10.0 is currently being featured at Perishable Press, the first in a series of articles exploring minimalism in modern web design. From the article:

Equivocality’s new minimalist design is very impressive. The site appears clean, bright and refreshing and navigates with natural simplicity. Jeff has eliminated clutter to focus on content, which is strongly unified within the site’s sharp, spacious design. Attentive visitors will revel in the site’s exquisitely restrained details, such as the subtle texture provided by the bleached background grid, or the dynamic interplay between complementary typefaces, Arial and Avenir. Overall, the design’s thematic neutrality and universal approach inspire visitors to relax, focus, and enjoy.

In addition to a detailed site review, Jeff Starr did a mini interview with me. I’ve come across Perishable Press several times through my Wordpress wanderings and it was great to work with someone I’ve always known but never met.

After a more than one year hiatus, and generous ribbing by Jonathan, I’ve made a new 1280×1024 desktop background in jpg format. I wanted something very clean and simple, and spent almost four hours toying around in Photoshop yesterday, starting from scratch. I was lucky enough to manage the ribbon effect, which happened completely by chance with the right oscillation, the right canvas size, and the right gradient effect. I used my original generation, because I haven’t been able to produce quite the same results, and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to again.

My adoration of the Dali font is pretty obvious in most of the graphic design I do, and in this case I use it to balance out the dual circle graphic on the screen. Both pictures in the dual circle graphic were old stock photos I had taken a few years ago. I had forgotten about the start menu when trying to centre the entire area, so everything is shifted up about 15 pixels.

I’ll probably make versions for other resolutions. A problem I often have with background design is that I’m usually too much of a web designer, and end up with very complex, cluttered backgrounds that sometimes look like page layouts. I enjoy the filter effect, and how everything is almost white washed. The entire piece is a representation of the most neutral of my emotions lately, a kind of supine view of the world that makes everything level out. I think this one is my best backgrounds to date, and I’m rather proud of it.

I’ve been rather restless the last few days. I can’t seem to concentrate, or do anything productive. I think it’s the fact that I’m so oddly moodless, that I don’t feel like doing anything in particular.

I feel…dirty. I’m unsatisfied with my XP theme, and I won’t have time to polish it until the summer. Whenever I try a new theme, it’s either not simple and clean enough, or it’s too bright. I’m using the nxPro theme right now, with Y’z Dock to replace my shortcut icons, which is the sweet MacOS toolbar for Windows XP, complete with transparency and 32-bit icon support.

I actually forgot about a geo class I had earlier this week. That worries me, because I’ve never forgotten a class before, even through high school. Usually when I skip something, I’m very conscious of my skipping it. This is one of the classes that I can’t skip anyway though, so I’m a little worried. Maybe it’s a sign of my getting older. I’ve always found myself to be very “conscious” of things, and I almost never forgot about anything. I remember my dad telling me how sometimes he would peel an orange, and then throw the orange in the garbage and start to nibble on the peel by mistake. Scary.

A bunch of people are going out to the Honest Lawyer tomorrow to celebrate Aaron’s and Iain’s birthday. I have a cryptography presentation tomorrow as well, which might conflict with the time everyone is meeting to have some dinner. I’ll probably present my subject (I think I’m second out of four) and just leave. I’m supposed to stay for other presentations for peer evaluation, but hopefully my other group members will cover for me.

I need to stop writing for an audience. It feels like I’m not being true to myself, that I can’t say what I want to say. Yet I do, somehow, in some equivocal manner.

The winter is so beautiful. Usually I study better at night, but when it’s winter time, and everything is white, I feel much more motivated during the day. It’s as if God finally realizes that the entire world is shit and covers it with a huge bleached tarp.

I bought Dolly a new toy on the week-end, and she loves it. It’s got a soft ball covered in fur on the end of an elastic string. She’ll try to take the ball where she wants by grabbing it in her jaws, but when the elastic stretches past its limit, the ball will rip out of her mouth and make her go even crazier. She plays with it until she’s tired, then she’ll lay down on the ground below where the ball lies, and just try to bat it with her paws.

I’ve been working on the new layout, and I completely scrapped the metallic idea. Pictures just didn’t seem to fit well in it. I actually have the final design done and created in html format. It allows for a better formatting of content, though it will take me more work. I’m not completely sure if I’m satisfied with it, but it will probably have to do since I generally have little content to work with.

Sometimes I start thinking, and then I realize what a fucking idiot I am, and that thought just sticks in my head. That happened for most of today.

I have to set up two laptops for these high up execs at work. One of them actually made a complaint about me and Aaron to my boss before. It’s hard to work for someone with this kind of history, but somehow I can just grin and bear it. I think that being stoic is something that I’ve learned very well from my childhood. An alarm went off in the building too, and we had to evacuate. My boss asked me if I wanted to get some beer and pizza, but I told him that I had too much work to do. The temptation was almost too great.

I’ve generally been neglecting my eating habits and my sleeping habits, and my schoolwork, even though I half-resolved not to. It’s good to know that no one cares. At least it’s honest. I know that I need much more balance in my life, and I think that it’s something I can achieve. It’s just been so hard with everything going on. Pat thinks that I should take a week off work. After all, it’s the reason why he quit the job in the first place. But he had a high maintenance girlfriend, and I had a negative maintenance one at the time.

There just seems to be so much reason for me to stay awake late at night.

I started fooling around with a new layout, something that can support more content and can better flex my creative muscles. I’ve come up with a metallic look so far, but it’s mostly been fruitless. I need something that I can just keep without having to update, so that this can be effortless.

I’m not sure if I’ll be getting the new Xzibit album. His lyrics seemed to have swayed from his first albums, and they have a more commercial feeling now, ever since Dre started producing his albums.

I got back another failing mid-term, which brings the total to two. I think I’ll be dropping Warcraft 3 until the term is over, because of all the pressure and time involved. It’ll give me time to do some more school work and other possible projects. If I had known that I would be failing that mid-term, I would have gone to a Guttermouth concert the night before, even though I hear their latest album is terrible.

I actually can’t sit through the entire Dirrty video; the girl with the Mexican wrestling mask makes me think of some cheap rip-off of Hewhocannotbenamed.

When Aaron and I talk, it always seems so quixotic. The only difference between us is that he actually believes in it, while I keep a more realistic mindset. I’m not sure what to believe, but I should decide soon, since I have freedom to move back home with John now. Six months is a very short time. I’m not really sure what to think, since everything is up in the air. The main priority would be job opportunities. It would be great to live with John though, since we’ve known each other for so long, and we haven’t been roommates once yet. It would all fit in, since Pita is thinking about moving out in the summer. The problem with my plans with Aaron not working out is that I’d only have myself to blame. Aaron can’t be held responsible for anything.

I have two group projects going, and only one of them is working out. I don’t think some people realize how rude and horrible it is to redo the work of others, simply because it’s not up to the standards of the former. I hope I never do that to someone.