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Goodbye, 2006.

Where have you gone? It seems like only yesterday I was making resolutions. Now, you’re drawing to a close, and I can’t imagine what happened to the time…Happy New Year, everyone. Well, Happy New Year’s Eve anyway. Before I start the obligatory list o’ resolutions for 2007, it would probably be a good idea to recap any progress I made towards my goals this year. And so I shall:

  1. Be a better father.If I did one thing right this year, it was this. I spent less time at work to spend more time with my son (and wife). The result? A spoiled one-year-old that cries everytime I leave the room. I can’t complain though. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.
  2. Be a better husband.I made moderate progress in this area. Work was always an area of contention between my wife and I, and cutting back a little on my hours has helped our marriage immensely. Now if only I could work more on #3….
  3. Lose weight.I actually did lose some weight this year, around 40 lbs to be exact but it didn’t stick. I know this will stay on my list of resolutions for 2007, only I need to get more serious this time. As I grow older it’s going to be harder and hard to shed the weight I have on me.
  4. Excercise more.I really need to get on the ball with this. And stop making excuses for myself. Being tired just doesn’t cut it. Not having enough time just doesn’t cut it. I need to get off of my lazy arse and get moving. Or I’ll have heart problems, heart attacks, etc. to look forward to.
  5. Grow closer to God.I was baptized in February of this year. Kim and I joined Trinity on the Hill United Methodist Church in June. Tyler was baptized in July. I think I made progress in this area. But I need to dedicate myself to prayer more, and try to get more involved at church.
  6. Read through the entire Bible this year.Sadly, I didn’t complete this. I blame #8 on this list. I’m still notorious for procrastination and this is definitely a weakness of mine that needs to be addressed and taken care of. UPDATE: Luckily, the ESV website offers a number of RSS feeds to help with this goal.
  7. Finish books I’ve started and not finished.I actually did make it through a number of books this year. I’ve read more than I’ve ever read in quite some time. Honestly, the last time I read this much was because I had to (for school). It’s nice to read for enjoyment and education.
  8. Stop procrastinating. (Maybe tomorrow?)I so have to do something about this one. It’s my Achilles heel.
  9. Stop being so impulsive.I made some progress in this area this year, but still have some difficulty with it. Especially when it comes to food. I need to hunker down, stop feeling sorry for myself, my weight, etc. and do something about it. If it means not using a checkcard anymore, eating breakfast at home, packing my lunch, etc. I need to do it.

I made some progress this year, but I could have made more. I won’t make excuses for myself. I was lazy, and that’s something that has seriously got to change.

Now onto 2007…

  1. Take control of my weight and do something about it.
  2. Stop spending money on frivolous crap.
  3. Fulfill obligations in a timely manner.
  4. Pay off some of my/our debt.

It’s a short list, but a lot of work. I’m looking forward to the coming year, but realize there may be some hardships ahead in trying to achieve the goals I have set forth for myself. Anything worth doing is never easy.

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Threes

Death comes in threes. First James Brown. Then Gerald Ford. Now, Saddam Hussein. That’s one hell of a group there. An entertainer, a President, and a ruthless dictator. It’s been one heck of a Christmas, hasn’t it?

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Five things you (probably) don’t know about me

Another day, another meme. Thanks for the tag, Ben.

Five things you (probably) didn't know about me.

  • I was born on November 30, and share a birthday with notables such as Mark Twain, Vincent “Bo” Edward Jackson, and *gag* Clay Aiken.
  • I failed out of college in 1997. It’s not something I’m proud of. After a return in 2000-2001, I’m a sophomore. But I really should have graduated given all of the courses I’ve already taken. Maybe someday…
  • I have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, or I don’t (if you believe Tom Cruise isn’t insane). I don’t use it as a crutch. It’s just part of who I am.
  • I taught myself HTML and CSS, Photoshop, et al. primarily through trial and error, and by analyzing other people’s code. I have no formal training as a designer, and sometimes this is a shortcoming of mine… but for the most part it has not hindered my career at all. It’s not what you’ve learned in school that’s important (though at times, it is important, but more about what you can do with whatever talent you might have.
  • I’ve worked as a weedeater operator, frozen food stocker, school portrait photographer, video store clerk, managing editor for a national magazine, a webmaster, a student assistant, an art director, a web architect… Some jobs I loved. Some I hated. (BTW, I worked at Blockbuster Video for a year and a half once upon a time just to get free rentals. I was that into movies at the time…)

And now, to pass the 5Things Baton… I tag…

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WordPress Dreamweaver Extension

This post is out-of-date. Since it’s release, a new WordPress Extension for Dreamweaver has come out called ThemeDreamer. It does all the things the Tagstention extension did and a lot more. Definitely check it out.

I’ve been comfortable coding HTML, CSS, etc. in Notepad for years, but I’ve grown to love Dreamweaver ever since I started working at PowerServe. Tonight, I ran across this Dreamweaver extension for WordPress that could make life a little bit easier for anyone who uses the popular blogging platform.

Tagstention Toolbar for Dreamweaver

Right now, it appears the the extension is compatible with Dreamweaver 8 and Dreamweaver MX 2004. If you’re using an older version, it’s time to upgrade. Seriously.

There are several wizards for using tags with additional parameters they might accept. It’ll help with basic loops, inserting templates, supports Ultimate Tag Warrior, etc. It’s probably a safe bet that if you’re using Dreamweaver and using WordPress, it’s worth a try.

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I love Apple

ipod shuffle icon

Is it any wonder people have such a deep sense of loyalty to this brand?

  • They just gave me the second half of Season 10 of South Park, because I had bought the first half. I know a lot of people were originally ticked at the decision to split the 10th Season… but Apple made good.
  • I lost my iTunes library twice within a couple of months over sheer random acts … Apple made an exception in both cases (after lots of begging) to let me redownload my purchases.

By the way, I visited my first Apple Store this weekend. (It was the one at the Lennox Square Mall in Atlanta, GA.) The store was awesome. I picked up an iPod shuffle while I was there and a Giggles game for Tyler. How could I leave empty-handed? The shuffle is gorgeous. I had a tough time narrowing down what songs I wanted on it… But man oh man, did I mention it’s gorgeous?

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Pick Any Two

We used to have a sign up in our offices at PowerServe that read:

For service that meets your needs, choose two of the following:

  • Quality
  • Speed
  • Price

Let’s face it, we’re a culture that expects all three. We want convenience, high quality, and extra low prices. That’s why Wal-Mart is so popular – because for most people Wal-Mart is an ideal place to shop for them. But you’re not going to get all three. You’ve got to give somewhere.Wal-Mart is convenient, because you can get all the stuff you need (and don’t need) all conveniently in one place. No problem, right? Wrong. Wal-Mart is a victim of its’ own success. Because so many people shop at Wal-Mart, there are more customers in their stores. This equates to longer lines when you want to check out. Right? That $.29 cents you saved doesn’t seem like much when you factor in that you had to wait 10 mintues to check-out at a busy store. Their automotive department is a prime example of this problem. They offer oil changes for less than anyone else out there. They’re using quality motor oils and whatnot, but when you go, you’re pretty much guaranteed a wait. Just because you can get an oil change for $29.99 doesn’t help the fact that you’re going to lose 2 hours of your time while you wait for a tech to get around to your car. Is saving a few bucks more important than your time?Tonight, I went to a Jiffy Lube and spent a little more for an oil change. Know what happened? I pulled my car in right away, and they had my oil changed, truck vaccuumed out, lights checked, tires refilled, air filter changed, in 10 minutes. I had 6 people working on my car at once. By the time I went to the waiting room, I had an associate approach me in order to check out. (I didn’t even have the chance to sit down.) Yeah, it cost me more by going to Jiffy Lube, but they didn’t waste my time. They provided great service right away and it’s more than worth it to me to pay a little more for the service because of that.I like saving money, but I hate wasting time. (Sorry if this is random… I wanted to get some thoughts out on this before I went to bed tonight.) 

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Screenshots of NEW Photoshop CS3 Beta

Sorry Mac guys, I’ve only installed this on my PC laptop. The new interface is sweet. Device Central is going to be an awesome development tool to have at a designer’s disposal.

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Wow, the post made it to the homepage!

And it’s had nearly 700 diggs. The other metric that blows me away is 25,735 views of the screenshots.