Recently I have been spending my down time working on a project that I have dreamed about since I was a young boy – To build up and semi restore a classic Jeep CJ7. Over the summer, I started this project and have been getting a lot of enjoyment both tinkering with it in my garage as well as driving it at every chance I get.
Over the weekend, it dawned on me, that I was making quite a bit of progress on the jeep itself, yet I had not been documenting my efforts the way I had intended when I had started. Thus, over the weekend, I made what I consider to be a personal record time in setting up a blog!
I am pretty fast when pushing pixels, but have never been a speedster in setting up server stuff, domains, hosting etc. However, on Sunday evening – I purchased the domain (www.civilianjeep.com), set up the hosting, installed WordPress (via Dreamhost’s amazing 1 click installs) Then customized one of my older wp themes with a logo I had played quickly and then swapped out the other design elements to create an entirely new theme specific to my project – Hell, I even wrote the first post! All totalled… a process that took less then 4 hours.
Now you may look at the site, and find *PLENTY* of flaws in either the design or even more likely bugs in the wp theme… but more important, I am able to document my efforts… and flaws considered, I love the domain name, feel good about the logo, and all in all felt pretty impressed by my short order effort!
I am an avid student and evangelist of user-centered design principles - I have created or overhauled some of the world's largest online Business & Technology properties. My focus has always been on building functional design systems that creatively solve business problems. Solutions that convey brand & messaging, but more importantly, are intuitive to maximize the possibilities of an interactive medium. 
