Melange Lavonne's video: Gay Bash.

I like the tune. The lyrics are a bit... well, to be honest I think that they're a little unpolished. However, the message is strong and good, and I think that it bears repeating, so I'm posting it here. Thanks to the goodly one who pointed it out.



Next there's the Craigslist Postings for Free Artwork. The following link takes you to something that some of the artist-for-hire crowd are touting as 'great' and 'must reads'. I can't say that I claim the same. I agree that the concept is good and valid. I agree that 'spec work' prepares us all for anal probing of the highest order, but I think that the rant is just that - it's a rant. It has the same kind of blind-faith 'data' that accompanies every AOHELL forward I've ever thrown in my virtual trash bin. I'm pretty sure that it might be just the same sort of 'email gathering bullshit' that they are. So why am I passing it on? Because I expect all of you to be smart enough to not give any information to folks through something like this.

I might just have to write a paraphrased document with some legitimate information. Something that shows illustrators and the like as something more than a bunch of zealots - misguided as well as misunderstood.

http://www.no-spec.com/archives/i-wish-i-had-written-this/

So while I'm on the subject of newbs and the intarwebs - I've been thinking. I've been thinking that boutell  's amazing web faq is a great thing and should be promoted. I wish more people would look through the vast array of information there (and elsewhere) on the web and just plain educate themselves. It's really not tough people.

I am currently of the opinion that Facebook is the shit. All of the (worthwhile) shit that basic myspace does (ie- not the music/comedy sections) and more without all the teeny bopper 'look at my annoying animations and bullshit sound files' crap. Just information, comments, groups, and pictures. Data. Good solid data. And the ability to share it. Novel concept that. The closest I would get to complaining about facebook is that it seems like it was built by really slick programmers who could use a hand in the interface design department - but I'll take quality over flashy packaging any day.

Heya kids.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I think that I am going to revert to a predominantly public journal again. For a long time I was doing almost exclusively private posts with the exclusion of art dumps and stuff that I specifically wanted out in the ether.

Why go back you ask? Well... today I was looking through old posts. As in - the first few posts I ever made in this journal. I really enjoyed the sense of just cracking open my ribcage and showing the world my guts. I stopped when I decided to embed this journal into the front page of my site in order to utilize it for 'news and updates'. I wanted to keep the length of that page to a minimum to keep it within the size constraints of an 800x600 viewable screen. I still wish to keep within the 800 parameter, but the 600 just seems a bit inefficient, so we're going back to not worrying about it.

Yes, I realize that I was posting pretty much exclusively for the every lovely kar0na and her most excellent husband metikulos at the time, but it's the concept that matters here. The concept that it was given freely and there for anyone to read if they chose to.

I will, of course, occasionally write a 'friends only' or 'private' post - but for the foreseeable future, it's back to being public for Yours Truly. If you would like to see what you've been missing and you have a livejournal account, feel free to friend me and let me know and I'll likely (though don't be offended if I decline) friend you back so that you can read the backdated stuff. (I won't be switching the friends only posts to public.)

Will the world really want to hear all of the rambling gunk that my friends have been subjected to as of late?

Probably not, but here it comes anyway. ;)

Okay, actually got a decent amount done on my web site tonight:

Ben was most excellent in helping me to (read as: "he rewrote") the asp code for my gallery. Originally, the asp was creating 'crunched' versions of the original picture file. The made the thumbnails slow to download for anyone without a high-speed connection. What's more, it left me little choice in how the thumbnails looked, and I didn't like it. Now, however, the asp looks in a subdirectory for small-sized (and Matt - created) thumbnails, and uses them instead.

Next, I found the little line that I had to switch in order to make more than one line of thumbnails appear on the page at once.

Whew. I worked so hard. *grin*

THANK YOU BEN!!!!

Next, I set up a cafepress.com storefront. There's nothing in it just yet, but there will be soon, and hopefully it will bring me a couple extra bucks after the holidays (since I set it up too late to bring me anything for the holidays (jackass).

Okay, think that's about it for now,
~M.