Groggie.com

My “Untitled” self-portrait has been featured in the DeviantArt compilation Best of Random Deviant Hello: Volume 8.

Groggie.com has received enough traffic to be ranked by large web traffic websites such as Alexa! It may not be in the top 10,000, but is under the 1,000,000 mark (That’s good for something, right?)!

Check it out on a few of these stat-tracking websites:
Alexa, Technorati, Compete, Yahoo! Site Explorer

Additionally, I’ve decided to add a few options to advertising on Groggie.com. Nothing intrusive- so the main focus will always still be the content. To see what kind of advertising options are available, check out the Advertising page (the link is also available in the top nav bar on the right side).

The Google Pagerank is currently messed up because of some downtime problems I was going through at the end of November. Here’s the post about that.

I was featured in another online article on DeviantArt for my design “Integrate the Type.”

http://news.deviantart.com/article/64102/

I had some issues with my domain late last week, but have finally solved them. I always seemed to have a day or two of downtime every year when it came time to renew my domain name, but now I’ve fixed it and should not have the annual problems that I have previously encountered.

(12/09/08 Update) It would appear that the few days of downtime has adversely effected my Google Pagerank. Unfortunately, I’m no longer listed, but hopefully it will be back shortly when Google indexes my site again.

I just picked up my brand new 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer today. It’s a 5-speed manual and is impressive to look at to say the least. I will update this post with some pictures when I get them uploaded.

On November 22nd, Our 11th Hour will be recording their debut demo EP at Subcat Studios. The tracklist will include “Bleed Me Dry,” “Falling For You,” “Untitled 2,” and “11th Hour (Part II).” The demo will be available for $5 at any show, but for the release party, a set number of copies will be given away for free. It will also be available on iTunes and Amazon which will include a free acoustic version of “Falling For You.” “Bleed Me Dry” will be available for free on the band’s Myspace profile and official website.

Today I implemented a targeted custom Google search at the footer of every page. It’s cool because it gears your search string to the creative arts such as design, photography, animation, and writing. Best of all, it returns search results right within Groggie.com! Give it a shot and let me know if you have any other ideas of cool updates to make.

I’ve finally coded up a layout that I’m happy with for my professional portfolio at www.christopherblakley.com. “Finally” is an understatement- I’ve been trying to come up with a design that I didn’t shudder at after mocking up since the old design. It’s tough to create something that is user-friendly with a relatively simple design without really going overboard with innovations and cool features.

Please let me know if there are any glitches or anything. I’ve triple-checked it (several times), but things do fall through the cracks.

http://www.christopherblakley.com

“A Darkness” has been accepted into the Anton Art Center’s exhibition called “Buy This” in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. It will be featured from September 12th until October 3rd.

I’ve decided to add a second sidebar to the main index and single post pages of Groggie.com. I want to use this for current promotions that are going on. Right now it’s just a widget of what I’m currently listening to (Becuase I know that everyone is just dying to know), and a link to my band’s Myspace page. Eventually, I’ll probably make a widget for the Our 11th Hour show schedule with links to venues and other bands.

I removed the small advertisement at the bottom of the first sidebar, and I’m thinking about placing it at the bottom of the second sidebar, but I’m not positive yet. Who knows what else I’ll put on this additional area, and what I’ll do with it next.

If anyone has any ideas of what would be cool to put there let me know!

“Integrate the Type” has been accepted into the Art Kudos International Exhibition which begins on August 15th. It will be viewable at www.artkudos.com once the opening date arrives.

(8/15/08 Update) The exhibition is now live at: http://www.artkudos.com/2008/186_1.html

I was featured in an online article on DeviantArt for my design “Integrate the Type.”

http://news.deviantart.com/article/52161/

Just got my new electric guitar today that will complete my setup for quite a long time. I got an Agile AL-2000 with a Floyd Rose bridge from Rondo Music. That’s where I got my other electric as well. Eventually I’ll be putting a custom raised pickguard on it to complete the look of it. Another thing that I’ll upgrade down the road are the pickups; I’m thinking about an EMG 85 at the bridge, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. For now it’ll stay stock.

Here’s a couple pictures:

I just bought what will hopefully be the last acoustic guitar I buy for a very long time. It’s a Tacoma Roadking that I got used. It’s in fantastic shape and plays like a dream! It’s got a solid sitka top and solid mahogany body which is one of the things that turned me on to it because I’ve been stuck in a composite/laminate rut for some reason. I should have some recordings of it up soon (if I can pull myself away from playing it for long enough to set up some microphones).

Today I finally got my actual diploma in the mail. Turns out my 3.66 GPA from last semester pushed my cumulative into the Cum Laude range. It sucks because I should have walked the stage with a gold tassel along with my red and white ones. Oh well, that’s how it goes sometimes.

I just finished migrating all of the posts from my music blog directly into the main website. This way I don’t need to post everything twice. Groggie.com/music now redirects to the music/audio category on this blog. All of the previous songs are here so nothing has changed, and any future songs will be posted right on the main site now.

The category list on the right sidebar can be used to navigate through the different types of music and sort by each category. As always, the search bar at the top can be used to find a specific song or any other post on the website.

I recorded the acoustic guitar part last semester in Oswego, and Katie and I finally put some vocals on top of it. It turned out pretty well I think. It was fun doing the harmonizations and everything.

My two images of Barack Obama (here and here) are featured in this exhibition at the Oswego State Downtown Store on West First Street this summer. There’s a reception for the exhibition on June 11th at noon with a speaker from the communications department at SUNY Oswego. The exhibition goes throughout the summer until August 17th.

Here’s an article on the SUNY Oswego website about it: Pondering Propaganda

My entry “Integrate the Type” was selected as a semi-finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards in the Print Communications category.

I just updated the Groggie.com logo to get rid of my stupid face as the main identity for the site. It needed the update anyway, since my face has represented the site since about 2005 and has outlasted all three of the major overhauls. Well, here it is. It should be easier to get used to (not to mention easier on the eyes) than my ugly mug.