What Have I Done? (Anniversary Review 2008)

Today marks the first anniversary of Flush. A year ago, I “soft opened” this blog, and believe it or not, I still haven’t “grand opened” it, although I’m not sure if I really need to anyway.

Flash Review

The past year has been a bumpy ride. I finished my last undergrad class, got sucked into the world of Sim City 3000 and Sims 2 as I prepped for my job search, started my beta site, got a job at Peet’s, went to see Sagmeister speak, skipped out on Alumni Day (I’m sorry!), worked on a freelance project for my aunt’s business, bought a new printer, watched the impressive production of the Beijing Olympics, resumed working on my portfolio and site, and rekindled my passion for web developing.

My attitude on design has changed, and that has helped me narrow down the types of careers that I would like to pursue. And every day, I’m getting closer to that job and that career. Working on my site almost every day excites me and motivates me because 1) I’ve grown to enjoy coding and designing, and 2) I can’t wait to share with the world what I’ve done.

Prediction for the Next Twelve Months

I don’t know.

Nobody does, and I’ve been wrong enough times about where I would be right now to not make any more general predictions. But I will always have hope, I will always have my expectations, and I will always believe in the future.

A year from now, I may or may not be a designer, and I may or may not enjoy coding still/anymore, and I may completely change my mind about this site and start a brand new one, or career. And that’s perfectly okay, as long as I am okay with it and it’s for the better. I may not reach my current desired destination, but that may or may not be as important as the journey to get there. I mean, I totally wish I were rich already and not have to work but become a philanthropist and help starving children in Africa or save the rain forest in South America, but it would probably mean more to me if I actually pay my dues, work my way up, meet interesting people, and learn about the issues to get there.

Flush.

2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Links

I just watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and I am beyond ecstatic and proud of the superb job the organization has done. Because of the time difference and the exclusive broadcast rights in the States, the opening ceremony had already occurred early morning of August 8, 2008 Pacific Daylight Time, and nothing is broadcast on TV until the evening. So I avoided all news sites and blog feeds for the whole day, fearing that I will see anything already posted from the ceremony before I could watch the broadcast in the evening. I wanted to be completely surprised.

Usually, when I mentally prepare myself for a big event, like a highly anticipated movie premiere or the days of my high school and undergrad graduation, I upped my expectations so much that I become disappointed when the moment finally comes. Not this time. Not at all. The team that organized this ceremony did not let me down. I am extremely satisfied and I am glad I did not give in to any temptations with the spoilers.

I just want to say that China has done a great job showing the world the power of the masses, that with enough people, and with an amazingly detailed creative vision, we can be great and amazing and awe-inspiring at anything we want.

I rarely post external links without much analysis, but this is an exceptional exception. I am listing links that I find worth checking out on the opening ceremony. I know it’s only been two or so hours since I watched the ceremony, but I have heard nothing but good things and praise about it, so I must share this excitement and positivity with everyone. (I will add more as I find more pages.)

• Funny Title: Core77 : Western Civilization, You've Been Served - Chinese Olympic Opening Ceremony Best Ever
• Amazing Photographs: Boston.com: 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
• Flickr fever (start on these pages and click the right arrow to browse):
  • toomanytribbles
  • SleepingSheep
  • sunflowergirl_9x
  • vanessagx
  • angeladare45
  • Windizzy
  • sp1ffd
• Video: Crazy amount of fireworks. Only in China.YouTube: Light the Olymipc cauldron - Beijing 2008

Flush.

Six Months of Flushing

Today is the six-month anniversary of Flush.

Six months ago, I “soft opened” this blog. And if you can look at it at a specific and narrow way, the blog still hasn’t officially “grand opened,” but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Still, I will let you know when everything’s all ready to go.

Flush.

This is a Soft Opening. Pun Optionally Intended.

Finally. After a week of thinking and planning, followed by three days of constant code-select all-copy-paste-preview coding, I’ve arrived to a design that I am more or less satisfied with. I’m really excited about this project and I really want it to go somewhere, although I think part of my excitement came from the fact that I found out that Blogger lets you blog with their service but use your domain name as the address, for free! And it lets you take out that annoying Navigation bar at the top of the page. I’m still crediting Blogger on the site, so it’s not like I’m totally ignoring them.

Anywho, in the next few posts, I will have a series of introductory entries talking about the blog and my background. But just real quick, I want to say that this blog is basically a dumping ground for any design-related ideas or thoughts that pop up in my head. I’m “dumping” them here so I won’t have the assumption that that “really good idea” in my head is going to come out just as good. Sometimes I might have something that actually is good, and in which case, I can look at it from a distance (away from my head) and see what I can do with it. I will try to have mostly thoughtful entries and hopefully start a conversation going. In the mean time, enjoy the del.icio.us sidebar, and subscribe to the blog!

Flush.