As you can tell, Samantha's work on a new site design has finished. I called it "NewWorld." I dig this one as much as the last one because it's still unique enough to not look like something I downloaded off a theme site. This makes the second pure-CSS layout I've created from scratch. I am happy to say that it gets easier with practice. I'm aiming for a nautical theme to some degree, so a few of the page elements (h-rules, blockquotes, list items) may be changing in the coming weeks to reflect that.
I have several things that have taken missing from this design, and some major additions. The links and portfolio pages are gone, with the latter replaced by my Gallery install and writing section. The résumé page is still here, but I haven't found a useful way to work it into the layout. I still haven't brought back the flickr plug-in, but that seems redundant with Gallery up and running.
I'm still wanting an iMac G5, but I can't bring myself to actually placing the order. The primary reason for this apprehension is the sheer cost. I'm going to have expenses over the Christmas holiday (the basics, like rent, electricity and cell phone) even though I won't be drawing a check for most of December and the first few weeks of January. The other reason is I'm still "wait and see" as to whether or not I want a desktop or laptop. If I get a desktop, this one (my Compaq) will more than likely be sold or sent back to the repository of random computer crap at my parents' house. I still might need the PC on occasion. If I get the laptop (roughly the same price), I'll still need the desktop, and probably not use the laptop very often other than at work. That and I have a bad habit of losing things. Design work is hard to do on a laptop.
Classes are well past midterms, and my hopes are mediocre at best. I think I can pull an A out of Voice and Diction and English. Finance was an A at midterms, but these later chapters are giving me fits. I suppose if I paid attention in class and quit relying so much on my financial calculator, I'd fare better. Spanish is moving along at B or C level, depending on which day of the week you ask me. Geology has been particularly tough.
So to cope, I just play video games. I've been playing the hell out of NCAA 2006, using the new "Race for the Heisman" feature. I won it my sophomore year on Varsity mode, but it took a little effort to do so. The game gives more credit to the receiver than the quarterback (my position), so after a while I had to quit throwing it to my leading receiver in order to boost my own rankings. Evil. It's good to see that Tennessee can win on the PlayStation, but lacks that same talent in the real world. Go figure.
The Volunteers are on a longer-by-the-day list of things that aren't good. The Titans are on a skid. The Predators exploded, and then fizzled. Much the same can be said for our Skyhawk football team. I'm a self-proclaimed sports fan, and sometimes I put too much into the successes and failures of a group of people I have little to no control over. That last sentence is more telling than it seems. I need to start focusing more on what I can manage, and less on what I can't.
Take Washington, for example. I am like most Americans enraged by the turn of events surrounding the CIA leak scandal. We can call it a scandal now. People have been charged with wrongdoings, and it is very clear to observers that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It goes down to the root philosophy of "win at any costs" versus "do what's right for the American people." Those two philosophies couldn't be farther apart on the spectrum. Tom Delay is a great example of the former philosophy applied to the extreme. Not only have his actions been abhorrent, his attitude suggests that intimidation is "business as usual" in the Beltway. Call the Democrats opportunistic, but they are in the right to call attention to the ills of government.
I hear a lame duck quacking already. In fact, that would probably be the advisable strategy. Quit wasting time and money on failed initiatives (Social Security, Medicare Reform, School Vouchers, Blocking Stem Cell Research, Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage, Energy Policy ... oh yeah, War in Iraq) and go after the simple stuff, like road projects. Nobody argues with road projects. If the Republican Party wants to win another race anytime this decade, the best advice I've got is to "lay low." I've watched a lot of Facebook profiles switch from "Conservative" to "Moderate" these past few months. I'd say it is with good reason.