Monday, May 16, 2016

A new look and a small ulcer

I don't make quick decisions. I can't jump into anything. I have to think every thought about a million times before I act on it. It is one of the most annoying things about me. Incidentally, my husband, the engineer, is the same way. As you can imagine, it takes at least 6 months for us to make any sizable decision such as, which (whiteish) color to paint the crown molding, what gas grill to buy, or where to eat for dinner. We are completely obnoxious. But we have each other and therefore prove the theory "there is someone out there for everyone".

As I was saying, decisions are hard for me. I started this blog in 2010 and it was in need of a face lift or maybe just a little botox. I have been thinking about doing it for weeks. Im exhausted thinking about all the nail biting that went into actually making a change. I won't bore you with the details....wait, yes I will. Because that's what I do... So the old look was SO old that I couldn't update things properly. Being a graphic designer in a former life, I was dying for a more streamlined updated look, but I knew once I started down that rabbit hole it would become a whole thing. I was right. I made one small change late one night and big bad internet was like "Gotcha!" There was no way to undo my change and the old template was erased forever. I was forced to start from scratch. So I promptly began hyperventilating.

Let me let you in on a little secret. I am so completely dumb when it comes to the internet and websites. Like super dumb. I'm so embarrassed to admit it, because people have assumed for years that as a graphic designer one of my trained skills is web design. It is not. Not even a little bit. You see, I entered college in 1996. The internet was still just an infant. The only use I had for it was checking emails from professors and even that had to be done in the computer lab at the library. At the beginning of my senior year I was given the choice to take a new class called Web Design. I thought about it for a minute and said "Nah. When will I ever need that? Who even knows if this web thing is gonna catch on?"  That was one of the many bad decisions made during my (ahem) 5 years in college. I was only able to pick up minimal knowledge after graduating, but thankfully there were still a one or two jobs out there for designers only wanting to work in print.

So here I am with a hot mess of a blog and limited knowledge on how to fix it. Thankfully, creating a blog is ridiculously simple. The blog host sites have step by step templates so that you can be up and running in minutes. BUT you are limited to their design choices, which is where I run into my problem.  I am extremely high maintenance with my visual customization needs, but since the only other option is to create my own website (excuse me while I order my copy of Web Design for Actual Dummies from Amazon) I must exhaust all template options until I find one that suits me. Exhaust being the most perfect word here. I get nutso about font style and font size and spacing and colors and gadgets and tabs and links. (I'm sure there are pills to help someone with my font disorder, but I haven't found it.) I spent hours on these nitpicky things. Hours plural. How embarrassing is that? Well, to be honest, part of the reason for the extra hours was my wireless internet connection. It was acting all nostalgic and pretending to be dial up from the 90s. Lots of waiting on updates and spooling and things that make my blood pressure rise and I start to pull clumps of my hair out. (I really sound like a catch don't I? You guys, I would like to take this moment to say Im so thankful I am married. It's really pretty amazing that I found someone to put up with this strain of crazy.)

So with that it is done (for now). I dragged myself and my blog kicking and screaming into 2016.
A new look for my new blogging challenge. The writing is new to me and difficult and I am learning a lot as I go. Who knows maybe I can take on the challenge of web design now too. Hmmm. I'll spend some time thinking about that. About 6 months. Yeah that sounds about right.


No comments:

Post a Comment