Woke up and was supposed to start doing job applications (right after this!) but had some other changes I wanted to do to this site. Heh, it’s funny. Like yesterday, while at work, my mind’s cogwheels were turning furiously trying to figure out a solution for a problem I was having. I subconsciously fixed it in my mind and did the modifications at the very first moment I had internet access while at my friend’s place. Sometimes I wonder how fixated I can get on something.

Checked again for my asides plugin and what do you know, the author of the plugin made an update yesterday. Heh, yes, no more conflicts with the default WordPress installation and now I can continue on with my random musings without a hitch. Also patched up the Archives section, the single page displays and other minor core logic issues. Will be doing minor updates on a daily basis until I sort it all out.

At least with the major redesign out, I can focus on providing blog content again instead of doing under the hood modifications to this site.

80% done. 15% minor details need fixing. 5% is the perfectionist in me saying that it will never be finished. Heh…

Designer, artist and programmer all in one. It’s difficult work sometimes, as doing these things require different skill sets and different frames of mind. For the artist in me, I need to be open minded and creative while programming requires proven and tested methods, especially cold, hard logic. Switching between these tasks can really work up my mind.

I’ve retained the pretty girl, flower and red theme. Heh, this could probably be the last design that has these three elements, especially the last one. Red is a difficult colour to work with. Especially with this colour theme that has yellow and purple, I’ve tried to make them complement each other as much as possible. I’ll admit, I find the colours and styling a bit on the girlish side, which is in no way a representation of myself. Heh, but I do really like the whacky feel of it. Let’s see if this design sits with me until the next redesign cycle, which is probably another 6 months from now.

Decided to stay with the two column blog layout. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Widened it beyond 800 pixels so I could have more space for a feature I planned. Recycled plenty of code this time round as I was too lazy to fix every little CSS rendering problem that happened in one browser or the other. Softened the boxiness of the site a bit, was never a fan of straight lines to begin with. With every iteration of this site, I come closer to what I want to portray in my designs.

Added some new features, but unfortunately had to remove one of them. Firstly, I have a new plugin that takes the weather status from a weather station in Melbourne and displays it directly on my site. Heh, at least now I can complain about how cold it is in Melbourne and actually prove it. The other plugin was a side blog of sorts, for me to put in little rants or stuff of interest occasionally. It was for anything that didn’t require a full blown post. Unfortunately, the plugin is still in beta and causes quite a bit of problem with the default WordPress installation (which has been upgraded from an alpha release to the final 1.5 version). My programming skills are only limited, so I have no idea how to fix it. Will just wait for a better version of the plugin to become available.

Tested the site with Firefox, Internet Explorer 6 and Opera 7. It runs fine on all of them, best results on Firefox. IE users will notice that the weather symbol has a black background, which is a limitation of the browser itself. Heh, if you’re still on IE, just switch to Firefox, it’s a much, better (not to mention safer) browser.

Just need to fix up a few minor glitches and design clashes within the next few days, and finally fix up that About page. Heh, small mental note, I’d make a bad programmer. My version numbers are a bit weird, but it’s version 2.0 only because I added features to it. One extra feature is still something new. Heh…

As usual, constructive comments on the design are welcomed.

Sometimes I wonder which it is, whether patience drives my perseverance to complete something or whether it is perfectionism that makes it an obsession to complete something.

Been spending the last 72 hours (well, when I’m not sleeping or socialising) trying to come up with a site redesign. It’s caused me self induced headaches, hyper brain multitasking and mental instability. Heh, the last part is a little exaggerated, but there’s so much one needs to pick up everytime I do a redesign. I can imagine the things I want implemented on my site, but I usually have no idea how it’s done. So Google is my friend, until I find something I can use or adapt to my personal needs. So one minor detail in an ocean of ideas may take a couple of hours just to see it through.

Brain is hyperactive and processing too many thoughts at the moment. Need… to… calm… down…

Heh, the new design will be up in the next few days. Am so gonna miss this current design.