if you happen to be in Boston, go check out this show. http://www.fearnoart3.blogspot.com/ for more info.

put your lighter up…

Hi. Don’t mind me while i type up a few notes for myself so I won’t forget: it’s my last week at work (in case you’re wondering, yes i gave my resignation a couple of weeks ago…surprise!) and for some reason it’s not a breeze; I ran into a handful of “issues” with installing Wordpress for my boss’ personal website and it turned into a nightmare. Some lessons learned:

1)  DO NOT choose Windows hosting for Wordpress; you will run into a lot of problems like i did – upload feature will not work, permission problems, pages not working with permalinks, etc. Seriously, it will leave you sleepless and wondering what the hell you did wrong. You will end up going back and forth with the hosting company’s technical support. Go with Linux instead. I never ran into any problems installing Wordpress in the past, and now that I have, I am making note of it.

2) I am too honest for my own damn good and that is why I was put on the spot to do the job. If you don’t want to do it, then don’t tell them that you know how to do it. You’re not lying, you’re just not revealing it to them. If you do tell them then they will use you and expect you to start & complete the project.

3) Before you commit to working on the project, communicate to them what you can and cannot do, so they won’t have these ridiculous expectations of you…like you’re some kind of wizard that knows it all. I definitely don’t know it all, everything I’ve learned has been through trial and error and making mistakes, BUT there are people out there who will employ your services thinking that you do know it all, so be prepared to let them know. If you do, you won’t seem so much of a failure in the first place.

4) If no one can help you, then search for the problem online, or at least gain insight from researching it. The people I work with do not understand the process / possible issues / technical aspects of translating a photoshop comp design into a functional website and so I had to search for answers on my own.

A couple of links I found that helped me out:

Why we skip Photoshop

Photoshop and the Death of Web Design

the image above was found on: Vintage Ads on Flickr

only this video came to mind, because i thought it was the coolest when i was a kid.

and of course, this:

young MJ by kofie

and finally this:

i’ve got nothing to say at the moment so i’m just going to share some links:

nubby twiglet - she’s great. i’ve been lurking on her blog; her content is very useful / helpful to designers.

so much pileup - graphic design artifacts and inspiration from the 1960’s – 1980’s.

olivia munn – she cracks me up. and she’s drop dead gorgeous.

awkward family photos – i’m sure you all know about this one already.

well medicated – inspiration overdose

video 48 – i was looking for something else when i ran into this blog; filipino pop culture stuff, brings me back to my childhood days.

joe kral’s amazing book cover collection on flickr

owl tattoos – thanks cee!

business guys on business trips – illustrates what a working designer goes through day to day

gosh, this was one of my “teen angst” songs…what were some of yours?

- in real world situations. thanks ES!

whoa, i went without blogging for 9 days; seems like a long time in the interwebz, doesn’t it?

i’ve been quiet because i’ve been thinking about my life (again) and trying to figure out what exactly it is i want out of it; am i supposed to sit back and just wait for it to happen, or do i go ahead and take more action to achieve the results that i want? because to be honest, i’ve spent A LOT of time bitching and complaining – my husband & my closest friends know this all too well. to most of you, it may seem that i don’t complain that much, but TRUST ME, i do. it’s part of being human; we are never satisfied with what we have, we always seem to want more, even though we have all that we need already. i believe this is what the Creator wants of us, otherwise why would this Being, this Entity…bestow us with these desires – to want more, to better ourselves, to continue persuing our interests and to be go-getters…

so without going into too much detail, i just want to let you all know that i’ve jumped on the tattooing bandwagon and am looking for people to practice on. my only requirements are:

1) you must be local (Los Angeles)

2) you must be familiar with my style (go to www.shermgrafik.com to see my work)

if you are seriously interested, email me at sherm@shermgrafik.com

the above photo is a tattoo that i did on myself recently. your honest feedback is welcome.

i’m not a skate nerd but this movie was quite entertaining, shots of old venice and los angeles…DAGGERS!!!

watched it last weekend at downtown independent

if i died of a heart attack i would want to go out eating this.