you do it in front of others, it makes you look crazy. But, anyone who knows me would probably say I’m crazy anyway, so whatever…

The internship at Blender Creative is chugging right along. We’ve got a lot of real-world design studio experience, from frustration to elation to problems with communication. We have two and a half weeks until they kick us out, but in that time we will be filming a half-hour, Real World-style video chronicling our internship experience. We ran through some ideas today and I expect it to turn out really well. I’ll post it somewhere on this site when it’s done.

By the time the internship is over, I should have my portfolio filled out a bit more. I will be adding a page for some of the logos and letterhead I did, as well as some additional website designs. I also hope to have gotten some practice building databases, as one of my bosses said he would help me out with that. Cross your fingers it works out.

That’s all for now.

in Aside
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Wisdom Teeth. School. Out.

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My life is boring

I had my wisdom teeth removed yesterday – all four of them! I’m really excited to have them out of there, they were getting pretty painful. Of course, I’m in more pain now than I ever was with them in there, but that will pass soon.

In other news, I’m finally finished with school. This past Sunday, I turned in my very last assignment of my very last class. As soon as my grade is posted, I’ll be credit complete. If that’s not exciting, I’m not sure what is.

That’s all for now. I have soft foods waiting. Then, it’s ice cream time!

in Family News
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Rocco Turns One

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Yesterday was Rocco’s first birthday. We’re still hanging on to the fleeting chance that he’ll calm down soon, although it’s not looking very likely. He’s as cute and sweet as can be, but he’s constantly harrassing Bella, which doesn’t sit well with me. And he’s a yapper… constantly barking!! Ugh…

We’ve created a monster.

in Family News, The Dogs
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Galleries Page Added

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You may have noticed a new link in the main navigation menu. Thanks to the Slickr WordPress plugin, I now have a very nice Galleries page available for browsing. The images are brought in from my Flickr photostream and presented in an intuitive and slick gallery. Have a look around, there are three photo albums to choose from: Colombia 2009, Puerto Vallarta, and Colombia 2007. More to come. Enjoy!

in Pictures, Website News
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(Yet Another) New Design

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I’m a little short on time here, but I just wanted to confirm that you are indeed NOT crazy – I have changed the site. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Can this dude just pick a design and stick with it?! Geez!”

To which I reply, “No”.

Expect more changes in the future as I get better at this. As someone wisely said, “The only thing constant is change”.

I’ve been taking my time with this one over the last two weeks, but I got anxious and went live with it before it was 100% finished. As you can see, the footer has duplicate place-holder stuff. This is an easy fix, I just need to decide what I want there in its place. Also, the comment forms are a little whacked out, but that too is an easy fix. Maybe I’ll get to that tonight. If these things are already fixed, you’re late to the party. You really should check back more often, or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Thanks for visiting, you are now smarter than you were five minutes ago. Congratulations!

in Website News
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Colombia Pictures Finally Up

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I finally uploaded some pictures from our recent trip to Medell’n. There are about 60 pictures missing due to an SD card problem, but I hope to have that resolved soon. Until then, here are the others. Most were taken by me, but I had to borrow some from Raœl to make up for the images I lost. Anyway, click here and choose the “Colombia 2009″ gallery.

in Family News, Pictures
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