makumaro.net

Dreams

Devoid of thoughts today?

While wanting to express the world in my previous post, today I sit here in front of my computer not really feeling the need to say anything. Like a pet after a meal, sitting content in a corner, cleaning its fur and ignoring the wide, wide world. Heh..

Woke up this morning with one of my stranger dreams lingering. Dreams are vivid when I sleep longer than I’m supposed to, and my mind starts messing around and I sort of have control towards the direction of dreams but not really towards the content. I was in some exotic Asian locality, and the sun was semi setting, putting a golden shine on things. I remember a river, some urban setting, going through some supposedly secret route to get to that urban setting and me going out on a photoshoot with a black camera (I hope it was a D70). While discovering the cultural identity of the city, the darndest thing happened. My dream camera’s battery went flat. So I made my way back through the secret passage, ended up by the river and had nothing left to do. My mind idling, I decided to wake up.

Now, what was for breakfast again.

Frustrated

Blog post no.#149. Take 5. Action!

Geez… my thoughts are like the cars in morning traffic being compounded by a roadblock, so ideas have grinded to a halt and screaming at each other for attention like the deafening sound of a car horn. Everyone wants to move along to reach their destination (apparently the destination here is a few words of expression on this blog post), but no one train of thought wants to give way.

I’ve rehashed this entry a number of times already, not sure of what I want to convey. I’ve been sitting here for a couple of odd hours. Pencil in hand sketching ideas on pieces of paper. I’ve looked at the number of web designs I’ve done over the past 12 months. Colour tone has changed, with less saturation and contrast, using natural colours for a less artificial feel in my designs. There is more symmetry in shape selection. Everything now seems a little more subtle they fall into place and feel less jarring to the eyes.

Have a sort of heuristic approach to design these days, it’s like opening a pack of instant noodles, you know what the steps are in preparing it without having to read the instructions at the back. I could sort of articulate the details, but it then becomes too tedious. The dilemma I have now is trying to redesign this very site you’re looking at now. This is the umpteenth time I’ve tried to fix up the design. I liken it to a chef graduating from instant noodles and trying to concoct his first masterpiece dish. It’s always in the making, always finding new ingredients and you just never seem to get the sweetness or tanginess in the right amounts, making it just inadequate for you to put a tick and pass the dish as a success. One of the reasons I feel I’m always failing is because my knowledge of design is still too shallow. I fail to recognise every minute detail that makes something work, just like how in watching Iron Chef, the cooks know what ingredients to blend together to give the right taste, texture, presentation etc.

Heh, my only consolation is that I can improve, even if it’s at the rate of how stalactites grow.

Okie, enough lamenting.

Adelaide Pics

A short series of pics from Adelaide which should run over the course of a couple of days.

Starting with the smiling pie.