brettsing

+ i saw

A new design blog, focusing on design culture as well design itself.

Visit at http://www.plusisaw.com

Headaches & Frustration & Sondheim

“Look what a little Catholic rebellion will lead to… Paul would kiss me and I would think: Oh! I’ve got my very own Jew!” -from Company

I’m writing this from my old MacBook Pro that Harold now uses.

On Sunday we saw “A Little Night Music” in Evanston at Light Opera Works. Like the last Light Opera Works show we saw, this one was also fantastic. If you haven’t seen “A Little Night Music” and like clever, funny, sophisticated, and musically complex shows, I think you’ll like it.

I stayed home from work Yesterday, which I rarely do. I had (and continue to have) such a terrible sinus headache, that I can barely stand the thought of moving. I spent most of the day on the couch. Yesterday morning I was still able to sleep so I slept until about 10, then woke up and watched movies all day. He’s Just Not That Into You, then The Breakup and then switched to a couple of Sondheim musicals while slicing up the new design for this website. (Hopefully you’ll like it, I do)

I upgraded to the newest version of WordPress and got about halfway done converting the Photoshop file into HTML & CSS before stopping to quickly set up the backup disks on our new Airport Extreme to function as drives for Time Machine. I couldn’t get this to work so I decided I would run the firmware update on the router. This opened up ‘Software Update’ which kept locking up around 20% into checking for software… not downloading it… just checking for it. I noticed earlier in the day that any new files I created were not coming up as searchable in Spotlight…. I decided a restart was definitely in order, maybe it would fix all of these little issues. It didn’t. I restarted and my computer got stuck on the gray apple with the spinning spokes screen. About 20 minutes later I shut it down, cleared the PRAM, and as of yet have not been able to get it boot back into OS X.

Harold ran the firmware update on the router which then had to restart itself. He didn’t realize that I was watching something on Netflix on TiVo. Having lots its connection during internet play, TiVo locked up. Upon restart, the audio track for the movie I was watching loaded about 1 second before whatever was happening on screen. It was about then that I lost it.

I decided I must leave the house. I needed to go see the pretty lights of downtown, take in a little bit of night air, and get out of the house and away from all the non-functioning electronics. While out, I stopped by the Bad Times Burger King for a diet Coke. Naturally, they gave me regular and I had to go back through the line to exchange it. We returned home and I checked one more time to make sure my computer still wouldn’t start up, took some pills as instructed by Harold, and the moment my headache went away was finally able to go to sleep around midnight.

The medicine must have worn off around 2pm, b/c that’s when I woke up. The busy noises of Irving Park (we live on a pretty major road) which usually are my comforting friends who help me sleep, are now my enemies. Its no matter though, with my two hours of sleep I’m now wide awake.

I would work on my website some more, but I can’t get to the files. How I wish I had thrown them on a network drive. I decided to put on Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Company’ on Netflix on TiVo (which Harold was able to fix) and try some more things on my computer

I’m pretty sure the hard disk on my new computer may have failed. In addition to not booting to the hard disk, my brand new 17″ MacBook Pro also will not boot to the TechTool Deluxe CD. I was finally able to get it to boot to the Mac OS X Leopard install disc. It ran through normal setup procedures (you know, it checked the CD and everything) and when it finally tried to install the operating system to the hard disk…. I got this fantastic “Install Failed’ screen. I’ve been through this before on my old PowerBook G4. Basically these are the same events that happened when its hard drive failed.

I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all of the work I did on my website yesterday, which totally sucks. I noticed that if I hold T while starting up, it will boot into transfer mode, so I thought perhaps it might be worth a shot to see if I can pull the files off of it that way, however I don’t have a FireWire 800 cable, and the new MacBook Pro does not have a FireWire 600 cable. My guess is that it doesn’tmatter though, if the Hard Disk really has failed, I’m sure it wouldn’t actually work.

On the plus side, after trying for about 10 seconds on this computer, I was able to get it to see the network drives for Time Machine Backup. Yay! The other positive here is that I haven’t had the computer for very long. The only files I don’t have on this computer are a few Musicals I downloaded since I got that comptuer and those website files. Who knows, maybe I’ll hit an odd spur of luck and actually be able to get them!

Additionally, on Friday the blower motor for my cars A/C stopped working. I found out it I didn’t have to drive to Mid-Missouri and that it could be fixed here in Chicago so I made an appointment. It promptly started working again, and has not stopped since. I figured they probably couldn’t fix it if they couldn’t see how it was broken, so hopefully if this issue decides to manifest again, it will happen sometime during the next 6,000 miles… because after than my warranty runs out and then it would be expensive to fix.

Well, that’s all for now. Wish me luck!

Brett Patrick Casey :o)

Site Upgrades.

So my site is currently undergoing some upgrades.

A re-design is on the way, as mentioned before, and I think its going to be nice. I’ve laid it out using CSS into a regular old HTML file, but haven’t yet chopped it up for a WordPress theme (that’s a very large part of the project)

Other upgrades:
1. WordPress has been upgraded to the latest version.
2. I’m converting all photo galleries over to NextGen Gallery, using the plug-in. (You can already see some of this work being done on some of the photo pages)
3. I’m going to be adding a twitter feed, using a plugin.
4. I’m thinking that different parts of the site will have slightly different sidebars (if I can figure out the php to make that happen the way I want it to) and that there will be a “design” section, as well as a regular section. This section would display only posts relating to design, and instead of the regular sidebar, it will feature links to favorite design blogs, interesting design resources, etc.

So yeah, I apologize if everything isn’t working in tip-top shape.

Now if I can only figure out how to make Google stop thinking I’m an attack site! Apparently it doesn’t care for the fact that my site has other sites on it, that aren’t linked to the main one. Um, duh. Its a web server, I use it for all of my development sites, etc. That’s about irritating google, let me tell you.

Things with Harold are fantastic, as always. Work is going really well too. I hope to have a chance to snap some photos of some of the print work I’ve been doing there (I probably can’t include any of the video work I’ve been involved in) and get it up into the “work” section, so you kind scan see what I’ve been up to.

Well, that’s all for tonight, I’m hella tired and my cute boyfriend is waiting to be cuddled with.

Goodnight!
Brett Patrick Casey :o)

They’re High.

Jefferson City is such a moronic place.

I’m going to start with a quote that has stuck with me very strongly ever since I first saw it.

“I’m an architect in a city with no architecture…”
– Jorge Garcia, Mexico, Dwell, Oct/Nov 2005.

Depending on how you look at it, this is either horrible, or wonderful. The fact that the city has none leaves it open for lots, however… why might a city not have any architecture? Lack of funding, lack of interest, lack of development, all of the above? It tends to lean more toward the horrible in my opinion.

I really feel for this architect in a way. I’m a designer, in a city completely unconcerned with aesthetics. What’s worse is, the better I get– and I’m always trying to become better, the less necessary I seem. Also the less interested people seem in my services. Here, even my current level of design is superfluous. No one wants it, no one needs it, and sure as hell no one is willing to pay for it.

In most places, especially in America, consumers are driven toward more upscale things. Our peers and parents and experiences teach us to want to better ourselves, its the American way… right? Unfortunately for me, Jefferson City and most of Mid-Missouri (on the whole) is perfectly content being a giant shithole of ugly.

Brand image means almost nothing here, unless your brand is McDonalds. Actually, that isn’t true… Brand image is important here. Its important that you don’t let your brand image get too good… WHY could that POSSIBLY ever be a PROBLEM? Well, here… especially in Jefferson City, its a huge drawback. If people think your business is nice, they automatically decide it’s too expensive, and therefore will ignore it completely. Never mind your greatly superior customer experience, ambiance, product, and overall customer satisfaction. Why the hell would those things matter if you’re not SELLING your product for the ABSOLUTE LOWEST PRICE.

I once asked my mom about why the buildings here were all so terribly ugly… even the brand new ones are made so cheaply. I noted that in other places we frequently go, in Wisc. or wherever, the strip malls are ALL really varied and nice looking. They’re built with quality materials (not EVER stucco!) and they attract interesting and cool businesses, and customers. She pointed out that if developers did that here, no one would go to their strip-malls…. or shop in their stores. She’s right, they wouldn’t.
I told her that I didn’t want to have to look at that ugly cheap crap, and shop at stupid stores, and drive by their ugly “architecture” daily. “They’re not trying to attract your business, they’re trying to attract the business of the people in this town…. they don’t want you!” She’s right. They don’t.

Its Wal-Mart culture, and I hate it. You buy crap, you treat it like crap, it wears exactly as you would expect crap to, and then you throw it out and replace it with more junky crap. Don’t save your money and buy a nice set of pots and pans and take care of it, and use it for 25 years… buy Wal-Mart… tear the shit out of it, and replace it once a year… yeah, that’s MUCH better.

When I worked at Cole County Residential Services, I was constantly annoyed by one thing, (actually by many things, but only one in particular relevant to this story) the fact that most of the staff people, when refering to a product or store, would say: “They’re high.” or “That’s high.” in liu of “That’s expensive.” This always drove me crazy… aside from the fact that its vague, and the syntax of the English language has been completely thrown out the window, (much like the writing in my journal entries) It was also just a constant reminder of that CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP thing, which I hate so much.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for saving money. I’m just never for saving money at the cost of quality, or experience, or service, or durabilty, or any of the other countless things that always buying the cheapest item or service can exclude.

The point of all this… I’m a square peg, trying to fit into a round hole. I don’t belong here. I’m incredibly unhappy. I haven’t felt like myself for months, and it gets worse all the time. If I have to live in this area, where the conscentration of this terrible attitude toward quality is so great, I don’t see myself ever being happy. However, I feel incredibly trapped. Financially, I’m completely unable to get the fuck out of here. If I have to live here, in this terrible place, and I can’t ever get out, I don’t see the point in living. Living here isn’t living. Challenges and culture, experiencing new things, taking risks—failing! That’s living. I used to have that. And I miss it. And I want it back. I don’t want to live, if I have to live here. THIS is unacceptable.

This is a WHOLE other lecture, and I won’t discuss in great length today but, another quote I’m fond of:

“I don’t know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do,” Mr. [Frank] Gehry says. “Architects have to become parental. They have to learn to be parental.” By this he means that an architect has to listen to his client but also remain firm about what the architect knows best, the aesthetics of a building. This, Mr. Gehry says, is what makes an architect relevant in the process that leads to a completed building. “I think a lot of my colleagues lose it, lose that relevance in the spirit of serving their client, so that no matter what, they are serving the client. Even if the building they produce, that they think serves the client, doesn’t really serve the client because it’s not very good.

-Wall Street Journal

Again. Dead on. Why hire someone to make your project creative, when that isn’t what you’re really looking for? I’ve run into this again and again in the past. (Though less lately… most of the time the projects I work on as of late, are mostly about letting me do my own thing… MOSTLY… which believe me, turns out better for everyone involved.) Just like he says: What a disservice I’m doing for a client to let them take over and give them a compromised product that is low quality.

Well, that’s all the bitching for tonight.
Brett Patrick Casey :o)

They’re High.

Jefferson City is such a moronic place.

I’m going to start with a quote that has stuck with me very strongly ever since I first saw it.

“I’m an architect in a city with no architecture…”
– Jorge Garcia, Mexico, Dwell, Oct/Nov 2005.

Depending on how you look at it, this is either horrible, or wonderful. The fact that the city has none leaves it open for lots, however… why might a city not have any architecture? Lack of funding, lack of interest, lack of development, all of the above? It tends to lean more toward the horrible in my opinion.

I really feel for this architect in a way. I’m a designer, in a city completely unconcerned with aesthetics. What’s worse is, the better I get– and I’m always trying to become better, the less necessary I seem. Also the less interested people seem in my services. Here, even my current level of design is superfluous. No one wants it, no one needs it, and sure as hell no one is willing to pay for it.

In most places, especially in America, consumers are driven toward more upscale things. Our peers and parents and experiences teach us to want to better ourselves, its the American way… right? Unfortunately for me, Jefferson City and most of Mid-Missouri (on the whole) is perfectly content being a giant shithole of ugly.

Brand image means almost nothing here, unless your brand is McDonalds. Actually, that isn’t true… Brand image is important here. Its important that you don’t let your brand image get too good… WHY could that POSSIBLY ever be a PROBLEM? Well, here… especially in Jefferson City, its a huge drawback. If people think your business is nice, they automatically decide it’s too expensive, and therefore will ignore it completely. Never mind your greatly superior customer experience, ambiance, product, and overall customer satisfaction. Why the hell would those things matter if you’re not SELLING your product for the ABSOLUTE LOWEST PRICE.

I once asked my mom about why the buildings here were all so terribly ugly… even the brand new ones are made so cheaply. I noted that in other places we frequently go, in Wisc. or wherever, the strip malls are ALL really varied and nice looking. They’re built with quality materials (not EVER stucco!) and they attract interesting and cool businesses, and customers. She pointed out that if developers did that here, no one would go to their strip-malls…. or shop in their stores. She’s right, they wouldn’t.
I told her that I didn’t want to have to look at that ugly cheap crap, and shop at stupid stores, and drive by their ugly “architecture” daily. “They’re not trying to attract your business, they’re trying to attract the business of the people in this town…. they don’t want you!” She’s right. They don’t.

Its Wal-Mart culture, and I hate it. You buy crap, you treat it like crap, it wears exactly as you would expect crap to, and then you throw it out and replace it with more junky crap. Don’t save your money and buy a nice set of pots and pans and take care of it, and use it for 25 years… buy Wal-Mart… tear the shit out of it, and replace it once a year… yeah, that’s MUCH better.

When I worked at Cole County Residential Services, I was constantly annoyed by one thing, (actually by many things, but only one in particular relevant to this story) the fact that most of the staff people, when refering to a product or store, would say: “They’re high.” or “That’s high.” in liu of “That’s expensive.” This always drove me crazy… aside from the fact that its vague, and the syntax of the English language has been completely thrown out the window, (much like the writing in my journal entries) It was also just a constant reminder of that CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP thing, which I hate so much.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for saving money. I’m just never for saving money at the cost of quality, or experience, or service, or durabilty, or any of the other countless things that always buying the cheapest item or service can exclude.

The point of all this… I’m a square peg, trying to fit into a round hole. I don’t belong here. I’m incredibly unhappy. I haven’t felt like myself for months, and it gets worse all the time. If I have to live in this area, where the conscentration of this terrible attitude toward quality is so great, I don’t see myself ever being happy. However, I feel incredibly trapped. Financially, I’m completely unable to get the fuck out of here. If I have to live here, in this terrible place, and I can’t ever get out, I don’t see the point in living. Living here isn’t living. Challenges and culture, experiencing new things, taking risks—failing! That’s living. I used to have that. And I miss it. And I want it back. I don’t want to live, if I have to live here. THIS is unacceptable.

This is a WHOLE other lecture, and I won’t discuss in great length today but, another quote I’m fond of:

“I don’t know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do,” Mr. [Frank] Gehry says. “Architects have to become parental. They have to learn to be parental.” By this he means that an architect has to listen to his client but also remain firm about what the architect knows best, the aesthetics of a building. This, Mr. Gehry says, is what makes an architect relevant in the process that leads to a completed building. “I think a lot of my colleagues lose it, lose that relevance in the spirit of serving their client, so that no matter what, they are serving the client. Even if the building they produce, that they think serves the client, doesn’t really serve the client because it’s not very good.

-Wall Street Journal

Again. Dead on. Why hire someone to make your project creative, when that isn’t what you’re really looking for? I’ve run into this again and again in the past. (Though less lately… most of the time the projects I work on as of late, are mostly about letting me do my own thing… MOSTLY… which believe me, turns out better for everyone involved.) Just like he says: What a disservice I’m doing for a client to let them take over and give them a compromised product that is low quality.

Well, that’s all the bitching for tonight.
Brett Patrick Casey :o)

How to file for unemployment.

Ever since Eric and Justin mentioned the e-mail form on the comments section being all messed up, I’ve been trying to think of what could possibly cause it to behave like that. (Especially since I hadn’t edited the comment form!)

I was getting frustrated because the php and everything looked correct, and I couldn’t figure it out. I noticed a green line inside of the rogue input field it, and wondered why the hell that would be there.

As it turns out, the form field ‘email’ was being styled by the css file as the division ‘email’ which links users to my e-mail address (at the bottom of the page.) The green line in the field was the matte color for the .gif file that is the background of the ‘email’ division, which I’ve had to change to ‘mailme’ which fixed everything.

Its annoying when your good friend CSS works against you. Its even more annoying when you’re too dense to catch it.

Brett Patrick Casey :o)

Logo Revision 1

AIGA Book Cover Text

SOON, IF NOT ALREADY, EVERYTHING WILL BE DESIGNED.
PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS, EXPERIENCES.
IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF WHEN, HOW WELL, AND TO WHAT END.
WHO DESIGNS ALL THIS STUFF?
EVERYONE’S A DESIGNER. NOT ENOUGH DESIGNERS.
WHAT WE MAKE, WE DESIGN.
WHAT WE EDIT, PLAN, FIX, OR REMODEL, WE DESIGN.
WHAT WE TOUCH, WE DESIGN.
QUALITY OF DESIGN DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES.
LOOK AROUND. CONSIDER HOW YOU DEFINE DESIGN.
MAKE THINGS BETTER. MAKE BETTER THINGS.

Text from the cover of the award book for the “AIGA Detroit Deesign Re:View 05.”

Crate&Borrow

Okay, so if you like the cute little snowman motif, thank you very much. Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for it. I took the idea from some Crate&Barrel Dishtowels and Plates and Cups and things. We had them when I worked there, they still have them. They’re adorable. They know.

I figured I should probably say something

I hate the show 24.

Actually, I’ve only watched it a time or two, and since I’d not been following it, the out of sequence shows weren’t that easy to understand. What I really hate is the phrase “The following took place between X:00 and X:00″ Why do I hate this phrase so much? I hear it on the radio (Q106.1 Morning Show) every morning that I work a 7am shift… at 7am… in the car… when I should already be at work. This phrase tells me that I’m late, and that is why I hate it so much, yet its the only phrase I can think of at the moment. Why? Well, I was thinking of a title for this entry, discussing the past 5 hours of my life.

I spent the time from 11:00 am to 5:00pm backlogging all of my old journal entries from archiveland into WordPress. I’d already done 2006 so I did 2005, 2004, and what there was of 2003 which is the beginning of time.. err, this journal rather.

In the interest of time I was trying not to read anything but, on occasion something would strike me that was so entertaining or terrible, or I can’t believe I said, or something that happened that I’d forgotten, and I just had to read a bit more. Anyway, its all there. Everything I’ve ever written. The good, the bad, the ugly. (The funny, the stupid? How interesting to sort through a written document of select events in the last three years of ones life.

Anyway, now you can do lots of fun things… You can search for your name and discover every record that ever mentioned you [by name] (in whatever light I may have been feeling toward you at the time) You can search for events, words, whatever… Yay!

October of this year marked the three year anniversary of Brettsing (not quite three years for Brettsing.com) and thanks to the readers (I checked my stats for the first time ever, and I apparently receive between 250 and 300 hits per day, on average).

I’ve enjoyed it and you have too. Or not. Whatever.

Have a good night, kids!
Brett Patrick Casey :o)