My conflicting feelings about color

I think I could happily spend hours spinning color wheels or hitting randomize on colorsontheweb.com or browsing through colourlovers.com. Ultimately though, am I just spinning my wheels? I've been copying the hex codes for some color combos that I like, but I have such a strong vision of what my homepage is going to look like that I think it will ultimately be pointless. Everything that I'm seeing in my head for the homepage is super-saturated, browns, reds, greens, oranges. But when I go "color-shopping" on these sites, I find myself drawn to palettes that are mostly monotone chromatic, with one contrasting color that pops.

So what I'm thinking right now is that my homepage will exist as this bright but earthy primarily visual page, and when you click the links (the veggies), it will take you to a subpage which is dominated by that particular veggie's color, but the subpage will rely mostly on a monotone chromatic scheme, which will be easier to read. I think Shaun was right when he pointed out in my comments that a lively color scheme will help me avoid the aura of pretentiousness that I'm worried about. I want it to look fun and inviting, and some of the "classier" color palettes that I've looked at will probably not convey that message.

I'm worried that I am too married to this idea now. From what I've seen of some of my friends' websites for this class, I fear that I am really being too ambitious where graphic design is involved. Plus, I'm worried that I am all show and no content. Here's the question of the day: Is it bad to be driven by your aesthetic rather than your content?

Off-topic. What's going on with Amazon?

I'm trying to find out what's going on with Amazon stripping sales ranks off of GLBT material. The only sources I have so far are livejournal entries. I don't want to fall prey to the "List of Books that Sarah Palin Tried to Ban" hysteria, so if anyone has any reputable sources on this story, I would greatly appreciate it. What I have read so far seems to indicate that Amazon is removing the sales rankings of books that might be deemed "objectionable" so they won't appear as high in their search results. The usual suspects appear in the list (Brokeback Mountain, Rubyfruit Jungle, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, The Well of Loneliness--for crying out loud!) Anyway, interested to know if this has been reported anywhere.

Edited to add: Can anyone clarify the relationship between alibris and Amazon. Alibris was my backup online bookstore of choice, but I think they've been bought out or taken over by Amazon, and if I have to boycott Amazon, then I'd have to steer clear of them as well.

Wishy-washy

I simply cannot make up my mind about the topic for my website. I think I am going to end up using the CSA idea, not because I'm really in love with it, but because I'm not feeling any particular love for anything else. I thought that if I started to develop the idea I might like it more, so here are some possible pages I could use.

First, What is a CSA? Here I could explain the types of CSA's that exist, and the difference between this and subscription farming.

Second, Benefits/Risks of CSA's. It's incredibly important for people to understand that a CSA is a way of sharing in the good and bad, and that they will, in part, be subsidizing a farm's risk in the case of a bad growing season.

Third, How to Find/Choose the Right CSA. There are a lot of good sites out there to search for CSA's by zip code, and I could link to those on this page. I have also found one good resource for "interviewing" the farmer(s).

Fourth, The History of Community Supported Agriculture. Here I could talk about how the first models of CSA occurred in Japan and Switzerland in the 1960's, and explain Robyn Van En's involvement in the spread of CSA in the US. This could potentially be a sub-page nested under "What is a CSA?"

I am still conflicted about what my personal contribution will be to this page. The only thing I can really think of is that I could be a resource to help folks in Bucks County choose between Snipes, Honey Brook, Guzikowski and Anchor Run. I think I would have to contact each of these farms and ask if they would be willing to share a participant list with me so that I could interview people about their experiences though, because I certainly can't buy shares in every one! I'm not quite sure that all of the farms would be willing to share that with me though. Really, it's not as if they need the publicity; almost all of them sell out their shares every year.

It makes me want to experiment with some Web2.0 ideas, but I think that might go beyond the introductory design scope of this class. I would like to make a Bucks County-centric resource, where people could go to compare the variety of CSA/local farmer's market options available, but I think that giving users the opportunity to share their own experiences is the only real way to do that. On a related note, I was looking for my favorite student rush/standing room only website to share with Charlotte earlier this week, and found that they had completely changed format from a searchable page to a message board. Although I was initially disappointed by the change, I think I know why they might have done it, because I personally had a bad experience with a standing room only policy a few years ago. Essentially, one show had a published SRO policy, but never carried out on it because they always sold the SRO spaces at full value before their rush time started. You are always taking a chance on SRO tickets, but it was extremely irritating to line up for two hours only to find that not even the first person in line could get tickets. Which is all to say, I think there could be a great benefit in having some interactivity in my CSA website. Although I could see it being even more useful if I were to expand outward and include Bucks County farmer's markets in the mix. Imagine a site where people could go to find out if the strawberries had come into season yet, or if the orchard had been thoroughly picked over already. However, that kind of up-to-the-minute information isn't likely to be provided by one single person.

Also, I have this horrible habit of coming up with ideas that directly conflict with the textbook's advice. In Chapter 3, Huddleston writes about making your links as obvious as possible, but I have this idea about a site design with graphics that are almost a "South Park" style--really simple, construction paper cut-out vegetables and fruits--and using those as links to my pages. In my head, they're like Homestar Runner easter eggs, and you only see that they're links when you mouse over them. It's so contrary to what Huddleston says to do, but I can't get the idea out of my head now. I just think it's adorable! I'll probably end up doing some sort of a modified version of this, wherein the links are actually written out on top of the construction paper veggies. More likely than not, my html/css skills wouldn't be able to keep up with that idea anyway.

Passing thought

I am contemplating the idea of using Science and Serendipity as a website topic. Accidental discoveries yielding great benefits, mistakes that turn out well, that sort of thing. I've been listening to Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt while making the incredibly long and boring drive to my office for the last three days, and it turned me in this direction. The question is, what sort of personal contribution can I make to the discussion, beyond being incredibly inspired by it?

Some links that deal with the topic:

http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/chance.php

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/741.html

http://www.simonsingh.net/2002_Series.html

The one thing they have in common? They're not particulary visually appealing, except for the last one; it's kind of interesting but still incredibly reliant on text. Then again, it is science. Pretty pictures are not really a replacement for words.

Concerns

I have a nagging doubt in my mind about using CSA's as a topic for my site. When I try to imagine what the site might look like, I'm seeing nothing more than a blog about my experience, and a blog does not a website make. I've thought about directions to expand in, but I'm deathly afraid of creating some preachy, judgmental website telling other people how to live their lives. I've been thinking about my user group as people much like me, who want to make some changes to their lifestyle to be kinder to the environment, and healthier in general, but really how many people are there like that? And aren't there a glut of websites dealing with this exact same thing? What could possibly be different about mine?

I think part of the reason I'm scared to go with this topic is because several years ago, a friend of mine went into holistic health counseling, especially nutrition, and her constant harping on the evils of processed food and fast food just made me crave those things all the more. I actually had a reasonable diet before then, and only after that did I start eating fast food almost every day. It's a dangerous thing to go too far extolling the virtues/condemning the dangers of anything.

I feel as though this post is getting way too personal for this class, but I really don't want to end working on a website that would make me roll my eyes if it were designed by anyone else.

I'm quite jealous of Sarah's sugar topic. I think it's so unique and informative. I wish I could think of something like that.

Community Supported Agriculture

I live in Bucks County, PA, and there is a farm nearby that offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. I tried to get into the CSA last year, but I inquired too late and all of the shares were gone. The CSA requires participants to volunteer at least 4 hours of their time during the growing season, which might be an excellent way to gain some firsthand experience of organic growing. Plus, during last year's election cycle, I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of a member of the board-of-directors, so it probably won't be too difficult to get permission to take pictures and interview some people.

I have to confess, part of the reason I am so drawn to this idea is because I could use a beautiful palette of green and brown, maybe with a little bit of orange thrown in. I love green and orange. Maybe something like this or this. I love these browns. After some time browsing colourlovers, I am beginning to think green and orange together is passé though. Also, orange is probably more appropriate for fall, and growth occurs during the spring and summer, so perhaps an accent color of pink or yellow would be better.

I've sent an email to the CSA organizers to see if there are any shares left, and I also said I'd like to volunteer even if there aren't shares left. Depending on what they say, this might be my project. I am still giving some thought to the idea of sewing, and possibly creating a site for people who are just starting to learn how to alter patterns either for fit, or style. One of the biggest drawbacks to that project would be the need to take pictures inside my apartment, which is almost always a really big mess. I don't really relish the idea of having to clean my apartment for class, although it would definitely provide me with some external motivation!

More Tom(april)foolery

Well, this should strike fear into our hearts as we begin the journey of learning html, xhtml and css.

OT: CADIE

I wonder if, when I am finished with Info652, I will better be able to understand which parts of this are serious and which parts are funny.

Topics brainstorming

I feel very much like one of those poor people that Emily described tonight, thinking "didn't I used to have hobbies?" Though, truthfully, the problem is not so much that I don't have any hobbies, as it is that I don't feel like I have anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion.

Emily referred to knitting last night, and I knit, but I've never made anything that required more than a basic garter stitch. I made a pair of fingerless gloves with a picot edge once that absolutely astonished me as I was knitting it, because I really don't understand how reversing the direction of your knitting needle makes these patterns happen. Seriously, it might as well be magic. The only "contribution" I could really make would be to tell all beginning knitters "Novelty yarn is your friend. It hides all of your mistakes. The end." Wouldn't make for much of a website, right?

Above is a picture of my camera. Well, not my camera. This is a camera belonging to Pickersgill Reef on flickr. I love my camera and I bought it with every intention of learning the ins and outs of photography, but so far I'm still struggling with it, and my friends with cell phone cameras often take better pictures than I do. So I'm not really feeling like I can make a significant contribution there, unless perhaps a rant-y website wherein I expound on the difficulties of nighttime shooting might be helpful to others. Yeah, I didn't think so either.

I also sew, but only when I have a lot of free time, and that's another area where I feel like there are much better people and communities out there than this ex-4-Her whose only original design once inspired someone to say "You look like a pink dominatrix." (That wasn't really the look I was going for, if you couldn't tell by the tone of the last sentence.)

Plus, with this being my last class, I am really feeling the pressure to put together a site that might help me in my job search. One of the best projects I've done for a class was a resource guide on sustainable agriculture, and my immediate thoughts on this project were headed in that direction. Sustainable ag, architecture, libraries, energy... Once again, I'm facing this stumbling block of either having a lot of knowledge or being able to acquire a lot of knowledge, but not truly having experience of my own to share.

Is anyone else facing this problem? In addition to Emily's course requirement of being able to "contribute", I also just have this aversion to cluttering up the Internet.

Introductions

I am Jill Keller, and I am taking my last class in the MLS program at Drexel University. I work as a records coordinator in the HR department of a large pharmaceutical marketing organization. I hope to someday work for the Congressional Research Service in the Knowledge Services Division. Because most of the groups in the Knowledge Services Division are geared towards science, I am thinking about getting a second Master's degree in a scientific discipline.

Three websites that I visit frequently are Twitter (yes, that's a direct link to my profile), boingboing and Questionable Content.