5 Things You Don’t Know About Me

I’ve been waiting months for someone to finally tag me, and it finally happened! My good friend and internet confidante Dave has tagged me.

1. When I was in my early 20’s, I lived in Southern California and I was a bull rider. Although you will never see me in the PRCA Hall of Fame, I have something in common with world champion bull riders like Lane Frost and Tuff Hedeman. I’ve managed to face the wrath of a 2 ton Brahma bull for the required 8 Seconds.

2. Back in my college days at Southern Illinois, I was a brother in Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. We were the Zeta Omicron chapter, and I was a part of the Alpha class.

3. I am a self taught web designer. Everything I have done (and learned) about web design, the internet, Wordpress and anything else computer related I have figured out by trial and error.

4. I am a cruise addict. 4 1/2 years ago, my wife Shelly and I took our first cruise together on Royal Caribbean. Now I can’t imagine taking a vacation any other way. After November of this year (when we take our 2nd cruise of 2007), we will have been to the Bahamas three times, Key West four times, Cozumel four times, Costa Maya twice, Jamaica twice, Grand Cayman three times, St. Thomas and St. Maarten twice. I love warm weather, the Caribbean, sipping pina coladas poolside and being in the sun.

5. I love God more than anything else. About 7 years ago, I became a Christian, and turned my life over to Him. After bouts of year long depressions, bad relationships and hitting rock bottom twice, I decided to follow the ways of Jesus. My life has never been better.

Ok, my turn to tag. Here goes… I’m tagging Cari, Lis and Jeff, You guys are it!

Inspired by Rachel McAdams’ Pink Hair

I was having some issues about which color to select to compliment the black and white on my website. First off, thanks to all of those who voted, and please don’t think I choose pink to spite you all.

My wife Shelly and I were sitting in our family room last night watching a recap of the SAG Awards when I noticed some shots that TV Guide Channel had of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling walking down the red carpet.

Now if you’ve ever been to my about page, you’ll see that The Notebook is one of my favorite movies. (As an aside, that movie was the last date that Shelly and I went on before we had Zach.) And if you’re looking for a movie to rent on a rainy night, check Rachel out in The Family Stone. Great movie, and she’s pretty funny in it. (the general storyline ala Meet the Parents)

So I’m a fan of both Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and am pulling for their relationship to work. And to be honest, I must say that pink hair highlights at a major celebrity award show is very risky, but those at TV Guide Channel and E! didn’t seem to mind. I guess if the fashionable know-it-alls such as Joan and Melissa think pink is in, then I should be safe with it on my website.

Pink or Blue?

I’m having design color issues here. I need a little vote on whether my new design should have pink or blue in it?

Understand the subject matter in which I will be writing. These will include topics such as lifestyle, design, celebrities, etc – which makes me think going the trendy/New Yorky/fashionista approach for a color scheme is ok. Even if I’m a guy.

Also keep in mind that over the past 6 years I have raised over $15,000 for breast cancer. I have walked in 6 events, where the female to male ratio is literally 500:1. Some of my favorite movies include Hope Floats, the Notebook and Sweet Home Alabama.

I’m VERY secure in my manhood, this is simply a color question. Whatcha think?

Here’s a Little Sneak Peek

For those of you have know I am in the process of building what I am calling Brian Gardner 2.0.

It’s going to be a radical change, but one in my opinion that is justified. Now I know that I’m taking a risk with undertaking a project of this complexity, both in content as well as design, but those of you who are into web design know that pushing the envelope is quite the enticing thing.

To explain away this transformation would be both redundant and tiresome. Just know that what I unveil shortly is something I will be happy with. And trust me, for me to be happy with something is amazing. But more importantly, if I like it, if I support it, and if I believe in it, then I will be a lot more likely to contribute to it.

Which will hopefully give my readers something to look forward to. Writing from the heart.

Start Your Engines

As some of my faithful readers have noticed, a lot of my website is structured around my Wordpress Themes and my quest to work from home as a web designer/consultant. None of that has changed, but I wanted to forewarn those of you who frequent my site, that a lot is on the horizon.

Over the past year, there have been some really inspirational people/blogs that have motivated me (whether they knew it or not) to develop this site, and to keep it going. And I would thank them personally, but I’d have to fly all over the globe to do so. The knowledge they share via their websites has really made a difference in my life, and in my internet endeavors. It’s time to give back.

Anyway, within the next few weeks, I will be adding a lot more content – things that might seem different. I love to write, and would love to share the knowledge I have encountered and am blessed to have. I will also start blogging about some other random topics, so the actual “blog” part of my website will become much more diversified. (i.e. categories)

So if you start seeing some posts about the new iPhone, or who’s in the top 24 of American Idol, the reasoning behind that is simple. I want to write about the things that interest me.

Now, I realize those of you that come here to learn about web design might not be interested in things like Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl Victory. I will create the layout of my new site to accommodate easy navigation straight to the sections that most appeal to you.

And so gentlemen, (and ladies) start your engines…