Checking in

I haven’t been blogging much of late, and I’m going to have a hectic weekend, so I thought I’d just check in now while I’ve got the chance.

Two weeks ago I started a webmaster certification training program, and I’ve been having a blast. It’s an online endeavor consisting of 5 classes and a final project. So far I’ve gotten through the web architecture class, most of the XHTML 1.1 class, and about a quarter of the CSS class. Still to go are Dreamweaver and Photoshop classes. I’ve stumbled my way through Dreamweaver and Photoshop for awhile, so I don’t expect to have a whole lot of trouble with those classes, and I’m looking forward to positioning the bits and pieces I’ve culled into a coherent body of knowledge.

I love the right-brain “how-does-this-look” activity combined with the left-brain “how-can-I-make-it-look-like-this” work. Although the end of the XHTML class — a module-by-module discussion of every tag in XHTML1.1 — had my left brain fried for a little while. And even though I can’t imagine using the disapproved-of server-side image maps, for instance, still I dutifully slogged through every tag. A weekend off could be a good thing.

I’ve got an alphabet of painted letters that I’ve been playing around with digitally — both manually and virtually (ha ha) — and including in my homework exercises. It’s been fun. The final project is obvious: I’ll be redesigning my website. I can’t wait!