Blossom.nu » Online

Images or words?

Jenni — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:30:15 +0000

As much as I love colour and design, I’m much more at home with text on the web. Part of the reason is because words are easier (for me) to manipulate. Words are usually just as satisfying as a great design, although they usually take more effort to appreciate. There’s such a big difference between using words simply to communicate and using them to craft poetic expression, in the same way that there’s a big difference between using design for functionality (e.g. warning signs or call to actions) and design for beauty.

[I'm sure there's a link between music and design as well - it must activate the same chemicals or synapses or something. Designers are never asked 'Do you listen to music whilst you work?'; rather 'What music do you listen to whilst you work?' In my mind, it's like watching TV and eating at the same time - more enjoyable than doing either thing separately!]

Bloggers generally divide into two categories – those who focus on videos and/or images, and those who focus on words. Of course there are people slap bang in the middle, but I’m definitely a text person. I especially tend to avoid videos starring bloggers (sorry), partly because of time issues, but also because I like the mystery. Part of blogging is an illusion and I like to keep it that way – I read your words with my own accent, which is more comfortable for me. Personally I’d feel quite self-conscious video blogging myself, but more than that I see it as unnecessary. It’s time-consuming (and I have very little time), and it’s not easy to revisit. Maybe in ten years’ time I’ll wish I had more video of myself, but it seems unlikely!

I’ve never been a big fan of video on the Internet (with the exception of funny YouTube things), because things like tutorials and interviews and how tos are generally extremely cringeworthy. I also hate having to wait for videos to buffer, having to replay bits that I didn’t catch due to accent or technical issues, and not being able to scan bits quickly as I would with text. Interestingly, my manager asked me if I’d do some video tutorials for the company blog, but as it’s for work I view it differently, though my personal views remain the same. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to watch them back!

I think we’re in a generation now that expects videos and visuals. For the people that joined the Internet only a few years ago, it was a natural progression from TV, whereas when I first got obsessed visuals were still developing and I can’t even remember watching any video on the web really. With smartphones and Google and Apple though, I’m sure much more TV and maybe even films will become web-based in the future.

Are you an image person or a text person? Do you like watching home-made videos online?

New theme!

Jenni — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:48:29 +0000

I know, I know. It’s taken me forever to get a new theme up, but I’m so happy now it’s done! It’s not the best thing I’ve ever done, but I just needed a change (and I’m sure you did too). I feel a lot more motivated to work on the site with a fresh new look, and I’m angry at myself for leaving so long between blog entries, never mind updates Hopefully everything should look right and work properly – if you see anything that looks wrong, just leave a comment or use the contact form.

Big thanks to those who left comments on the last entry…I think you guys have finally helped me figure out what I want to do. I think it’s time to archive old content and leave it to rest, and then fill up on relevant, up-to-date articles, thoughts, tutorials, freebies and so on. I’m far too old for dolls and quotes; I’ll keep them because they’re popular, but they need to be less prominent I think!

Life has been its usual hectic self recently. I love my new job lots. I spend my days writing blog entries, tweeting, developing and adding content to the company Facebook page, reading the latest web, technology and social media news, brainstorming and lots of other things. I’m enjoying coming up with my own ideas and writing all day without interruption. I’ve already been to the city’s business awards, I’m booked in for a web design conference in January, I’ve interviewed a few amazing people and I’m hopefully going to be writing articles for a couple of national computer magazines as well. Really excited and happy with the way things are going As usual, I just wish I had more time!

Yesterday I went to see The A-Team with Rich. Despite never actually having seen an episode of the TV series, I thought it was pretty good and it was easy enough to follow, though I suspect I missed out on a couple of the in-jokes. Not sure anything’s going to beat Inception this year, but I’m yet to see Toy Story 3 so who knows!

My parents and sister have a new addition to the family – an adorably cute black baby poodle (who I’m yet to meet). My dad offered to sell him for one of his friends (who for some reason decided to buy a poodle when living in a one-bedroom apartment), but I doubt he’ll leave our house now he’s got there. From the sounds of it they’ve all fallen completely in love with him – he hasn’t got a name yet, but I think they’re toying with Fonzi or Pepper Any suggestions…?

I’ve joined another couple of social networking sites; Good Reads and Dopplr. Good Reads is what I expected really, and it’ll probably take me at least a couple of years to add all the books I’ve read and rate them, let alone write reviews! Dopplr has a lot of room for improvement – I went on trips years ago and can remember the months and years but not the days – yet I have to enter the exact dates I went. Also, apparently ferries are the only type of boat you can travel on I might add some of my older trips, but I’ve been to so many places over about sixteen years so it’s going to be tough.

Right, I think I’ve earned a break now so I’m going to start reading one of the new books I bought!

Baking, updates and reflections

Jenni — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:06:50 +0000

I’m enjoying some well-deserved time off at the moment, which includes lots of lie-ins, Plants vs Zombies, Facebook time, reading, shopping and watching TV. I find it difficult to completely relax though, so I’ve started redecorating downstairs in ‘crushed almond’, which is a lot fresher and surprisingly lighter. I’ve also gone on a baking spree, and as part of my 101 Things in 1001 Days project, I bought some cake decorating stuff and made a first attempt at icing and decorating cupcakes:

I think they turned out ok, the stars were easy to make with cutters and pre-brought fondant, and they taste nice which is the most important thing right?! I kind of want to go on a day’s cupcake making course, but I can’t justify the £150 cost when there are videos and recipes all over the internet!

I’ve also added a new recipe for Banoffee Pie. It’s a really easy and slightly cheaty use of ingredients, but it’s lovely and creamy and very sweet. It’s a nice dessert for summer because you don’t have to slave over a hot stove and it’s refreshing.

In other news, I’ll be adding more recipes soon, including one for millionaire’s shortbread. I’ve taken all the images, so all that needs to be done is a write-up and some tweaking. I’ve allocated at least two hours a day to working on Blossom updates and tweaking for the next few days, so hopefully I’ll be able to make some real progress. It’s all part of the Jenni-tidying-up process, which involves getting the house straight, sorting out my old stuff, learning new things, achieving goals and generally doing all those little things that seem to get pushed to one side. What have you achieved recently, or what have you been putting off that you really need to do?

Last weekend I went down south to see all my old work friends. It was a lot of fun and great to catch up with everyone again. I do miss them, and it was great to have a short break from Nottingham for a while, particularly as it’s so nice in that area this time of year, with sunny countryside and farmers’ markets and dairy-made ice cream. As they say – it’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there! I’m a city girl at heart.

I’ve been getting quite a few emails from people recently, and it’s lovely to know that I’m inspiring people and that people are enjoying my site despite the mess it’s in. This year will mark a whole decade since I started learning HTML and web design, and whilst my technical knowledge has slowed in recent times, I’ve developed a lot more understanding of its commercial use, and also developed my knowledge of search engine optimisation, adwords, analytics etc., which is all really valuable and helpful. I think I need to set myself a target to learn more – for example about PHP – because although I’m kind of short of time in comparison to everything I want to do, I still have that thirst for knowledge and curiosity that’s brought me this far. It started out as just a hobby, but now it’s part of my job and part of who I am, as sad as that sounds. In a way I guess it’s pure luck that I have a hobby which is so valuable in terms of skills and commercial use – what do you think?

101 Things in 1001 Days

Jenni — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:53:36 +0000

I’m a big fan of lists, and recently I’ve been signing up to a lot of social networking-esque things which allow me to make lots and lots of lists (my Tumblr is here, and my Remember The Milk is here). My latest interest is the 101 Things in 1001 Days project – which a lot of people create manually, but since I found a website which tracks everything for me I’m doing it that way. 101 Things combines two things I love – lists and goals. Whilst I’m not an obsessive over-achiever, I like the psychological benefits of moving forward, and the physical act of ticking something off a list or crossing it out. I have hundreds of lists all over the place, from work tasks to shopping to aims for Blossom.

My 101 Things in 1001 Days list is a mix of short-term achievable goals, things I would like to do, and long term things which will change my life. That way, I’m keeping myself motivated with goals I can achieve, and also thinking about the next few years and what I want to accomplish. My list also incorporates most of my new year’s resolutions, which admittedly could be going better…

I’ve spent some time browsing some of the other lists on there, and it’s inspired me to add more things to my list and has also helped me discover some new sites. So now all I need to do is get my head down and actually start achieving some of these things. Have you got any goals for this year or the next couple of years? If so, where (if anywhere) do you keep track of them?

(Side note: I’m aware that this entry sounds kind of like a sponsored post, which it’s not. I’m completely against having sponsored content on Blossom, and unless I end up on the streets, it’s never going to happen).

This evening I’m going home for a nice long weekend, and hopefully a nice long rest. The only thing standing in my way is my laser eye consultancy appointment tomorrow, which I’m not yet feeling nervous about – probably because I’ve been completely rushed off my feet every day and every evening for the past week or so. Last night I went to the cinema with Rich (love Orange Wednesdays), and saw ‘I Love You Philip Morris’, which was bizarre but funny. Jim Carey’s character was very lovable and Ewan McGregor was pretty good too. It wasn’t perfect, and it was very rushed at the beginning, but it seemed like a good choice with some of the other rubbish out at the moment. Next on my list is ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, which looks great – I love dragons!

I’m looking forward to Easter because it’ll be nice to have some time to catch up on life in general. I’m intending to put aside at least two days for working on Blossom related things because I have so many new ideas and I want the rest of the site to look good before I implement them, or even start working on them. Why do websites never end?? Also, I made a new theme banner a looong time ago (beginning of February), which is very unusual in that it’s Lady Gaga meets Anne Boleyn – beat that for randomness! I need to code a new theme and put that up..and also I have a banoffee pie recipe and some new photos for the stock photo gallery. Busy busy busy! So, what have you been up to recently?