I will always look back at the first time I ever opened Netscape Navigator, ver. 1.0a as THE turning point in my career. In 1994, the browser was released in the first non-beta version and was passed around on disks to friends at work who were lucky enough to either have a modem or, gasp, a connection to BBN Planet.

On February 1, 2008, the sometimes bane and sometimes joy of my existence, Netscape Navigator, will cease to be. And while I haven’t felt the same about Netscape since the 1999 acquisition by AOL, I will always and forever blame my love/hate relationship with javascript on version 4.7.

For those of you who feel nostalgic and wish to keep your old-school roots in tact, brave it out and download the skin for Firefox.

Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic on a cold, rainy Saturday, but the industry seemed so much smaller back then and you felt like you were part of something big that most everyone else thought was just a fad. For those who knew better, this was “it”. You were paid well for knowing your hacks. You were called three to five times per week with lucrative job offers.

These days we still have similar issues as we fight our way through user experience designs being presented correctly in all browsers. We still wish to God Almighty (or your power of choice) that there wasn’t the need for CSS hack repositories (thank you, Ethan).

So, while I may feel nostalgic for the old days, I’m glad to see things change and I’m ecstatic that I still get to call this industry my home.

Netscape Navigator, I bid you farewell. Thanks for the memory (leaks).

I find it very difficult to explain more than any other discipline how incredibly unappreciated illustrators are in the world of 2.Now.

The reasoning behind my lack of articulation surrounding these folk is predicated on the sheer fact that you have to see it to believe it. In other words, I just need to make sure that when someone says, “I’m not really into that” or “I think it’s great, but I don’t pay attention to it” or even “It’s nice but that can get expensive” that I have a list of links to point them to.

I had an illustration created for my article on A List Apart in September. The genius that is Kevin Cornell brought to life the idea behind my piece that left me feeling like I hadn’t done HIM justice.

In trolling other people’s talented creative, I came across Steven Lefcourt. Steven is an artist who works wonders with animals and humor. One of his many designs was featured on shirt.woot.com (a fantastic place to fill your bureau with the strangest and brightest collection of t-shirts you’ll ever see… one at a time).

There are so, so many talented illustrators out there and their work needs to be seen more often in new design. Even a corporate entity can use a little love, so give the idea merit as you hire your next creative team.

We pronounce today: Illustrator Day.

A moment to say Happy Hanukkah to all of those who celebrate, and a message asking those that don’t to understand and accept.

Happy Holidays to all.

Ahhh…. vacation. If Webster’s had a NEW, NEW, NEW dictionary, the word vacation would appear something like this:

Main Entry:

¹va·ca·tion

Pronunciation:

\vÄ?-ˈkÄ?-shÉ™n, vÉ™-\

Function:

noun

Usage:

often attributive

Etymology:

Middle English vacacioun, from Anglo-French vacacion, from Latin vacation-, vacatio freedom, exemption, from vacare

Date:

14th century

1: a respite or a time of respite from something… that includes a computer, a cell phone that allows for 24-hour e-mail access and a couple of songs mixed in with the PDF attachments.

Vacation has become to most business people a cross between a working lunch (in a great location) to a working lunch (where your friends and family yell at you to chill out for a moment and enjoy what’s happening around you for once). It’ll always feel like the world is moving faster, just because you are trying to move slower. That’s always the way, isn’t it? We’re not built of the ilk of a Spaniard who understands, appreciates and even embraces a moment away from the work to enjoy culture, beauty, art and fantastic food.

I leave the clients in the very capable hands of their contacts within the company and I trust the bank to not let those scoundrels who so recently infiltrated my otherwise  false blanket of security (long, long story) into my hard-earned finances. I trust the plane to take me to my destination and land in a place I actually decided upon without any sort of worry that the rental car will be there when I arrive.

I pray for the people, the children, the pets and the families of all those affected by the raging California wildfires and I hold hope that the nation will pull together and help in any way they can.

See you soon.