Writing
- The Power of Community
- 11/19/2012
- Community hasn't always been something that was important to me. An introvert and a bit of a loner, I tend to be most comfortable in my own little bubble. Over the past few years, though, community has become a big part of my life as I've discovered how great it feels to be part of something bigger than myself. For my October contribution to The Pastry Box Project, I write about this power of community.
- Returning to My Editing Roots
- 10/25/2012
- I've been an editor longer than anything else I've done in my entire career. It began when I was 15 and was appointed a Section Editor of my high school yearbook. That year, I fell in love with writing and developed a passion for helping other writers communicate. I also discovered I was pretty good at organization, deadlines and details. The following year, I became Editor–in–Chief of that high school yearbook and helped the publication earn a coveted, highly-competitive Silver…
- My Project Management Must-Haves
- 09/11/2012
- I've always enjoyed project management. I did it professionally for a software company many years ago, and now I do it every day for my freelance business. Over the years, I've learned how essential project management is for just about every project. And my definition of “project” is broad. Not only do I use project management techniques and tools for my client engagements and running my business, but I use it for the projects I'm involved with such as Web…
- Free Time? Quality Time.
- 08/10/2012
- Two years ago, when I decided to freelance full-time, almost all of my friends and family predicted I'd have so much more free time. I naively thought so too. With my “own” schedule, I envisioned frequent half-days and regular days off. I thought of new hobbies I could start and all the books I would read and all the extra travel I'd do. As it turns out, these predictions weren't quite right. In my July Pastry Box contribution, I discuss…
- I Share Because I’m Selfish
- 07/30/2012
- One of my passions is sharing information. Writing, podcasting, editing, presenting, teaching, mentoring … they are all active and important parts of my life. I get excited when someone is inspired by a presentation, or when a reader learns something new from an article. It's satisfying to give back to the community, especially one that has taught me so much. But as good as that feels, giving back isn't my motivation. Neither is education. As I discuss in my June…
- Sales Isn’t Just Another 4-Letter Word
- 05/30/2012
- While I have a fondness for most 4-letter words, “sales” has always been pretty offensive to me. I just didn't have alot of positive impressions of sales, both as an employee in sales and marketing departments, as well as a consumer. When I decided to work for myself, I struggled with sales. In large part due to my negative perception of it. But, as any business owner (eventually) learns, you can't avoid sales. For my May Pastry Box contribution, I…
- Check Yo’ Self Before Ya Wreck Yo’ Project
- 05/02/2012
- Since going freelance full-time (almost two full years ago, oh my!), my professional life has been a series of learning experiences. Of course, I'm picking up new techniques and attempting to master new technologies. But the most important lessons, I've discovered, have more to do with who I am (and how I handle myself) as a person and a professional. When I worked as part of a team for my former employers, the success (or failure) of a project was…
- On Colleagues & Idols
- 04/03/2012
- I recently came across the following quote from sociologist and Harvard professor Charles Willie: “By idolizing those whom we honor we do a disservice both to them and to ourselves. … We fail to recognize the fact that we could go and do likewise.” This quote was the inspiration for my March contribution to The Pastry Box Project, which is now available for your reading pleasure!
- Building a Flexible Foundation for ee-podcast.com
- 03/28/2012
- Script Junkie, the tutorial site I've been writing for since 2010, has been fairly quiet lately. That's because they've been making a move to MSDN Magazine. Now the move is (mostly) complete (aside from a few URL redirects they are still addressing), and tutorials should return to a regular publishing schedule. I've seen some of the topics lined up, and they are not to be missed! Speaking of not to be missed, I wrote an article for Script Junkie in…
- Quit Yer Bitchin’ & Get to Learnin’
- 02/22/2012
- If you missed my earlier announcement, I'm participating in The Pastry Box Project this year. The project gathers one thought every day in 2012 from leaders and thinkers in the web industry. My latest pastry came out of the oven just a few days ago and is ready for your reading pleasure!
- CSS Selectors & Preferred “Styles”
- 02/20/2012
- As I mentioned last summer, I'm honored to be a contributing writer Sherpa for Web Standards Sherpa. The site focuses on best practices and web standards, offering reviews of reader-submitted sites and applications. My latest piece, What's Your CSS Style? is now available for your reading pleasure! In it, I review the reader-submitted klvn.org and discuss different selectors the author could use instead of (or in addition to) id and class selectors.
- Let’s Make the Web Better with Fundamentals
- 02/08/2012
- For 2012, I'm participating in an interesting (and fun) little writing/sharing project: The Pastry Box Project. Run by Alex Duloz, The Pastry Box gathers 30 people who are influential in their field and asks them to share a thought every month about their work. This clever idea results in one thought every day in 2012 from designers, developers and thinkers in the web industry. There are no rules. No specific topics are assigned. Each "baker" just writes whatever he or…
- Thankful
- 12/13/2011
- Professionally speaking, the past 12 months have been fantastic for me and my fledgling business. To be true, my goals weren't of the sky-high variety. For the first eight months of my freelancing adventure, my only goals were: Get an accountant Get a business license Get health insurance Pay my bills Avoid touching my savings as much as possible
- Transition to HTML5 with the Newest Web Standards Sherpa (Me!)
- 08/22/2011
- I love markup. Always have. Suspect I always will. With HTML5, my love affair has reached new levels … markup + semantics = swoon. And HTML5 is now my "flavor" of choice. In fact, I've been using the doctype and new structural elements for over two years now! With no issues or problems … just happy clients and interesting, challenging projects. So, when I joined the Web Standards Sherpa crew, I knew that I wanted to write about HTML5 at…
- Back in the Book Business
- 12/29/2010
- After I finished writing the book, I swore I'd never write another book again. A few months ago, I toyed with the idea of writing another, but decided that I'm not up for the task. Today, I feel no differently. Writing a book was, for me, amazingly stressful. With the new freelance business, I've got enough stress. Not to mention, I don't have the time for that level of responsibility right now. Oh, but I do enjoy writing. And I…
- Doing a Little Writing for the New ScriptJunkie
- 06/16/2010
- In case you missed my shameless self promotion on Twitter (and Buzz and Reader and Facebook), I've been doing a little writing for a new MSDN site, ScriptJunkie. ScriptJunkie is a new site aimed at client-side developers and focuses on cross-browser information and resources. Yes. Cross-browser. From Microsoft. So far, two four of my articles are live and ready for your enjoyment: Be a CSS Team Player: CSS Best Practices for Team-Based Development Web Accessibility & WAI-ARIA Primer Meaningful Markup:…
- .net magazine Microformats Tutorial
- 05/19/2010
- As part of my ongoing efforts for global microformats domination, I wrote a microformats tutorial for .net magazine — sold as Practical Web Design in the US. And, in my typically verbose fashion, I wrote too much. Lucky for me (and the readers), it was turned into a two-parter. Part one of the tutorial appears in the June 2010 issue (#202). It provides a simple background on microformats, covering some of the core concepts, and then dives right into how…
- So, I Wrote a Book: Microformats Made Simple
- 10/19/2009
- Seven months ago, I posted the first article in this series, announcing that I had gotten a book deal. I was thrilled and excited for the new adventure. During the months of writing and editing, the thrill and excitement faded; replaced by stress, frustration and a growing realization that writing a book just isn't something that I would ever do again. Now, about a month out from completing the book, my emotions have shifted yet again. The stress is slowly…
- So I'm Writing A Book, Part 4: The Editorial Process & Design
- 09/30/2009
- As I write this very sentence, I am writing without stress. Without looming deadlines. Without anything more to do with the book. Yep. I'm done! Which means it is time to finish up this book writing series. In the first three articles, I explained everything from how I got the opportunity to the proposal to the contract to the actual writing. Now it is time to dive into the editorial process. I'll also give you a sneak peak of the…
- So I’m Writing A Book, Part 3: The Questionnaire, The Templates & Getting Started
- 07/01/2009
- I can't believe it is July already. Which means I've been writing my book for three months now. That's even more astounding to me than how quickly those past three months have flown by. July 1 also means that I have under two months to finish said book. While I would've figured that would have me even more stressed than I've been, I'm actually just relieved. It is almost over. I can do anything for seven weeks. You may be…
- Happy Anniversary, A Blog Not Limited!
- 06/20/2009
- One year ago today, I started this blog. It has been a crazy year, and A Blog Not Limited has been a major part of my life during that time, so I figured a bit of "reflection" is in order. Before I dive in, I must give a huge shout-out to my buddy Chris Kenworthy who spent some time messing with my Google Analytics (and, no, that is not a euphemism) to give me some statistics about this blog's first…
- So, I'm Writing a Book, Part 2: The Topic, The Proposal, The P&L and The Contract
- 04/17/2009
- When I announced I was writing a book, I mentioned that I intended to write a little series about the process. For the most part, this series is for me: I have a tendency to forget details and suffer from a "can't see the forest for trees" syndrome. I'm hoping by documenting what happens as I write this book, it will help me remember and appreciate. But I also like to think that anything I learn during the writing of…
- So, I’m Writing a Book
- 03/04/2009
- Yeah, you read that right. I'm writing a book (holy shit)! Crazy! But so very awesome. And exactly the sort of thing I hoped would happen during the course of my career as a web professional.
