Website Redesign: Jim Hannley LLC
May 15th, 2013Jim Hannley is a Tucson, Arizona-based financial planner who feels the need, the need for speed. When he wants to update his website, he wants to do it NOW.
Working on his old website was a convoluted process that involved downloading web page files, editing them with a word processor, then uploading the edited pages back to the server. When your job requires that you pay close attention to your clients' finances, you don't need this kind of aggravation.
So, Jim came to me for a site that he could edit himself. Quickly.
Using a combination of a pre-made theme and the open-source WordPress content management software, I got Jim's new site up and running in a few hours.
This project also involved a rewrite of his copy, and it was a joy. Let's just say that business and finance are two of my favorite topics.
Here's Jim's old home page:
And here's the new one:
Jim's new logo was created by another one of my clients, Julie Rustad of Julie Originals.
Nature Photography: Dinner Plate Buds
April 29th, 2013Dinner Plate Buds? What kind of a headline is that? Are strange things happening in my kitchen?
The kitchen report: Nothing is amiss.
The venue for this post is my back yard, where my dinner plate cacti are doing their normal spring thing and budding. Oh, are they ever...
Website Redesign: AZ DroughtWatch
April 25th, 2013No doubt about it, Arizona is in a long-term drought. The University of Arizona's DroughtWatch project draws on the input of people who observe the effects of dry climate in their locales.
Here's what the site looked like before my redesign:
The new look worked the physical effects of drought right into the design. The cracked earth image and the rural Arizona photos were provided by the DroughtWatch coordinators.
Bicycle Photography: Tucson Bike Fest 2013
April 18th, 2013Ahhh, April in Tucson. Time once again for our city's annual Bike Fest. Which motivates Yours Truly to go on bike-tographic expeditions to all sorts of cool events.
Let's start with Cyclovia Tucson. Did you know that there are two them this month? The first was on Sunday, April 7.
Believe me, getting a photo with just one rider in it was a challenge...
Why was it a challenge? Because Cyclovia attracted more than 10,000 riders, that's why!
Next Cyclovia's on April 28. Be there.
Want a new bike? A used bike? Need to clean out your shed or garage? Head Downtown to the Bicycle Swap Meet!
It's a magnet for all things bicycle. And, hey, if you have some used bikes to sell, why not bring them to the swap in a vintage truck?
The man in the blue shirt is the truck's owner. He told me that he did the restoration work, and he described the truck as "the last of the Mohicans."
Tip: Visit my Bicycle Stock Images site to view more Cyclovia Tucson and Bicycle Swap Meet photos.
Nature Photography: Ultra-green
April 3rd, 2013It was around this time last year when I was calling my mesquite tree a slacker. Thing was taking its sweet old time about blooming.
Not this year. That tree's well into ultra-green mode. Fully bloomed in less than a week.
After a winter of looking at leaves falling to the ground and the branches becoming ever more bare, this is what greets me...
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my tree for showing the world what spring is all about. Bright, cheerful colors when we truly need them.
Nature Photography: Front Yard Spring Flowers
March 29th, 2013Spring has come to my front yard in a big way. Cue up the flowers, starting with the potted aloe vera...
Just to the west of the aloe is another front yard flower-fest. This is bellflower beardtongue penstemon...
Pretty yellow flowers. But the name for this one? Dogweed. That's right. Dogweed. I think it's time for a better name.
Nature Photography: Back Yard Blooms
March 15th, 2013For a variety of reasons, this has truly been the winter of my discontent. Which means that I have been looking forward to spring. Oh, have I ever.
This week's forecast promises 90-degree temperatures. So, time to head out back to the furnace room and shut off the gas. Done.
Outside the furnace room door, it's a blooming party! Check out those feathery senna blooms in the dawn's early light! Spring is here!
Fun facts about those sennas: Planted them in 2006. Haven't watered them in years, but they keep right on growing. And seeding volunteer offspring. They're very good at that.
Nature Photography: The Garden Comeback
March 8th, 2013Back in January, I blogged about my Tragic Garden. It was hit hard by sub-freezing temperatures. Since I grow some of what I eat, crop losses are never good news.
But what should I see this week but rebirth! Plants growing in places where I'd given up on seeing any such thing!
Check this out: Green pepper pot that got hammered by the freeze. Lo and behold, there's a new pepper sprouting amidst the death and destruction...
Then there's the lettuce garden, which I've seeded and re-seeded. Looks like all that work is finally paying off...
Bicycle Photography: Promotional Postcard #1
March 1st, 2013I like postcards. Oh, do I ever. To the point where I've been known as The Passionate Postcarder.
That character has been on hiatus for a few years, but now the passion is back. Feast your eyes upon the front image from my latest promotional postcard...
Okay, so you've seen the bike-tography on the front of the card. The photo is from the UA Criterium on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. Now, what's on the back?
[This is the part where Martha folds her arms and vigorously shakes her head.]
I'm not telling. Uh-uh.
Why not? Because I'm going to engage in a bit of in-person postcarding passion. If you want to know what's on the back of the card, you'll have to see me and ask nicely. Or I may just offer you one.
The method to my madness: Over the years, I've found that giving people postcards works a lot better than the arms-length method of sending them through the mail.
Besides, the in-person method is a lot more fun. Someone asks for your card and you respond with a postcard. How cool is that?
Photo Essay: Brush and Bulky Treasure Hunt
February 25th, 2013Twice a year, the City of Tucson has a Brush and Bulky Pickup. Which prompts thousands of Tucsonans to lug their old couches, busted-up bookshelves, cracked flower pots, and tree branches out to the curb.
For those of us who enjoy the creative re-use of castoffs, the weekend before Brush and Bulky Pickup means one thing:
Treasure Hunt!
That's exactly what Neighbor B and I did yesterday afternoon. We found an abundance of treasures in the Northwest, Feldman's, and Jefferson Park Neighborhoods. Our own El Cortez Heights Neighborhood? Ehhh, not so much.
Being avid bicyclists, we carried out our treasure-hunting mission with two wheels, not four...
While we were pedaling around, we saw quite a few pickup trucks filled with scrap metal. The Pickup Patrol turns out in force for Brush and Bulky. After all, that metal is worth money.
Neighbor B and Her Husband have a Quartet of Hens. They are not allowed to come on Brush and Bulky treasure hunts. Which makes cooped-up Margarita feel left out and very unhappy...
Neighbor B to the rescue! Time to open the coop door and let the chickens out for some free roaming in the back yard...
Yesterday was a very windy day. And, if there's one thing that chickens don't like, it's having their feathers ruffled. Here's 75% of the Quartet of Hens, seeking refuge from the wind...
The chicken not shown above was a very smart bird. When the wind gusted, she ran back into the coop and stayed there.
