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This is a test post from my iPhone email client with a photo attached.
I'm not too sure how this is going to work but we'll see! Maybe I'll
switch to typepad? Blogger plus Rapidweaver is pretty robust though.

The Simple Things in Life: Grids

I'm a big fan of grid designs. structure. Conformity. And then breaking that conformity. Designing your site around a grid always makes things seem to flow a bit better as well as hold up against any future changes and revisions. Or "reboots", if that's your thing.

There are a few great articles about grid designs that I highly recommend reading. But if you're looking for a quick and simple way to figure out that grid, a site was forwarded to me this morning that you may find interesting.

Grid Calculator

70 CSS Expert Techniques

The crew over at Smashing Magazine has done it again. They keep coming out with some great resources for web developers. Check out the latest.

From Smashing Magazine: CSS isn’t always easy to deal with. Depending on your skills and your experience, CSS coding can sometimes become a nightmare, particularly if you aren’t sure which selectors are actually being applied to document elements. An easy way to minimize the complexity of the code is as useful as not-so-well-known CSS attributes and properties you can use to create a semantically correct markup.

Action Pad & Action Book

From the Behance site - The Action Pad was designed by the Behance team and is based on the Action Method. The four distinct zones on each page provide a flexible template to get the most out of meetings and everyday brainstorm sessions (see usage guidelines below).

Your Passion is your work, treat it well. The Action Pad is made of 80lb Premium Blend paper with a subtle texture (30% post-consumer recycled), printed full bleed, padded, and perforated along with a three-hole punch.

The Action Pad is part of Behance's Action Method product line, the first in a series of Behance projects to help creative professionals boost productivity and make ideas happen. The Action Method was designed to help us push projects forward by organizing our ideas and focusing on action steps. An accordion-style pamphlet on how to practice the Action Method accompanies every product.

PMS 629U

PMS 137U

PMS Warm Grey 4U


Loyal users of the Action Pad include design studios, freelance fashion designers, advertising executives, and entrepreneurs.

Also check out The Action Book

Spider-man 3

I guess it's a movies month, eh? I went and saw Spider-man 3 the other day and enjoyed it. Not as much as I thought I would, though. It was definitely the weakest of the three as the story seemed to get lost a bit at times with the multiple characters that were fighting with each other for my attention. I feel like I understand why everything was there and needed to be there.... yet it seems like there was just too much going on for not much of a payoff or something. I mean, you have to move Harry Osborne forward with his revenge and need to honor his father, that was a given. They did a great job of introducing Venom (not that I'm a comic book pro or fan) and letting it really get the best of Peter as he also seeks revenge for his uncle's death. But, I don't think that was the point. I mean, it wasn't that we wanted Peter to deal with his need for revenge, it was that he had to let go of his uncle and forgive his uncle's killer (to be a true Hero, that is). Then, to bring Harry and Peter back together before his death, they have to have two villains for Spidey to take on so Harry comes to Spidey's aid. Meh. It was just a bit much.

I really liked the first two flicks as they seemed to focus on the emotional side of a dorky kid coming to grips with his life changing so drastically. This film WANTED to but never seemed to really hold on to it as the chaos around Peter became a bit much. The more I think about the movie, the more I think it was a very hard balancing act. A delicate balancing act and they just barely pulled it off. I'm just left to wonder... Was there any chance of simplifying this story?