ATM: Art, Tiles, Mosaics... an adventure in creativity

Curled up on the Sofa with a Good CSS Book

I've been reluctant to post anything new to any of my websites because they were all designed before my encounters with CSS. In 2006/2007 I started to play around with Cascading Style Sheets, but I really didn't understand what they were all about. There was a brief moment when I thought I grasped the concept, but like they say, the more you know, the more you know you don't know. So then I became overwhelmed by the whole idea, decided I was too stupid to figure it out, and gave up.

Having to create an online portfolio in order to look for a job forced me into getting serious. I knew I had to work through my fears and banish tables and inline markup from my life forever!

I was an Adobe GoLive user from the first day that software came out. When Adobe abandoned it in favor of Dreamweaver I was devastated. I kept hoping they would announce "April Fool!" and my beloved GL would be back... but no such luck. So, I plonked down my money, installed DW and converted all my sites. The conversion went well. But when I opened up a page for the first time, I realized I was in a different universe. My dependence on a program writing all the code for me was over.

I HATED coding, I told myself. But as I couldn't get DW to work like GL I found the only way I could get anything to happen was by wading into the code and getting my hands dirty in the muck and mire of HTML.

A strange thing happened. I felt like a non-believer at a revival meeting, I was drawn to the front of the church to be redeemed. I saw the light... and it was coding!!!! Could CSS be far behind?

I enrolled in the Beginning CSS/XHTML online class through Santa Monica College. I loved it. I took the Intermediate class and loved it even more. I was off and running. I converted all my websites from table layouts to CSS. But I was still using tables to contain galleries of images. I searched the internet and found forums discussing this issue. I also discovered that for as many people using CSS there are as many different variations on a theme. Everybody has his or her own bag of tricks. I took the ideas and managed to get some of them to work, but not in all situations.

So I scoured Amazon and read the reviews on about ten CSS manuals. "Stylin' with CSS" by Charles Wyke-Smith seemed to have the most positive reviews so I went with it. I have to admit, the first quarter of the book was hard going for me. I was questioning my sanity in pursuing a venture I was so obviously unsuited for. Why wasn't I spending my time painting a tile, reading an art book... or sending out resumes???? But like a venus fly trap to an unsuspecting winged insect, the book kept calling me back... Bali Hiiiiii... oh, sorry.

I am now halfway through the book and at some point last week there was a flood of light in my brain. I can't say there was anything in particular that hit me. It was the accumulation of a lot of little light bulbs turning on... a thousand points of light... and in a moment, I could see how this all could work. It all seemed SO simple. How could I not have seen it before?

Now, I am not suggesting for a nano-second that I thoroughly understand all the wondrous and strange behaviors of CSS, but at least now with a 2% understanding of the basics, I do see a path ahead. I know that by plodding along little by little, accepting failures as learning experiences instead of stumbling blocks, recognizing that nothing happens overnight, I can get to the point where I feel comfortable with this.

I look at websites all the time now, viewing the HTML to borrow ideas and to learn from better coders and designers than myself. Since I have become a CSSer, I find myself scoffing at sites that are still laid out with tables. And some of these are corporate websites with famous brand names.

But on the other hand, I smile smugly when I see tables alive and well in the hearts and minds of some web designers... because I know their little secrets. Like a beautifully-crafted chest-of-drawers with inlaid pearl on the outside, I have looked inside the drawers and seen the disarray of their mis-matched socks and other unmentionables!

So, as today is a Winnie the Pooh blustery day with a dark sky and a smattering of rain drops, it seems like the perfect situation to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and a cat and a good CSS book...