From the Garden

Now that we have a proper backyard, we have a garden full of little plants that give us hope for future bountiful meals. The first plants to be harvested is SPINACH. Tyler has been craving my creamy spinach dip, so I gathered some dark leaves of spinach and melted them into creamy dip.

Creamy Spinach Dip (Half Recipe—this is good for 2‒4 people)
1/2 onion (diced)
1 clove of garlic
1 lb of spinach (cleaned and trimmed)
1/4 cup milk
3 oz of cream cheese
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella
(chips, bread-sticks, baguettes to serve with)

Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly oil (with olive oil) a shallow baking dish. In a pot on medium ad onion and garlic til lightly browned (5‒8 min.)  Add spinach in additions. Let batches wilt before adding the next. Cook until completely wilted (5‒9 min.) Drain, pressing out all the excess liquid. In that emptied pot, warm milk over high heat. Whisk in cream cheese (3 min.) Add spinach mixture, Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella, stir and seas with salt and pepper. Pour into the oiled pan. Bake until bubbly about 20 minutes.

GIF is Making a Comeback

Now that GIFs are retro, they are coming by and style. In reality it is Apple's decision to not support flash that have forced people to find new ways to add motion to their websites. It turns out the best way is the old way (cir. 1984 ‒ 90s). Photoshop's animation integration has made it easier than ever to animate your gifs and try to optimize them best for web, without annoying pixelation. There will be some in most cases, since you are limited to 256 colors. The animation panel now has an animation timeline to Adobe's AfterEffects timeline with position, opacity, and style  settings.

Best advice for animated gifs is too simplify images and color palette. You can do this by using simple shapes and color fields. I avoid using human faces because the face has so many gradations it is difficult to make anyone look good in a limited palette.

Photoshop also has tools such as posterize to help simplify the layers of color in an image. (This is a life saver for my online ads). Also always using save for web optimization will help insure you get the file right.

Email, Facebook, Blogs, and Twitter...Oh My!

As I mentioned before with a new shift in my company, which means taking on more responsibility. I have recently obtained a twitter account, so that I know more about this medium that I am supposed to help my clients navigate. Webinars, blogs, and seminars can only help me go so far. I have to delve into these murky waters myself to help my clients to the fullest potential.

With so many social medias that we log into everyday it is difficult to manage them all in a personal matter. It is a more difficult animal to deal with for companies. More important than maintaining so many medias and connecting with customers it is essential to first have a brand. A brand is a living thing, and that is why your brand needs to reach out to your current client base through email, facebook, twitter, and ect. This is why branding is essential because all of these medias are elective, meaning that your customers allow you to access them in this way. Even with this access, your information is seen by less than 20% of your elective customers. Social media allows you to approach your customer in his or her favorite medium, and allows them to interact back with you/brand.

This is why social media consultants is becoming a full time job at many companies. I am not an expert by any means, but I working hard to help my clients have a new type of conversation with their customers.

Burnt Out

bûrnt out: To cause to undergo combustion.

 

With all work, and no play I have burnt out. My passion for design was strong and kept me motivated everyday to be creative in every part of my life. Constant fast paced, repetitive work begins to drive a nail into ambition and creative talent. Clawing my way out of burn out will be difficult, especially with no break in site.

My coworkers have been telling me it is essential to take vacations. It is due as part of my salary, but it is difficult for me to take it. With downsizing at work it will become even more difficult to have the courage to request vacation, let alone be able to get time off. It is clear that I need a break, and it is essential not only personally but for my professional work as well. All I can do is hope for some inspiration to flutter before me.

Blogging Takes Passion

With the somewhat anonymity of the internet it becomes easier to post whatever you want to the internet, but continual blogging takes something more than an 100 character update on what you are eating. Blogging takes passion. Unfortunately it is difficult to be continually passionate and motivated to post on a constant basis, and it better to take a break than to force mediocre content on an overcrowded blogosphere. Most people start a blog to discuss a subject that is important to them and think others will be interested on what they have to say.

You can find blogs on every subject: food (probably the most common), design, art, literature, DIY, crafts, games, health, mommy blogs, and much more. Most of us will never become "professional"  bloggers, like dooce (mommy blog), designlovefest (design), designsponge (home design), and besides have to make sure they can pay their employees they are able to take breaks from posting and let others post for them so that their readers don't notice the downtime when creativity has dissipated. Some are able to earn an income off their site, but most never will. What makes us spend countless hours, without pay writing about design, health, literature, crafts...passion.

Passion: any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.

When passion wanes personal blogs suffer because there is no longer the compelling force driving us to spend or precious personal time writing about a subject that once burned with fire, but is now cooled ashes.

 If passion is so essential, how do we get it back?

Spend time on your other hobbies. Spending time on your other hobbies can reignite your blogging passion when you can come back to it. Most of us are not interested in just one thing, so get out and enjoy your other hobbies as you wait for time to bring back your passion for your blog.

Sleep. Everyone has his or her own sleep requirement usually 6 to 9 hours. Our bodies need time to recharge in order to keep our body functioning as well as creativity.

Brainstorm (remember those writing exercises in grade school) - writing your ideas down quickly can help you come up with many ideas and you can weed out the ones that don't interest you.

Set Goals. when we achieve our goals a small amount of endorphins are released. making you happy and helping your regain passion.