Before
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Before I owned my domain, I had a few test websites on free hosts along with some primitive learning exercises I did for my high school course called “Intro to Web Design.” These include the first html file that I ever created, the first student website that I built, and several other experiments and school assignments: (1) (2) (3) (4). I even used a few free forum services (1) to give my friends and nonexistent fans a platform for communication. Most of these early websites score tragically high up on the cringeworthiness scale. I was self-aware and being sarcastic for the most part in regards to the imagery and writing. I can now admit that I was hardly aware of my poor grammar at the time; I simply didn't care. Years before designing my first websites, I was actively directing, filming, producing and editing a home-video styled series of films featuring stunts, skits, pranks, skateboarding, and other similarly angsty activities directly inspired by copying the CKY & Jackass era from the late 1990s up until to the mid 2000s. I began working towards these films in 2002 by creating drafts with friends using pre-digital equipment (VHS & VHS-C tapes). After several iterations, I began a three part series which lasted between 2003 and 2005 (with a few updates and extras up until ~2006 when design took over my life). We used MiniDV tapes and any camera we could get our hands on. I edited these films with the best video editing software I could possibly afford; ArcSoft ShowBiz and then Ulead VideoStudio (now Corel) and Ulead DVD MovieFactory. I taught myself how to use their glitchy software that would typically freeze with virtually no learning resources. Instead of paying attention in high school, I hustled and learned how to make these films while having fun with friends… I have no regrets! Amazingly, the year that I stopped is the year that YouTube launched. While the series was fun for my local friends and family, I am glad they weren't available online early on for obvious reasons. Anyways, I have always enjoyed creating. The earliest obsessions that I can remember include building skateboarding ramps, building houses with my Father during summers, building tree forts and tiny cabins in our backyard/field/creek, collecting and organizing rocks from my creek (I grew up in the country), and folding advanced origami as a young child. I was born to create, so digital design felt right when I first discovered it in 2004, especially because most of the processes and jobs leave behind little or no footprint.
