Testing - One-Two-Three...

Wow! I've been blogging for over three months now. It's been quite a journey. I never anticipated that it would evolve into something that feels so natural.

In my senior year of high school, my English teacher, Mr. Pross, required our class to keep a journal. How I HATED that assignment! I would have gladly written a research paper every week to avoid writing a journal. I guess back then I viewed it as a "dear diary" type thing. The teen years are pretty difficult times as it is and my family life was in a bit of turmoil so I guess the vulnerability of exposing myself in writing was a bit too much for me. For some reason, I held on to some of those entries - maybe it was all of them. (I did as few as I could get away with!) I came across them a year or so ago. The writing was evasive. Anyone could tell I was not comfortable documenting my life, thoughts, or feelings.

It's been exactly 30 years since that class. And here I am writing a blog and considering starting another. While this is certainly not a journal - at least not in the same respect as what I was writing in 1978 - I certainly have come a long way in documenting my thoughts. In fact, looking back over the past three months, I see a lot of progress since September.

Aim, Shoot, Score!

As I state in the banner above, the purpose of this blog is to explore technical communications. I have spent much of the last three months learning and talking about design. From examining websites geared toward different ages and corporate blogs to reviewing specific elements of design such as typography (September 23rd and October 6th), audience analysis, and usability analysis to attempting to understand Web 2.0, I have learned so much.

It's one thing to just read about topics; you can hope that you retain the information when it's needed. It's another to measure your comprehension by redefining it and putting it into use. Sitting down, looking for and at examples, and writing about them moves me forward. Actually practicing what I've learned helps me meet my goal that I set back in my blog of September 23rd - to create visually appealing pages.

I have a way to go but I'm progressing.

Yes, It IS Something Personal

When I started out this blog, I was all business...straight to the point. No self exposure. You could have assumed certain things about me. (My entry about corporate blogs where I compare McDonald's blog to PETA's blog might have led you to assume a certain bias toward one organization over the other.) But it would have been purely conjecture.

There's been quite a shift since then. My most recent blogs have been fairly personal. Some might say a little too expository. Sometimes, though, information is more meaningful if we can relate it to our own experiences. And personal stories can help illustrate the importance of a method - as I discussed in my entry about usability - or how advances or changes can impact how we approach problems - as I discussed in my entry about Web 2.0.

Relax...

When I look back at my first entries, they were stiff, business like. I believe...and I hope it comes across to others...that I've relaxed some. These entries have become a little more conversational, a little less "instructional".

That's a leap for me. As it was back in high school, I'm much more comfortable with the research paper type writing. After all, at least half of my professional career has been spent writing policies and procedures. Not exactly sitting in the living room with friends type language. I have to admit that I am finally enjoying the freedom of writing informative material in friendly, personal manner. This has been a very positive experience that I intend to continue and, as I mentioned, possibly expand. (Gardening with native plants...I could learn and talk about that for a very long time.)

Moving to Missouri

"Show me". Hmmm. I'm still working on that. Maybe if I move to the "Show me" state. Actually, I have been working on adding more visual elements to my entries. There are challenges. First, importing graphics into Blogger and formatting so the entry looks nice is not especially easy. Well, at least not for me. In addition, I often fail to see the opportunities to illustrate certain ideas.

I hope that I have exhibited that I have some grasp of visual design. My redesign of this site is one example. As are my attempts at creating print ads. I'll be picking up another design class in January. I'm looking forward to it. The class I participated in this fall was fun and interesting. I can only hope to learn more and further develop my skills.

Where Am I Going?

I hope that, in another three months, I will be prepared to look back and see further progress in my writing and my design skills. I also hope to be able to say I've accomplished each of the "to-do" list tasks I've identified so far. Having it in writing certainly helps to keep my feet to the fire.

Stay tuned.