…I want to get a few things setup before I do my big move to New York. It’s official guys, I’m moving to NYC before the year is up. First, I’ll be stopping in my home-state of Massachusetts, to make sure that my mother gets settled in and that my family is doing well. (gotta visit my four darling nephews and niece) Then from there, I should hopefully have a place to call home in NYC and a school I will be starting in the Spring. I’m super excited, but like I said, I want to get a few things started before I leave in a month. Below is a list I needed to write out for it…

1. Update my portfolio: Yep, I definitely need to finish this, I’ve been putting it on hold for far too long and I know that when I move, I will need it more then ever and I just can’t have it looking a hot mess as it does now.
2. Come up with a set structure for my new productions company: I already have the name(s) and domains. I just want to create a set logo and foundation for my company before getting too heavy into legal issues and what not. I’m always coming up with new plans for it and I just need to sit down and put what comes first, first!
3. Start music project: I have this music project that I’ve talked over with two close friends that I would like to get going here in Orlando before I go. I feel like it would be very beneficial to musicians locally in the Central Florida area. If things go as planned, I’m thinking of expanding it nation-wide, of course I’m getting ahead of myself here, but sometimes you gotta look at it in the long run.
4. Keep up with contacts here: Oddly enough, I’ve been bumping into a lot of people here who have the same passion or are already in the film making business that I know in the future would be a wonderful contact to have. Its a shame that I had to meet them a month before I was going to leave! Ah well, that’s what Facebook and Twitter are good for.
5. Lastly, new design for Urbanroxy.com: God knows I have been trying to get this done for quite some time now and one day I will accomplish this one simple goal…I just don’t know when exactly. ٩(×̯×)۶

I know with a level headed mind and some good ole patience, I can and will do it!

Oh, before I forget…I’ve been addicted to this free gaming site I found on an online buddy’s website. Its called OMGPOP! and is hella fun! Not only are the games free (and free to sign up), but you get to play with people from all over the world. It makes playing the games that much better! Check it out today!

My poor site has been so neglected! I feel bad. I have ideas to do this and that with it and then I turn the other way for a second, and forget all about it. Sad, I know.

So for the past month and a half…a lot has happened! I lost my job, am struggling to pay my bills, signed up for college, am helping my aunt in Tallahassee with this business “project” she has, got offered a teaching position at the old tech school I went, and my sister and her family are coming down to our house for summer break! I’ll break each one of those down below:

Lost My Job: Yup, it’s true! The one thing that just needed to screw me over…my job! As some of you know, I was working as a web designer for a small Internet marketing and “web design” firm.

I was really excited when I got a call for an interview (or was it an email?). When in the interview though, one of the many questions that the boss asked me should have had me running for the hills!

“Can you design websites like this?” Basically he showed me a nice SIMPLE design created by their EX-web designer. Me being in need of a job BADLY, said yes of course! Not realizing the underlining question he was really asking, which was:

“Can you be a clone of our LAST designer?” If I had known then that was the real question, I probably would have answered with a “No sir, no designer is always the same.”

Through out my whole 4 or 5 months there, a day could not pass without them talking about the ex-designer. Of course I played it off saying it didn’t bother me, but it did. How would you feel if that happened to you on a daily basis?

Anyways, I created the layouts to how THEY wanted it. I had no creative freedom, although once or twice, the boss scolded me telling me that “he’s not the designer, that’s what I’m here for”. Then why the crap are you asking to see the design and go over it and make changes to how YOU see fit? Don’t get me wrong, I know a second opinion or eye to make sure everything fits the bill is fine, but in the end they always ended up designing it themselves and believe me, it wasn’t anything special. VERY simple…usually two colors max and usually the same “layout” as other designs they have made.

I’m not trying to complain, but it was very frustrating at times to work for them and then at the end of the December…they “laid me off”. They didn’t “fire” me (that’s what they said). They said I was doing great and fine during the beginning, but slowly was going down hill. That comment was probably because of the two or three clients who weren’t statisfied with anything, but that was all my fault! They even started to give side work to their EX-designer who they loved and worshiped. Saying “he just gets it”, gets what?!

For one thing, the guy codes in nothing but tables, his coding was horribly messy (I could never find ANYTHING and would always just re-do it from scratch, which took more time). Even his Photoshop layers were in a complete mess. I ALWAYS had to re-do the layout and copy it to the best of my ability, but did the job see that? Of course not!

I created more on spot designs then ones who needed 5 -6 samples and never chose one (even though 4 out those samples would be practically designed by the boss and team), but hey who’s counting?

As people, they’re not horrible, they gave me an extra check that I didn’t work for, because they felt bad, and were sometimes good listeners to problems I had (not that I said much), but overall as a company, I was a little disappointed.

I will talk about the other topics I mentioned above in another blog post. Gives me more to blog about!

For quite some time now, I’ve been telling myself that I will finally create a custom design for my poor template-based website. I have yet to do that and its only because I have no inspiration to do so. I’m not sure why though? In the past, visitors to my site always complained to me about how I would change my layouts every week and if I had ever actually left one up for more then that! Now it’s like; Yay you changed the layout, but to another crappy premade WordPress template…not so great.

Like most people I try visiting CSS galleries and other’s website to find that “OMG instant inspiration”, but it just doesn’t come to me. I’m wondering if maybe my creative juices are just being sucked up by me working on client websites? Makes sense and then it doesn’t, right?

Well, I dunno. I just felt like ranting about this, since it have been on my mind for quite sometime and hopefully SOON everyone can see a much tasteful layout then the normal template. =(

Question of the day: What helps inspire you to create a new layout for your website?

PS: YAY! Barack Obama is president! =D