Preserved Topic: [:: inspiration comes in all sizes ::]

today.

today i was inspired by this article on ala. i know what most people on ala will talk about in the discussion forums; most of them are of similar breed to us, some of us cross over--but by an large, ala's slogan stands true: "for people who make websites." if this were the case here, the site review forum would be a helluva lot more active than it is.

that's beside the point.

the point is that i read this tonight because i needed a brief break from the redesign of my business site, that has been saying "coming december 2k" for nearly six months now...perhaps longer. well, this article gave me pause--the pause that refreshes and allows for reflection.

i've been designing sites for years. i've been pouring my heart and soul into sites my entire professional career. and, sure, i love most of my designs (save for the ones that clients get a little too picky about), but by and large i've not impacted the world even nearly as much as the burmese 16 year old that wrote his journal online--and it touched just one persons heart.

the article speaks about business taking over the net. well, that was never really the problem. it seems that business has been taking over *us*. it's less evident if you look at praystation or dreamless or (especially) pixelflo, but lets be honest...there's something missing.

i'm absolutely fucking brilliant when it comes to origami. i love it. it's so incredibly peaceful and meditative to sit down with a cup of coffee, a smoke, and 400 sheets of colored paper that are exact squares of different sizes and texture and then make each sheet into something that it wasn't before--a bird, a festive box, a decorative mask. beautiful.

i've written some wonderful stories in may day. some that evoke humor, terror, sadness--some beautiful stuff.

i've developed probably fifty different card tricks. great fun at parties. wonderful to see a childs eyes light up when you bring forth the card he thought you burned up in a fit of smoke and flames just moments before.

hell, i've never made a page that my grandparents/parents could check out, just to see how i'm doing and save the extreme long-distance charges (that and i'm rather difficult to get a hold of).

so why haven't i shared all these things with anyone else?

the answer is this: sure, g*m will exist...but not having my website up and running isn't hurting my pocketbook any (it's not helping it any either, but that's okay). i've not lost clients over it. really, i'm fairly stable...more or less. business has taken me over. i'm fighting back. i'm not going to finish redesigning g*m until i've done something (more than wtf, because that's something that my soul and the souls of many others have been dying for, so says me) that impacts someone else.

comments?

"Do you make any money from pixelflo?"
::Nope
"Does it cost anything to run?"
::Yep
"Do you get nice responses?"
::Sometimes I get great letters that make me smile the rest of the day.
"Do you get any hate mail?"
::Yep
"What's with the 'Communicate...Connect...Flo' slogan?"
::You can figure that one out.
"So if it's not bringing stuff in, why do it for people?"

::Because it wasn't built for them. It was built for us. We update it because we love it. I can honestly say that Cal and I (even in fits of frustration and 38 hour days) love that site, and love working on it. Expanding it and moving in new directions. Why did we do it? Because we're dorks at heart, and like having fun. We'd have built it even if noone ever saw it (twitch's praise is sweet, but Istill say flo doesn't stand in the company of dreamless and praystation). This is an amazing medium in it's scope, and in it's tunnel vision. If I broke my ass all day over a client site, you'd better believe that I'm sneaking in moments to look at new flo layouts and smile, just to keep the sociopathic tendencies at bay.

At the end of the day..you'd better love what you do...but you'd also better have a place to share that love. Luckily I get to do that with the people in my life, and with the people I don't see. I don't know them, won't hear from them. They don't know me..but they've seen me for a bit, in flo.

Can't wait for it twitchy...you know I'm champing at the bit.

Peter

Communicate...connect...flo.





ICQ:# 10237808

Cool, that touched me too. "Doing good in the world", changing things, making an *impact*, these are all things in our power, how cool is that? I've got my own thoughts on how the future will go, but the things she spoke of are how *I* got here, at least! I get a lot of mail, one of the frequent themes is something like "Wow! You must be making tons of money from all that traffic!" Heh. I sold 2 coffee cups and a mouse pad! Hmm, I had banner ads for Thunderlizard for a few months, and made nearly enough to pay for the hosting! Really, this site, and all the others like it don't make any money really, and perhaps they never will. Why do it? A better question would be, how can I *not* do it? I'm a nut, a dork, what a geek I am! Last week I registered yet another domain, simply to make a small joke, registration cost, a years hosting, am I nuts or what? (See http://www.BIGbonfire.com/ to hear my silly joke =) This is my hobby, I like doing it, I like having all my friends together in this place, life is pretty cool.

Heh, guess I didn't have much to add, not really, just wanted to say something I guess.

Your pal, -doc-

yo! twItch^!,

when am i gonna see any of your urls.....?... i keep waiting...if ya get a chance please do let me know at:
barlowhumphreys@yahoo.com

( don't forget , you said you did it all without any prgmg stuff...yes?)

haha... hey Doc,
that is hilarious.... i am lovin it.

alrighty, umm... dang... brain fart....

err... DG. PixelFlo give others a reason to live, inspiration to create. But of course there are those that see your sight and then go kill them selves cuz they get to frustrated with their own inexperience.... You are weeding out the bad designers and encouraging the good ones!!! Keep up the good work!

doc...you're kooky.

Very very touchy, I might say. Now, I finally found the answer.

Every time when I am staring at my computer for almost 12 hours during any free days or weekends, my friends would ask me "What are you doing staring at your computer?" What is that? A website of yours? You're making a web site?" Honestly, I feel embarassed by the way they look at me when they ask those questions and I feel really stupid for doing it and showing them what I do. I play with Photoshop a lot and they stare at the image that I make as if that image is nothing and wasting my time. I feel so embarassed and I would stop doing it when they come and ask! I don't mind if they ask what am I doing, but the way they look at me, that's make me feel really stupid..

But, everytime I visit those websites that inspire me and fuel the passion, I say that I want to create something like this.. and I want to do it. I really want to.. but In my country , this is something that just been introduced to kids like us somewhere around 1996/ 97 and it's quite new.. I see it as an opportunity.. I visited doc site for the first time in 1998 and the passion grow even bigger .. I visited those photoshop tutes sites many times.. I learn a lot and have mastered HTML.. then I decide that I will do this.. currently I'm a mass communication student, majoring advertising. I decided to work for a ISP after graduating.

Then, what's next? I'll change the internet environment in my country by *Doing good in the world*. I will, and I've promise myself..

You people inspire me a lot, even though that when I come to the Asylum, I rarely post, most of the time I read the discussions and opinions. I like it.

Hey, am I telling you this?

Doc, when you start selling a Nice Zippo i will buy one... I was gonna buy one of your big mugs but then you said you were gonna put a more detailed pic on the mug.... And i am to lazy to go check. So, when you get the Zippo up i will try to persuade my parents to let me use their credit card... something the dont let me do much... heh...