if you haven't figure it out by now, this is a site where i place all my thoughts, going-ons, and frustrations in my life in a nutshell. :P of course, you might have noticed that i like to vent a lot. feel free to browse around the site and check out the other links. the guestbook is a tool for you to leave comments about the site and blog entries or to drop by and say hi to let me know you've been by here ^^. by the way, i am not exactly the best at web design meaning that i'm not really browser friendly. therefore, this site probably runs/looks best on ie6 since that is what i use to create it. however, in terms of content and overall look, it is still viewable on many other browsers.
this site began during my high school years when i was bored and looking for something to do :). i've been playing around with web design for years, but after my frustration with xanga and not being able to do much with it, i decided to open up my own blog right here ^^. free hosting, no complaints :P. ever since then, it's gone through two layout changes with the one that you see here as the current one.
there are periods in my life when i feel like everything is perfect, yet, soon enough, harsh reality comes knocking on the door and everything seems to crash. other times, i feel like i've managed to run away from all the scary feelings and troubles, but although the insecurities and doubts have been momentarily suppressed, they still manage to creep back into my mind and haunt my thoughts. i felt like i was trapped in a cycle of illusion. thus, i came up with this theme. i felt it was a somewhat accurate account of what i was going through at the time.
anyways, in terms of the graphics, i used a cherry blossom tree branch, which is quite random, except for the fact that when i thought up of the the layout, it was springtime. i suppose spring is a happy time especially after months of barren winter, the colorful flowers of spring blossom. thus, i guess a cherry blossom branch is quite appropriate. anyways, i attempted to create an illusion with the image with fading and distortion effects. i especially like that rippling effect. above all the effects, i put the actual image of the branch. after all, reality conquers all in the end. however, i'm particularly fond of the enter image on the index page. it sort of looks like the magazine cover logo of some sophisticated/fashion/elegant magazine. i'm not quite sure which of those, but it looks pretty cool. maybe, it's the choice of font and color, and of course, the blurred cherry blossom does make quite an awesome effect.
in terms of the layout, i attempted to experiment with drop-down menus. however, as you may have seen, the attempt was not thoroughly successful. although, the idea is still there. i was not able to get the menus to disappear properly, so now i just have a close option on each of those menus. another feature that i used was inline framing, this i particularly like and does wonders because it changes the content of the site without having the whole window relaod, which is pretty nice. although, i guess if you're running on a fast connection, it doesn't really quite matter because the amount of time it takes to reload either way isn't that much different. however, it's nice to just have the info change without have the entire page blink at you ^^.
i like to take a moment and give a special thanks to the few friends who have kept my guestbook alive. it means a lot to me that you stop by every once in a while to comment and say hello. =)