The new me

Succumbing to pressure at last, I've changed my weblog photo. This one is not only more current but is far from "cross" or "angry", as were the criticisms levelled against the old one.

Leviathan

Last week it was announced that Adobe intends to purchase Macromedia. The idea that two graphic/multimedia giants may merge to become a leviathan makes me nervous. Is Adobe hoping to corner the market by acquiring Flash, the most popular program to animate and add interactivity to Web sites, not to mention Dreamweaver, the best WYSIWYG web-design editor around? What will happen to Fireworks? Surely Adobe won't bother to keep it around once the merger closes, not with Photoshop under its belt. Macromedia's Robohelp, an online Help line of products, was expected to receive the axe. Will Adobe resurrect it? I'm skeptical and so are some of the core RoboHelp developers who, seeing the writing on the wall, have broken off and formed a new company, MadCap Software. No doubt in a few years' time Adobe will be making MadCap an offer.

Research of a different type

In the UK on Thursday, May 5th there will be an election. The adult members of the household have been issued their poll cards, so now it's time to figure out who to vote for — no easy task for Canadian ex-pats. Naturally I will not make my decision based solely on the quality of the flyers stuck through the mail slot. However, if I were to rely on the printed word only (which I shall not do), the decision would be easy.

Would I vote for the local Labour party candidate who merely lists the successes enjoyed by the Blair government over the years, with no inkling given as to what she personally believes or intends? Or how about the Conservative party candidate who went to the great effort of pointing out the shortcomings of the Labour government, along the lines of "They said they'd do this. They lied!"? Only the local Liberal Democrat provided a clear and succinct action plan.

Would it were so easy. The one thing I don't have to research is how the democratic process works in England, yet another benefit of hailing from a former British Colony.

The heyday of web design?

I've already written about the CSS Zen Garden (see my March post entitled Web Designers Rejoice), the website devoted to changing the way people view and design web pages. A companion book published this Spring completes the picture in a way never before attempted. To marry CSS, traditionally the realm of the programmer as opposed to the web designer, with the principles and elements of design, is a major breakthrough in contemporary web design. In The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web, Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag take the website Shea launched in 2003 and contributions made to it to discuss design theory, from typography, imagery, shape, texture, colour, balance, and contrast, together with design practices; specifically, how Cascading Style Sheets can be used as a highly effective design tool.

This book is not for the novice, new to either CSS or graphic design programs such as Photoshop or Fireworks. Although it touches on some basic CSS topics, such as typeface, font size and image formats, it also addresses complex CSS, including floats and positioning, fixed vs. liquid layouts, cross-browser issues and solutions, and child and adjacent selectors. The sidebars are numerous and provide not only tips and tricks but also important links, downloads and bug fixes. More than a coffee table book for your clients to leaf through, this book is an inspiration (as is the website that inspired it); it not only shows us what can be accomplished in web design, first visually on the web and now also in print, but it also spurs us to push our CSS-based web designs to the max. This book is revolutionary. Thanks, Molly and Dave!

Research and living in England

My first novel was set in England during the 1840s yet written in Hungary. Research consisted of pouring over texts and making an occasional trip to England to visit a university library. Now, living in the UK, it is infinitely easier. If I wish to see a particular Pre-Raphaelite painting I have only to jump in a car or hop on a train to visit one of four art galleries within an hour's journey away. This past weekend a nagging question concerning the size of nineteenth-century coaches had the family including guests piling into the car to visit nearby Shugborough, the historic family seat of the Earls of Lichfield.

Not only is research easier but now I understand that the hedgerows of George Eliot's novels exist only in certain parts of England. It is one thing to read of the desolate beauty of the Yorkshire moors, see the glimmering cliffs of Dover in one's mind's eye, and waltz around the Bath Assembly Rooms in the company of Jane Austen's memorable cast of characters. Yet it is quite another to see such places for oneself, coloured of course by what one has read and understood.

Meeting of like minds

Whether writing crime, historical fiction, poetry, fables, playscripts, short stories or a mainstream novel, writers all struggle: with writer's block, plotting, the dreaded synopsis, and particularly with the precarious balancing act required to meet the demands of daily life. The Nantwich Writers' Group affords its members the opportunity to discuss such issues, seek and give advice and, the best part, to kick back and relax while discussing a subject dear to our hearts.

With my daughter home for two weeks on her Easter break, and guests with us for another week, my novel has been put on hold. Fortunately, the writers' group is here to remind me of what a joy it is to write and how lucky I am to have (usually) time to devote to the craft.

On the bedside table

A modern-day Wuthering Heights? Has it been attempted before? No doubt. Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth is an eloquent and engaging modern take with a twist. Imagine Heathcliff, and Emily Brontë for that matter, free of the constraints of the Victorian frame of mind. Hoffman's character is as compelling as Brontë's but in this modern re-telling is given licence to use sex as a manipulative tool. Don't miss it. The writing is superb.

Artwork by Kassie

Kassie's school offers children an assortment of after-school activities: in her case, choir, recorder lessons, and a Friday afternoon art club. The image above, which was snapped with our handy-dandy Canon PowerShot S45, is a product of her efforts.

Update to Travels website

After a long hiatus — call it hibernation — we're back to touring within the UK. Check out our recent visit to Ludlow and Berrington Hall near Leominster at our Travels in the United Kingdom website.