I have been meaning to sit down and write about this for the past week, but things have gotten a little crazy and so I am just now getting to it.

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Molly E Holzschlag last Friday, and it was really an amazing meal. We talked about everything that we both are passionate about and I learned a great deal in the comparably short amount of time that we spent eating sushi. I rarely get to sit down and talk real web talk, and so it was a real treat to do so with someone such as Molly. At the risk of sounding like a fan boy, it was great to finally meet the woman who’s  books I have read and blog I have followed for so long.

Molly, thanks for lunch!

P.S. Such a fan boy

So, I am going to An Event Apart next month in New Orleans. It will be my first web design conference and with speaker of such caliber as Andy Clarke, Cameron Moll, Dave Shea, Jeff Veen, Jeffrey Zeldman, Eric Meyer, Aaron Gustafson, and Jason Santa Maria just to name a few, it promises to be a good one. I am really looking forward to this conference.

When did this happen?

Today actually. My Dad offered to pay for air fair for a conference and I had been debating whether or not this would be the one or not. Jeffrey Zeldman made a quick post on twitter today and it pushed me over board. I called my Dad to make sure the offer still stood, check with the boss to make sure it was cool, and then booked everything then and there.  It would be nice if work was paying for it, but oh well. I am really looking forward to this conference.

Never Before!

As previously mentioned, this will be my first conference, but surely not the last. I originally hope to attend SXSW, but that didn’t pan out. Honestly though, I think this will be a better event to attend being my first time doing this sort of thing. SWSW is so huge and busy that it can be a bit overwhelming and hard to meet people. This will be smaller and more manageable for a newb like my self. I am really looking forward to this conference.

Any last requests?

I hope to meet some of my heros at this conference. I have followed Andy Clarke and Dave Shea for some time now, and I am a big fan of Cameron Moll’s work. And of course there is the great Zeldman and Meyer duo. You can’t be in the same room as those two without being greatly impacted. Did I mention that I am really looking forward to this conference?

I Heart My Job

I heart my job. Actually let me rephrase that. I heart my career. I love everything about being a web designer. I love the creativity it brings to my life. I love the ingenuity it produces in me. I love the challenges it adds to my everyday existence. As far as I am concerned, I was made to be a web designer.

I do not Heart My “Job”

I do not love my “job”.
Working in a corporate environment almost takes the fun out of what I do. It is stiefling, suffocating, and down right infuriating at times. No one cares about web standards. No one cares about accessibility. No one cares about half the stuff that I am passionate about. It all comes down to the bottom dollar, and it is a frustrating place to exist.

Solution?

I could quit, but there is this pesky thing called a mortgage that I have to pay every month. Also, I have animals that like to be fed, not to mention, I my self enjoy eating.

Then there is the whole health insurance thing. It is nice to have it, and I don’t like not having it. Been there and done that. Not having to pay for doctors appointments and other such nonsense is quite nice.

Also, if I quit I wouldn’t learn much now would I? The way I see it, I am paying my dues. I am learning what to avoid, and how to deal with the rest of the world that just doesn’t get it. In the end, I know my brief enlisting in the corporate world of web design will ultimately serve me well. In two or three years time, I will move onto bigger and better things, and leave all this shite behind me. Now, time to enjoy some good CSS literature.