Planing a website

Being so involved in my work as I am lately, I can' help myself writing about it. Planing a website is very quite similar to rearranging you closet. You start with the desire to have your closet neat and organized but not lose much time keeping it that way. We all know how it works: when you're in a hurry and need your lucky shirt, you will find it, even if it means turning the closet inside out. And it usually does.

So you start with bunch of clothes and your habits of using them. Clothes you wear more often, the ones you never wear, clothes for sport, fancy clothes and stuff you want to keep but will probably never have a chance to wear anyway. And you don't want stuff you don't need to get in the way of your search for stuff you do need.

You also know the amount of time you don't have in the morning to dress up and what it is you're usually looking for. Old habits die hard so unless you'd like to spend a lot of time adjusting to a new lifestyle, you can at least make a good use of them. You can sort your clothes by color, size, type of fabric, season, type of occasions, stuff given to you by your parents or any other criteria you can think of. The important thing to keep in mind is the disorder should be adjusted to you and not the other way around, so you will know exactly in which pile to look for that t-shirt.


Websites are guided by the same "don't make me think" principle. Only you have content instead of clothes, users instead of you and well, loads of research instead of few hours of your time.

Painful as it might sound I have to assure you it's a lot of fun. And just as I don't want to spend my time looking for my dress, users don't want to waste time looking for information. Good planing will keep your closet/website in a low maintenance condition until you decide it's either too small or too ugly and buy a new one ;).

Yes, it's fucking political!

Often I meet people who say they are "not interested in politics." I must admit I find this statement quite bold, considering the fact we are all making politics on daily basis whether being aware of it or not. So not being interested in politics means you're actually not interested in:

• Who makes decision regarding your life,
• What kind of future will you have,
  
• Who are you supporting by spending your money,
  
• Knowing which stuff you drink/eat might seriously damage your health,
• Knowing whether you financially support employers who exploit their employees,
• What are the consequences of your daily actions,
  
• How many children made that fancy T- shirt with their delicate little hands for about a buck per day.

Of course it's individuals' right not to be interested and not to know any of those things, even though not knowing it doesn't mean you shake off the responsibility part.

The only catch is not being interested in politics means you don't get to complain about it either. Yes, it's the old "Do something about it or shut up" principle. So are you sure you're still not interested?

Working from home rules!

After my first month of freelancing I have to say I absolutely love it! Of course it demands an amount of self - discipline, self - organization and good time management but once you get a hang of it everything you do becomes pure pleasure.

Here's why:

• You can wear your pajamas to work,
• You can take showers, brush teeth or make a face mask during work,
  
• You can have breaks whenever you want,
• You can eat proper meals when you're hungry,
• You have time to cook, go to store and even do some housework in between,
• You have more time to read,
• You can afford a slow getting up, without any hurry,
• You can go to concerts/events during the week without being worried when to get up the next day,
  
• You can stay in during the rainy days,
• You have more time for yourself and take a day off when all the work is done,
  
• You can have excellent coffee/tea breaks exactly the way you want it.

I just love my work! Now excuse me, while I'm off for my coffee break... and listening to that Johnny Cash album for the x time :)

Hip hop threesome

My last week was dedicated to hip hop music whichI like a lot but rarely get a chance to listen to some good one. There are not so many hip hop artists that have something interesting to say beyond having sex, geting wasted and hanging out with their "homies". All of these I can get out of reading blogs, but when it comes to music, I need more.

I must say I prefer Balkan hip hop not only because of the juicy language but also because there is a great amount of political in their content and as Bosnian artist Edo Maajka says: Balkan language was just made for rap :) So last week I saw three great concerts with some really cool bits.

Elemental, Croatian hip hop group that exists for ten year already has released four albums so far. The concert was a total knockout and they really put a lot of energy in their performance, not to mention the communication with the audience. Loved them! Will definitely go to see them again live.



The Beat Fleet is another great Croatian hip hop group that flirts with rock, reggae and ska music, unfortunately I was too tired to fully enjoy their concert. They exist for 18 years and have released three albums so far. Guys surely know their beats and were a pleasure to listen to.



The last, but not least was the excellent Bosnian artis Edo Maajka, one of my absolute favorites when it comes to overall impression. He released four studio albums so far and one Soundtrack. Not only is he extremely lovable and positive, he knows how to bring out the best in the audience. We were screaming, whistling, dancing and singing, even the major of Ljubljana went to see his concert. Unfortunately the videos I made have bad audio quality because I was standing too close to the stage. Can you blame me ;)?

In comparison to the previous two concerts this one was not in the sauna held outside which probably brough some points to the great atmosphere. It was definitely one of the best concerts I've been to lately. He's the kind of artist you can't help adoring.





Videos coming up soon.

Blast from the past

Yesterday I was relieving my dark teens on the other side of the Križanke, where Niet concert was taking place. I know how they say that band never recovers from the overdose death of their lead singer but the concert (and new singer) sounded amazing. For all of you who don't know this famous Slovenian punk band I have to say it was faitful painkiller for most of slovenian teenager during their "rebellion period".

Jota, Jinx, Betty, Lonely Rider and me were enjoying every tune played and I was kinda sorry for being such a cheap bastard and not buying the tickets. So here is a little appetizier of my three favorite songs to listen during my teens. They were the kind of songs you would play on repeat a dozen times and would constantly embarres yourself in front of the DJ, asking to play them again. And again.

Niet: lep dan za smrt


Rage against the machine: Killing in the name of


Depeche mode: Personal Jesus

Speak Slovenian?

Slovenian lanugage indeed is pretty hard to learn, especially for people who don't speak or understand any slavic languages. To be honest, even some of our neighbours have difficulties in understanding Slovenian, especially the slang/dialects), which probably makes it perfect for gossiping ;).

I consider myself quite lucky being able to speak a language so complicated. It's not only the pronounciation that is difficult (being so packed up with consonants) but all the rules you need to follow to put the words in to the right form.

If you're still not convinced just how complicated it really is, I recommend reading this funny article by Victor Irving:

Multitasking

So far I manage my new freelance life quite well, still 24 hours is just not enough to be able to squeeze in all the tasks, projects and leisure time activities I'd like to do. Luckily my budget is increasing, unfortunately so is the number of my responsibilities, the mess in my room and my non existing social life. I only wish my computer would be able to cope with my multitasking too.

But I do know that all work and no play, makes Cherry wanna send some fatal errors and request a reboot. Yes, I'm showing off :P

How to become a musician

This is excellent:

How to become a musician

via Digg

Fast food my way

As a fresh freelancer I was looking forward to all the benefits of self-organized life, from flexible time table to decent home prepared meals. After signing up for new projects, having unscheduled meetings and or being too tired to cook, I found myself living on coffee and vending machine. Balanced diet is a sandwich in each hand, right?

Then I saw this pretty thing with my name on it. Lunch Snack box! Just what I needed (besides sleep and a jacuzzi):

And it looks even better on the inside:

It should keep me happy until I get some real food.

Depeche mode night

Yes that's right. Tomorrow evening all Depeche mode fans will be able to get their dose of fine dark music from Depeche mode, Joy Division, Interpol, The Cure to Ladytron, Blonde Redhead and many many more.

So bring your girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, aliens or any other creatures that might be interested.

photo source: Lastfm

Where: Klub Monokel, Metelkova mesto, Ljubljana
When: Friday, 9^th May, from 23:oo till we drop
Who: DJane Cherry & DJane Guilty Eve
Entrance fee: only 2 EUR.

See you tomorrow!