--December 17, 2006--
I have formed a look for the updated
Folio section, which I'm using to house print media and sites I've worked on outside the GordeonBleu name. Additionally, the
People section was quietly de-linked a little while ago for privacy reasons, but the original testimonials still hold true. The
Extras section is now at the foot of this page.
--November 22, 2006--
GordeonBleu the personal site turns 8 today, and what better day to refresh the front page look than this day. The
previous photo frames design stood as the face of this site for over a year until now. I now call this long overdue facelift "Portraits", and it better reflects my foray into vector graphics through the year.
In that time, I've updated nearly all the other pages to comply with the XHTML spec of the W3C standards, as well as expanding my regular browser testing to Opera and Safari. In other words, it was all very behind-the-scenes, but it's a technical feat. I'm also sticking with HTML image maps for the front page because it's the only technique I don't show off on any of my other section pages.
--October 19, 2006--
If you're accessing this site through the ocf.berkeley.edu address, you'll now be treated to error pages customized with a bit of my character whenever you stumble upon a missing page. Technically speaking, they're
401,
403,
404 error pages, which correspond to 'unauthorized', 'forbidden', and 'not found' respectively.
--October 15, 2006--
My design work for Lauren and David on the
San Francisco Young Playwrights Festival is now under the official site's address - sfyoungplaywrights.org! Also, my main host for this site is experiencing critical server issues, so expect to see downtime for at least another week. You'll know when it's over because when it happens, you'll finally be able to see this warning (har har).
--August 25, 2006--
The picture frames look on this GordeonBleu front page is now a little over a year old. I've been meaning to update the look, as well as the underlying code to more accurately reflect my current skill set in XHTML/CSS, but I've been involved in other volunteer projects.
Here's what I've been working on during the past couple days:
The Berkeley Project. This is my second and final look, which supersedes the original pastel look I created in early July. Additionally, I've also more or less completed a candidate facelift
San Francisco Young Playwrights Festival site.
--July 16, 2006--
Dear GeoCities,
I've been with you a long time, a little over seven and a half years to be exact. My first webpage was a purple monstrosity with six humble little cyan links that formed most of the core sections of what is now affectionately called GordeonBleu. I've been through firewall site blocks, an acquisition by Yahoo!, a deactivated account on absolutely no notice whatsoever, numerous domain name changes, and all those years of coding in harmony with your obtrusive ads. I've put up with GeoCities, despite its horrible reputation and stereotypes as a wasteland of allegedly horribly designed sites and colors, partly to prove otherwise and partly because of loyalty. I've remained with GeoCities, even in the advent of far superior alternatives.
But you've pushed it this time. The straw on the camel's back. Choose your saying. By locking me out of the last 3% of meager allocated disk space to which I'm entitled, you have destroyed every last inkling of respect I reserved for you. I'm leaving, GeoCities. It's been a tumultuous seven and a half years, but I'd outgrown you a long time ago.
--July 14, 2006--
Although I've had a front page redesign in mind for GordeonBleu, I've been postponing it to make room for my
Threadless endeavours, of which only
Deer Crossing,
Little #ff0000 Riding Hood, and
Origami Mafiani have made it pass the initial nods by the judging panel. One completed illustration is currently under revision, and another three are lounging around in the form of rough sketches. But while I'm here, I'd like to bring to your attention
Myopia Utopia, a team effort between
Bri and me.
--June 5, 2006--
I've passed up quite a few webdesign contests in the past, but when
The Style Contest came along, I couldn't resist for two reasons - that we would be designing skins for LiveJournal, and all of
SixApart's other blog services, and that it would be a CSS challenge. I had to work within the restrictions of their template (their HTML file, where we would logically edit the CSS stylesheet). I waited until the last minute because of the crunch time of final exams for the spring semester, but I did churn out two skins -
Cookies 'n Cream and
Digital Violet.
--May 22, 2006--
Minor update. The
page styling page has been spiced up. It was great fun to make.
--May 18-19-20, 2006--
Because I want to leave StoryCorner and Imagine as my remaining classic designs, I gave
Imagine a relatively modest facelift to preserve the original green shades. 2001 version
here. The violet flowers took me quite a while to make. (5.19.06). Also, I've updated the banner at the
Typography (Fonts) section. (5.18.06).
Grab Bag section has had some layout fixing, as well as a repositioned, enlarged logo. (5.20.06).
--April 22, 2006--
I have completed the purple-ification of
The HTML Workshop, also known as the techie section. The previous version is still
around because it's one of my increasingly rare examples of my minimalist graphics pages from the past. And a bonus: I've been working on the visual identity and branding of the
OCF organization.
--March 24, 2006--
I've finally updated the look of the
people section. The previous version is still
around because I still like the quilt people. But I've been wanting to rely on my own graphics, so the quilt people had to go. Hate it, like it, feel free to let me know. (Individual pages haven't been updated yet.)
--March 18, 2006--
I've changed the name and the header image for my panoramic photo section, now named
panorama diorama. Being panoramic photos, the images are so wide that they'll cause horizontal scrollbars for users with 800 x 600 screen resolutions. I'd prefer not to further rescale my panoramas, as I had already sacrificed a lot of detail doing so back in January 2005.
(Also: Oops! I just realized that I've linked to the wrong page for
folio this entire time. It's fixed now.)
--March 10-11, 2006--
I've finally taken some time to redesign the studio:margin section. It remains true to the brown and pink color scheme of the original. I'm not sure if I'm 100% happy with the design just yet, but I've uploaded it online with the hope of receiving some feedback. (A bit of trivia: 100% tableless layout and xhtml1.0 transitional. Not bad for Notepad handcoding.)
--March 5, 2006--
With the two weeks of midterms finally over, I converted
two four of my cartoons into vector images using Adobe Illustrator CS2's Live Trace. They've been posted at the still-beta
studio:margin.
--February 19, 2006--
Behind the scenes: I'm in the process of recoding
StoryCorner in divs and CSS id's, while keeping the classic 2001 design exactly as it is. If you don't know what that means, ignore this update.
--February 18, 2006--
One addition to studio:margin. I've also used swappable CSS stylesheets on the
Links section (so far, only for text size adjustments). I'll expand to entire alternate styles when time permits. Note that the swapping won't work if you're viewing under the
GeoCities mirror of this site (because GeoCities is stupid about littering our pages with their own quirky code. The pure version is at the
OCF Berkeley mirror.
--February 4, 2006--
The Techie section (
HTML Workshop) now has a purple navigation bar, except on the Techie front page. I plan to purple-fy it some more when I find the time.
--January 29, 2006--
For kicks, I created an
iPod-flavored index page. Feedback is welcomed. (Yes, I do realize I placed a 3g screen on a 4g body.)
--January 28, 2006--
New section. I call it
studio:margin because so far, it consists of very rough amateur cartoon strips done in the margins of my lecture notes. Hopefully, a tablet PC or Wacom tablet (and maybe some better non-copying drawing skills) will crash through the ceiling and land in my lap. But until then, I'm declaring a beta mode until the content begins to look more professionally done.
--January 20, 2006--
After two and a half years, your friendly neighborhood page hit counter is back! It's undercounting a bit, mind you, because I'm missing almost a year's worth of monitoring (6.03 to 4.04). But hey, it wasn't exactly tallying unique visitors anyway.
--January 14, 2006--
Added a new "sock drawer" on the right (below the picture frames) as a temporary solution for my text-less navigation issue. Also added a new slogan for kicks. Nothing new except the year.
--January 11, 2006--
Minor tweaks. Reduced the lines of Javascript in the
About Me section's orange pages. Reduced the table widths. Changed the colors on the world map.
--January 10, 2006--
I have removed the contents of one of the pages in the
People section. I want to remind everyone who appears in that section that, while the People section is well-intended, I will remove anything about you at your request.
--December 29, 2005--
I've recolored the
x press pages, with a slightly more graphics approach. (Yes, I did draw the penguin and snow with a mouse. Sorry if it doesn't look entirely professional.)
I also redesigned the
Grab Bag page, a.k.a. Extras. The
2003 Extras page can be seen here. (I used the transform pen tool in Photoshop for the bag.)
I suppose now would be a relevant time to reflect on the web design aspects of 2005 at GordeonBleu. First off, I've long had an unofficial policy of striving for the most aesthetically pleasing, most interactive pages possible with minimal reliance on graphics and absolutely no plugin-based techniques like Flash and Java (not to be confused with Javascript, of course). Yet, in the past couple years (and especially 2005), my interest in the graphics design element of web design had skyrocketed, especially after seeing what so many artists had done. So that minimal-graphics policy is over. I've also been using CSS in my pages since 2001, and in the years since then, I've discovered a lot about everything from web standards to table-less pages. I'll continue to experiment with new things in my pages, and I thank all of you who visit my pages. I'll try to never let you down.
--December 28, 2005--
Dreams added to the Dreamworld section. Also: blog at Xanga now citrus orange instead of citrus green.
--December 15, 2005--
I've removed the image labels from November. Added a few more sites to the Links section. I am also exhausted from having taken four finals exams in the last three days (and studying for them during the two weeks prior). One more remaining, and then I might be able to get back to working on this site.
--November 24, 2005--
I've added image labels (in addition to the existing text labels) to the picture frame links above. Just hover your mouse over to see what I mean. (I originally set the labeled version to revert back to the unlabled version, but I couldn't fix the flicker effect.
--November 22, 2005--
This site turns seven years old today. (That's all.)
--November 11, 2005--
The old
stAts Consortium section has been given a facelift. It looks less playful than the original look, in my opinion, which was not as I intended. But what's important is that I've gotten past my made-on-Notepad-only policy by finally giving into using Macromedia Dreamweaver to cut down the time it takes for me to write these pages from scratch.
--November 7, 2005--
SiteWatch: Brianna's
secret website has just seen a major update.
--October 14, 2005--
Rolling out the red carpet for
Dreamworld 4. More minor updates this month include one new "story" for StoryCorner and a new section called
Folio.
--September 8, 2005--
I've removed the CSS page. A replacement is planned in the near future, so don't worry!
--August 22, 2005--
New index page using a wall of picture frames I created by drawing lines. It uses HTML image maps, which I'd last used in 1999 on another experimental index page involving desk drawers. I was reluctant to go forward with designs like these because of the navigation's dependency on graphics. In other words, this page would be harder to use without graphics. I'd appreciate feedback, and I'll be doing more thorough web browser compatibility tests soon.
--August 18, 2005--
I finally gave the "Links" section a new look. I personally think that it's less practical than the
previous layout, but I'd rather hear your input. Through July and August, I added more dreams to Dreamworld and a couple more additions to Scribbles.
--July 4, 2005--
I've finally released an
experimental candidate to replace the main index page, but I'm not too happy with it.
--June 15, 2005--
I finally updated the colors for the "Me" section, excluding the main dark gray page.
--June 10, 2005--
I've added a couple more writings to the Dhahran section within the last week. I'm also planning to freshen the 'me' section a bit, but I haven't settled on a color scheme yet. I'm actually spending a lot less time on GordeonBleu this summer so far than I expected, mainly because of my summer job's hours.
--May 18, 2005--
Check out
Sarcasma's experimental look!
--May 17, 2005--
Technical details: (5.11.05) Changed the lack-of-formatting in the x press textarea by changing it to a scrollable div. (5.18.05) Finally fixed the discontinuity in the scrolling navigation blocks by adding a 9th box, for the Scribbles section.
--May 11, 2005--
What I've touched since March: The Kim Possible section was more or less completed soon after the last announcement (March); the Sketch section was renamed Scribbles in April and updated with several new drawings. The Me section has a new main page, and the rest of the subsection pages are purple instead of green, since iMAGiNE is already green. iMAGiNE also has a relatively new poem.
--March 19, 2005--
I finally created a Kim Possible section to satisfy my fanaticism. It's halfway done, but I'll start linking it to the front page.
--March 7, 2005--
Long overdue update: Changed Bri's photo in the People section. Much thanks to Bri for the compliment. And Eddie, if your toes are cold, look into toe socks. =) Also, as you may have noticed, GordeonBleu is entirely mirrored at:
www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~gordeon
but the GeoCities address will remain my official address. You're welcome to decide which one to use.
--February 14, 2005--
I've been trying to think of a fresh design for GordeonBleu since December last year, but I was having trouble creating the images I wanted. So I switched to text instead for now. The black silouettes weren't quite the direction in which I wanted to head, and they were getting old anyway. One minor change: grab bag has been renamed to "extras".
--January 11, 2005--
I've designed a new Imagine logo, but I'm having trouble getting the colors to work well on the eyes. To see what I'm talking about, visit the Imagine experimental page (link posted under "recent activity"). It's only a color scheme change. Please let me know what you think of the color scheme (whether it hurts your eyes, or whatnot). And as usual, dream and poem additions go unannounced (hint, hint).
--January 5, 2005--
I've finally added the new section for my panoramic photography. Check it out by clicking the link at the right under "What's New". I also redesigned the Dhahran Insider in December, and I've added a new C.C.S. logo. I also updated and redesigned the Stevenson Insider pages and renamed it to Stevenson Life in November. I've also noticed that nobody's been signing the guestbook ever since I put the textfield and textarea on the main page. I have gotten many messages through that textfield/textarea combo though, so that's still nice. Just something I've noticed.
- november 22, 2004 -
On November 22, 1998, a person named Gordon (me) established a website at GeoCities called Dinosore's Homepage, which, over the years, would become GordeonBleu. It marked the creation of a haven where Gordon could write, publish, and display his work as he explored the art of webpage design. This month, we celebrate six years of GordeonBleu.
- september 2004 -
geocities's ads have pushed my random quotes (top left) and the gordeonbleu logo (top right) downward and behind the iGordo images, or at least in some cases with firefox and netscape, but not ie or camino. please report any bugs you see. (they're usually geocities's fault, since their ads aren't designed for anything other than ie.) check out my site at archive.org.
- december 2003 -
despite the five-digit number my page hit counter boasted, i have finally decided not to put it back on this page, for it did not fit the theme of the page. also, google's algorithm change has caused many sites, including my own, to disappear from the search engine altogether. curse you, google.
- october 2003 -
i now have eight iGordo images. i've replaced the original corbis pictures with my own. so hopefully you guys like the new wild look over the old soft look.
- july 2003 -
subsections are up: techie, grab bag, writing, play. iMAGiNE is now a poetry corner with some haikus. Three new stories:
*eternal dusk
*here's to romance 1
*my turn to dream
- may 2003 -
a new facelift, more major a change than all previous redesigns, and it represents a move towards a new reputation for gordeonbleu. i do not mean to be too techie, though i do that very well. i now emphasize life, childhood, fiction... real life. welcome to gbleu.
* Some posts between March and May might be missing.
03.16.03. ...and the purple cheese donkeys climbed up the slanted palm tree...
03.15.03. Newest Addition to StoryCorner: Nedimus. (I haven't written the code for this, so it won't officially be joining the StoryCorner collection until the typos have been removed.
03.14.03. Wow, C++ is getting trickier. Writing classes is quite difficult. I said that I would start a C++ section, didn't I? Hmm...maybe someday. Right now, I'm worrying about college letters...a big bummer for me today. I won't say which college... Also, I just want to state that I am against a possible war, for a variety of important reasons, but mainly because I believe that the best way to peacefully encourage change in a country is by increasing influence. In other words, if our country wants other nations to be like us, we need to lift embargoes and let the citizens learn to love the Big Macs and Cokes that we send in. It may sound very if-y as far as morals go, but if we truly want to alter a nation's culture into something like our own, I'd rather see it done by the power of global trade, not the power of our big guns.
01.25.03. Welcome back, everyone! It's 2003, and I may not have a new color scheme or layout or design, but it's the content that matters, isn't it? Feel free to use the box below, but PLEASE remember to identify yourself. Going back to the subject of a new look for GordeonBleu, I've decided not to change any appearance items of my site for a very long time because of loss of interest in design and coding. But please keep returning here, for my entries here at my homepage will give you a glimpse into my current life and mind. As an act of courtesy, I recommend that you sign the guestbook if you have not already have, so that I may know who is reading my pages. Thank you.
Click
here to return to the main page.
Cheers,
Gordon Mei
