So, what's up with all this "vicster-dot-net" and "thinking out loud" and "visual cues" stuff? Why all this? Why now?

Well...I've had the "vicster.net" domain for a few years now and was always planning to "do something" with it. When I was laid off of my job in 2002, I suddenly had more time on my hands to figure out exactly what I was going to do with my domain/site. I had the design planned and had the first set of articles written and...

...and then had an attack of "this will suck and everyone will laugh at me and think I'm an idiot" and I pulled the whole thing (and put up the "maintenance" page that sat there for 15 months).

Since my ambition is to be a professional photographer/photojournalist, there was a motivation (and to a certain extent, a deadline) to at least get my portfolio online. I took that opportunity to also stretch myself in web layout and design as well in production. While Thinking Out Loud is primarily laid out in tables, Visual Cues is all CSS positioning (if you're a web geek, you'll get this...if you're not, I'm not sure I can really explain CSSP other than comparing it to drawing an image on graph paper by drawing elements of the image inside individual graph cells, vs. the CSSP where you have a completely blank, clean sheet of sketch paper and you put the elements of the drawing where you want them to be, without regard to placing bits of it within squares).

So as I put the finishing touches on the production of Visual Cues, I decided to dust off some of the "old" copy, write some new stuff and just suck it up and launch Visual Cues and Thinking Out Loud at the same time.

The vision for Visual Cues is pretty clear: It's dedicated to my online photography portfolio.

But what about Thinking Out Loud?

Thinking Out Loud is going to be just that...the place where I come and put some of the thoughts that are rattling round in my head out there. It'll be a bit less intimate than my "morning pages" that I write as part of The Artist's Way's program...and likely a bit less raw (though, if I get into a particularly soul-baring mood, some of those pages might wander in here). And, if this week is any indication, Thinking Out Loud will be a place for me to come to avoid doing homework (heh.). Alternatively, some of my homework assignments and papers just might end up here.

I reserve the right to butcher the English language as I see fit. And I also reserve the right to change my mind on any subject, provided I've been give sufficient (good) reason--backed by solid, verifiable evidence--to do so.

Now, speaking of homework avoidance...I've got a fair bit of math homework to get through before class tomorrow.