I’m still not ready to give this site up though. I’ve been thinking of ways to repurpose it. Even had ideas for a redesign. But what’s the point of redesigning if I’m not writing here. And I can see myself [still] writing from time to time. I just don’t see myself doing the type of blogging here that I used to do, when I had more to say about the industry. My online efforts are more spent interacting on Twitter or posting things that I like and/or am inspired by on Tumblr. So you can find me in those spaces, and we’ll see what happens with this site.

Have you ever gotten bored of blogging?

Tumblr just released a new Ask feature which makes it easy for Tumblr users to put up a simple form for people to ask questions. So I decided to set one up because I think it would be cool to answer questions of those curious about me. I’m a very open person so there aren’t many things that I wouldn’t let a curious person know about me.

So, dear reader, I dare you to ask me anything! It doesn’t have to be design related, but does have to be a SFW question. Or, if it’s easier, feel free to ask in the comments. I will answer to the best of my ability, either here or on my Tumblr page.

So, what’s new?

The past few months have been swamped with wedding planning. Before being engaged, I never considered how much of my life would be consumed by it, but it isn’t bad, and actually kind of fun at times. You never realize how much creativity comes into planning until you’re actually in it, but I got a chance to design our website, as well as the invitation identity, with some assistance from Victoria Pater. It was the first print project I’ve ever done, and though it was fun and challenging, I’m glad that I work on the web. Once the full package arrives for the invites, I will post pictures.

In addition to wedding planning, there is still Tridea, which got really busy at one point earlier this year, which brings me to my next point.

When you’re burned out, you know it. You can feel it and taste it, but in order to get past, it you have to acknowledge it and fight to restore your internal equilibrium. Stop, decompress, communicate, and focus. That process often begins with a look inward to learn what gives your life balance, such as family, friends, personal interests, and hobbies—the things that counterbalance your life on the web. via

Freelancing on the side

Not that I’m old or anything, but I’ve been doing the fulltime job/freelance on the side thing for roughly 5 years and it finally caught up to me in the form of mental exhaustion. Between a fulltime job, wedding planning, and freelancing, I was stretched pretty thin. Something had to go, and the best decision was to take a break from freelancing for a while. I will say that it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made recently and it’s nice to not only have my evenings back, but I feel much more refreshed.

My point here is don’t work yourself too hard. Step away from your computer/work sometimes and enjoy life because it only happens once. It’s ok to not be a workaholic, which I’ve had to tell myself quite a bit. And since not working all the time, I’ve come up with a few creative ideas/projects that I would like to work on in the near future, that I can do at my own pace.

So what about Tales of a Designer?

Many times in the last few months I’ve thought about giving up this blog, not because I didn’t want to write anymore, but because I haven’t been inspired by design on the web lately. So I’m throwing around ideas to slightly change the direction in the types of posts that go up here. It would still be design/development related, as it always has been. I am open for ideas though, so if you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to comment.

So that is my life update. Lots going on, but I would love to hear your thoughts, and/or ideas on what kind of stuff you would like to see posted here.

Luckily the meat of the panels don’t start until Saturday, so we won’t miss much, although I was very much looking forward to seeing the Repect! panel with Zeldman, and company. I will just have to get the recap from someone.

Here are a few panels that I’m looking forward to:

• 10 Things We’ve Learned at 37signals
• A General Theory of Creative Relativity
• Everyone’s A Design Critic
• Pimp My Non Profit – Real Non-Profits Kicking Ass with Online Technology
• Design Eye for South By

Of course there are more panels that I plan on attending, but those listed above look the most promising. So hopefully the rest of my day will go more smoothly than the morning, and I very much look forward to getting into the conference atmosphere and abusing my twitter account.

What makes blogging a little harder is working all day, where there is no time to blog, and then doing Tridea work in the evenings. By the time all my work is done, I’m a little worn out by the day and don’t have the mental energy to write something interesting here. This doesn’t mean that I want to give up writing on this blog, though I’ve pondered it, but more of looking for other ways to inspire myself to write.

I used to love reading A List Apart, but for some reason their topics as of lately just don’t appeal to me much anymore. Over the past year, I’ve taken more of an interest in the business side of this industry, especially after starting a company of my own. So I might look to writing about more business topics here that are relevant to the design industry.

I still plan to maintain this blog because I do still enjoy writing, as well as being a member of 9rules. I am looking to add a little more life to this site in ’08. I am also about ready for a redesign which I think will encourage me to write a little more as well. I am also open for suggestions in finding more inspiration to write.