I don't know what this is; for now, I'm calling it a "web concept."
My hosting set-up is fairly economical, and domain names are affordable, and this is one I picked up.
I don't want to say too much about it, since I don't understand what it is, necessarily. I will say that I was out working one day —
First, let me say something about that:
Some of the work I do has me sitting in front of a screen (or two), typing code, reloading pages in the web development browser, uploading files to the server, not to mention all the work with various image editing software...
but some other of my work takes me outside: I am a naturalist and professional horticulturist, living in an ideal, frequently-rainy climate.
I don't know, but it seems to me that the two things couldn't be more divergent: on the one hand, I'm out there pruning trees and shrubbery, and working in the forest; it's a very tactile — no, completely sensual experience, and certainly physical. When I am done with the work, I can walk away from something that will remain.
On the other hand, the work is nearly entirely cerebral; all I am doing is rearranging electrons according to my specifications, so when I am done working, only electrical potential has changed. It's fairly abstract work, but compelling, in that I develop designs, which is fundamentally an artistic activity, and then execute them with xhtml code, which is a mostly logical process. But none of those processes, together, have much in the way of physical involvement, other than working with a mouse and keyboard, and scratching my head now and then.
So, of course, my two vocational activities complement each other perfectly. Sometimes, when I am hung up on a design issue, or a logical execution issue, all I have to do is go outside, and the answer will often present itself in short order. I might need to get busy weeding in my vegetable garden until the answers come, but it doesn't usually take long.
I was out working one day, then, among some cedars, alders, and douglas firs, and was thinking about web designs. As I mentioned, I have a stable of domains, and think about content I can put on them (presently, the clientele hasn't found me so much, so until then, I keep working, which develops a nice portfolio). Just the night before, my daughter had suggested a clever domain name, and what do you know? Within a couple of hours, I had purchased the domain, configured the server, and already had content posted there.
As I said, the domains are cheap, so I was contemplating a domain shopping spree... I don't know if you've had the opportunity, but thinking of domains is good fun. Of course, there are the obvious ones, such as ascandalinbohemia.org, and geniusweirdo.org...
but something about a non-sequitur involving an odd number appealed to me -- a colleague has (but does nothing with, as of December 2008) wingnut23.com, which I think is a pretty nifty domain. What could I come up with...?
I had a notion, and asked my son about it when I saw him that afternoon.
"What odd number do you think would best accompany, 'argyle'?" I asked.
He was rather confused. I repeated the question, and added, "Like, say, 'argyle23'," thinking of my colleague's domain.
"Oh, to go with the word, 'argyle'" he said. "I get it."
He gave it some thought.
"Well," he said, "it shouldn't be too low of a number — it has to be odd? — and not a double-digit number... so what about...
'Argyle-Nine'?"
That was it.
Now, all I had to do was figure out what to do with the domain — securing it, and setting up the server, was easy and quick, and promptly taken care of.
I thought about it, and with Photoshop®, opened up an image from my recent trip to Amsterdam, after looking through the archives for one that would go with the concept I had in mind.
And then, whip up an argyle motif, plaster it on a numeral "9," add a gradient and some contour, and drop it into a picture of an area in Amsterdam, next to a canal [duh], that was being re-paved, with stacks of pavers sitting all around (that's also work that I do, enjoy very much, and was surrounded by in Amsterdam, so had photographed it in progress). I added a bit of a shadow, to make the argyle9 look like it belonged (did a sloppy job, I'll admit — I was in a hurry).
Now, all that was left was to write a little xhtml page, a little css style sheet, and put it on the server.
I was delighted with the work, since I had, in a mere couple of hours, put something very clever on the web. I hastened to show my son, and was rewarded by one of those knowing glances, that brief re-assessment of the father by the hip, teenage son; I was even more delighted. I emailed a genius correspondent in the midwest, and soon had a favorable reply from him, along with the question, "...but what is it?" I had to reply that I still didn't know.
But my subconscious was now busy and engaged with a quirky art project, which always stimulates me deeply.
I soon ended up with another notion, which became the image (perhaps you've seen it?) of the submarine, the conning-tower painted over with an argyle pattern, and emblazoned with a large, block, "9," the way the Navy does. Again, some fun Photoshop® work (although I also very much enjoy working with The GIMP, an open-source, free-download, image-editing program that has nearly all of Photoshop's® capabilities, and has some Photoshop® doesn't).
My midwest pal responded to my announcement of the new concept:
Every few days, I would come up with another theme, a concept ("united-argyles" was one, and "rugby" was another, all involving manipulation, extensive to varying degrees, of images with editing software), and put it on the web, nudging aside the one that preceded it. The server was developing a nice library of argyle9 images, but the xhtml and css, although slightly modified to accomodate new image dimensions, were all else that was there. My midwest correspondent was keeping up, a bit, and my son and other intimates were seeing stuff I was showing them as I put updates out there."cool," I thought. something about the sub cracked me up, though. Not sure what it is, but there was a comic trigger in the argyle stack (or do they call it a super structure on a sub?)
And the ideas were coming fast and furious, and but what about the previous concepts? I wanted them to be available, but not too easily, considering how in its early days (which lasted maybe two weeks), fans of the site (me, and maybe my midwest pal, and hopefully, my son) had to wait for updates, like fans of a serial comic strip in the papers, long before reprint collections arrived.
Presently, there is still one theme at the domain, but if one clicks the little title, "argyle9.com," fixed in position at the bottom left corner of the screen, one goes to a page with a list of themes →
