The boys from Otterball did a wow job with the relaunch of Tara Leigh Cobble‘s site. Classy, classy, classy.

Boy o Boy o Boy o Boy.

YourCreativityDollarsAtWork™ has been getting a lot of (the clean version of) internet love lately… and for that I thank you. Your prize for the show of affection is another redesign. I’ve averaged one major redesign every month since I started this site in February. I’m no tortoise… but the site is green nonetheless. What?

(Oh, and learn the wonder of the F11 key. Go ahead… don’t be scared, little one. Take back all that stolen screen real estate.)

The new issue of The Royal is out. By far the best magazine on planet Earth right now. If you ever wonder how a self-taught designer who works for a church comes up with work like mine… it’s because I look at things like this all day. I wish they were accepting submissions… but i’m not really sure i’m anywhere near talented enough to land a spot in their mag in the first place.

Coming soon… Chuck Anderson prints? I’m down with that.

Here’s an odd, strangely endearing Bob Schneider video for Captain Kirk. The WeFail/SoFake kids were in on this one. I dig how Bob sports a WeFail t-shirt in the video.

Plastic Kid showing off his process on a large wall piece. This makes me miss making things. I’m on the computer far too much for my liking lately. I want to get dirty and get paint on my hands and make huge artwork.

The funny? More Terry Tate, Office Linebacker. There are things that get less funny with time… people getting tackled near cubicles is not one of those things. Also, Duncan Channon lets us in on some advertising tips. Go get some ad wisdom.

I did some holiday-esque image tweaking on the New Spring site today. I also posted some photos from the Ground Breaking Celebration we had on Saturday.

Kris Kross has a new album… and the most terrible bio in music history. Highlights? “Like a fine wine, the Chrises have mellowed with age and so has their sound. Gone are the shrill, prepubescent cries of euphoria…” and the climactic “We’re the realest, we’re the youngest doing this stuff, and we love it more than anybody in the joint. We live hip hop everyday and that’s a lot.”

Yes, Chris(es)… everyday is a lot.

Also (not to start some political debate… YCD@W isn’t here for that) in the amazing world of photo journalism, here’s a look at Iraq Uncensored from a few photographers and filmmakers. Just as a warning before you proceed, the content is at times graphic and, unfortunately, very real. Calling them “favorites” seems morbid, but whatever the semantics, this one and this one stood out to me.

What a pleasant Wednesday morning surprise… CSS Ninja, great designer, and all-around nice guy Ryan Sims has included the one and only YourCreativityDollarsAtWork™ on his I Heart 2004 list under Best Blogs. (I’m in the midst of some heavyweights too… Todd Dominey’s What Do I Know? and Naz Hamid’s Absenter are two of my regular visits. Naz has the best photoblog on the web…. period, end of story.) The I Heart list only serves to reinforce the fact that Ryan and I should hang out.

Wow. Thank you, Simy.

The perpetrator of the previous post and I have chatted. All is well on the homefront.

Originality… an American tradition since the beginning.

I don’t know whether to be flattered or mad. I do know that copy and paste code is not the way to make friends, especially when you’re using other people’s bandwidth. The links page is even the same. I suppose if you’re going to go, you might as well go all out.

Here’s some photos from Friday night’s gig with Blaine and Leah in Greenville. Fun Times.

The new worship guides for New Spring‘s The Gift series are in the Recent Work slot today. These were fun… from initial idea to our printer in about 6 hours. And yes, I actually wrapped the present. Have you ever tried to wrap and ribbon a heart-shaped box? It should be an Olympic event. I doubt I would medal.

I like my job a lot these days.

For kicks, here’s my top five albums of the year (in order):

1. Chris Thile – Deceiver
2. Sasha – Involver
3. Robbie Seay Band – Better Days
4. Dave Barnes – Brother, Bring the Sun
5. Jump – Between the Dim and the Dark
5. Mute Math – Reset EP*

I am apparently mellowing out in my old age. Then again… not too much in the current state of music really impresses me, so I suppose i’m more jaded than I am mellow.

The best lyric of the year comes from the best album of the year. Thile continues to read my mail with junk like, “We kept in touch but the touch I was wanting from her came from girls that scared me too little to love. So all of the thoughts I thought I might tell her turned into songs that until now she’d never heard of.” Mmm hmm… check… affirmative. Over and out.

* This was a self-edit completely unrelated to the Jump Little Children bashing occurring in the comments section. I basically just forgot about the Mute Math album. It is a deserving inclusion in the top 5, even if it’s only an EP.

Slight change for tonight’s show… Carpenter’s Cellar flooded last night in the monsoon. Being that it is quite cellar-esque, I think the majority of the runoff water from the entire downtown area is now in the venue. No worries.

The acousticness will occur in Meador’s Sandwich Shop, which is right above the Cellar at 123 S. Main.

Now I just have to find a sound system…

A music-themed post. My friend Blaine Howard and his wife Leah will be playing a gig with me tomorrow in downtown Greenville at Carpenter’s Cellar. Snappy on-stage banter and scrumptious songwritery will commence.

Chris Thile of Nickel Creek fame has a new album out…. and he plays everything on it. Should be interesting. Thus far… he can do no wrong for me. You can check out some of the tunes on a nice little eCard. It doesn’t disappoint. Delightfully weird and wonderful… everything you expect from an amazing musician.

Darrell Abbot, aka Dimebag Darrell, aka Diamond Darrell, aka guitarist for my favorite band from about ’88-’98 (Pantera… I was a Total-Metal-Kid™) was shot to death last night at a Damageplan show.

Today I quietly listen to old Pantera in my office.

Snowboarders who long for the same effect off-season on pavement should check out the Freeboard. If you don’t fit into that category… who cares? Watch the video anyway… it’s awesome in theory, design, and implementation.

Here’s some Jesus sketches that are unintentionally really, really creepy.

The Keystone Design Union™ goes live with a slightly new site. Basically… anything that involves Chuck Anderson gets my vote. I trust The KDU.

Michael has a great holiday gift guide. T… shirts.

Aaron Ruell, aka Kip takes good photos.

Life’s Little Pleasures #19

When your friends know you well enough that they don’t really have to ask what to bring you when they’re picking up dinner from Chick-Fil-A.

Life’s Little Pleasures #27

Entire seasons of great TV shows on DVD. I haven’t had TV or cable for any large amount of time since high school. This is a good thing… i’m pretty easily sucked into entertainment and can waste a day flipping through shows I don’t really want to watch in the first place. But the DVD changed all that. It’s oh-so-American of me to enjoy the fact that I get no commericals and no wait time in between episodes… 20+ installments of Smallville or Buffy or 24… all at my disposal and on my schedule. Who needs cable when I can get the only things i’d watch anyway in such a nicely packaged form? Long live the TV season DVD… you make my life just a little more enjoyable.

Batman Begins… booyah.

Hmm… this is going to be a busy week.

Talk time with Chris White? Big things in the future. Big things. Creative things. Awesome… things. Wait for it.

Do your plans ever get foiled by something seemingly insignificant that you typically take for granted? Like showing up to play a gig at a venue that normally has spare direct boxes sitting on stage… only to find yourself in the midst of a severe and apparently sudden direct box shortage? Annoying. Potentially not a good thing. I mean… plugging my guitar in might be a tad bit important this evening. Or not.

Note to self: never leave home without gear.

I’ve seen quite a few one-man-bands (there used to be a great guy who would play near downtown Charleston. Anyone know if he’s still around? It’s almost worth the drive.) However, I think McRorie might hold the top honors. I mean… how can you hate on a mullet that awesome?

Speaking of hair… i’m cultivating a beard again. Soon i’ll look like I invented the woods.