January 7th, 2008
Twitter didn’t eat my blogging, 2007 did
Like a few other people, I’ve found myself into 2008 already and not posted my ‘end of year’ post. I don’t think it’s laziness, although it could be. I’m pretty sure I’ve not run out of things to say. Is it a lack of time? Probably. I certainly don’t have as much time as I did twelve months ago. But, that’s like everyone right? Why has blogging slowed right down then? Sorry, let me rephrase that, why has web design blogging slowed right down? Specifically, why has mine slowed to a crawl?
Molly thinks Twitter did it. Well, I’m the only person who doesn’t use Twitter. I used Pownce for a while, but then that bored me. I dip in and out of Facebook, but I’m tired of all the pokes, headbutts and slamdunks. So, who’s the culprit?
A full plate
Personally, I’ve got an increasing amount on my plate. The business is going extremely well. We’re expanding, new clients coming on board and as such, there’s a lot more to do — from admin and project management to actually get my teeth stuck into designing.
Then there’s a big personal project Emma and I have been working on for the past few months. We’re building an extension on our house. Not personally you understand, we have a builder, but the time it takes to liase with our architect (which isn’t so bad as it happens to be my Dad) through to making sure the building is on track, is something I personally didn’t bargain for. We’ve got another 2.5 months to go on this project and it will extend out house by about 40% more living space, which will be great and it brings us onto our next project.
Mini me
Emma and I are having a baby in April (which is why I won’t be attending SXSW this year). I’ve thought long and hard about whether I should write about it here — as you never know what could happen — but we’ve told our friends, colleagues and family a while ago, so I thought I’d mention it. Mother and bump are doing extremely well at the moment, and we’re both very excited about the next year.
So, it really is like Grand Designs at the moment (a property development TV show in the UK where the partner always seems to be pregnant). We’ve got a deadline looming and a house to build. Which brings me onto the housebuilding process itself.
Building a house is EXACTLY like building a website
I’ve found it fascinating. My Dad is an Architect, so I’ve grown up with a healthy interest in buildings, architecture and the like. My brother and I spent many a Saturday morning holding a three meter high ruler whilst my Dad took levels on a wreck of a building site. Therefore, the I don’t find the process particularly problematic. It does help having my Architect at the end of a phone though.
What amazes me about the building process, particularly residential development, is the level of difference between what is on a plan compared to what the builder produces. Nowadays, plans are produced in CAD packages and plotted on high resolution plotters. They’re accurate, and to scale, to the nearest millimeter. Then the builder gets hold of it and it is somewhat interpreted rather than followed. I’m amazed at how much is just kind of worked out as they go along. Luckily, we have a great builder. He’s approachable and happy to talk over any small question or problem I have. We should count ourselves lucky.
The parallels between building a house and building a website continue to make me smile. No-matter how much we like to plan, measure, specify, you will always end up with some degree of bodging on a project. I see this all the time on site at the house. But, as my Dad said, there’s nothing wrong with bodging if it solves the problem. No, it might not be as specified. It might not be the ideal way to do it. But, you know, sometimes you just need to get the job done and move on.
Writing a book is bloody time-consuming
I’ve been writing this book for over a year now. It’s over a year late and I’m not too happy about it. yes, I know I should try and finish it before the baby’s due, or the extension is finished, and I’m really, really trying. I have a fantastic editor, Carolyn Wood, but I do feel sorry for her. She doing a fantastic job of both editing my cobbled together thoughts and scribbles, and kicking me in the arse. We’re getting there with it, but it’s slow going and that’s entirely down to me.
There’s talk of the book being produced in print—initially a run of about a 1000. It will be full colour, hardback and distributed from the UK. As such, it won’t be cheap I’m afraid, but I’m hoping it will be worth the price. More details on that on the run up to the launch.
I’ve been writing for a couple of other publications recently as well: A List Apart, .net magazine and 24ways. I’m always thrilled to be asked, but it doesn’t half take a long time to come up with something that readers may find interesting.
On to 2008
This has turned out to be a somewhat forward-looking post. 2008 has already got off to a brisk pace. Mark Boulton Design continues to pick up exciting contracts for varied clients. I still love every day and don’t regret the decision to go freelance over eighteen months ago. I did a bit of speaking last year, but as we’re due a new arrival in April, I won’t be doing any this year that require any amount of time away from home. It’s a shame, as I do enjoy it, but next year I’ll have plenty to talk about I’m sure.
This year, I’m finishing the book. Oh yes I am.
I’m not going snowboarding, which is a killer.
I’m going to enroll in a boxing gym. Probably.
That’s about it really. As you can see, Twitter didn’t eat my blogging last year, I did a pretty good job of that myself. Maybe this year I’ll sort that out. Or maybe I won’t. We’ll see.
Glad to hear things are going well. Wishing you a happy 2008 and continued success Mark. You need to go snowboarding though…its the only thing that can clear my mind, so I’d be cautious about cutting that out of your life.
Congratulations on a big year, big house and a (hopefully not too big!) baby :-) Have a great 2008
Congratulations. And as the reasonably happy half-owner of a 6-month old, good luck. (And no matter what you think, plan to cut your functioning schedule by 1/3. Trust me.)
That quote just made my day. What, no vampires, too?
<strong>Seth:<strong> Yeah, well, thing is the season in the alps is right about now until the baby is due and I should probably stick around until then. Plus, Emma is a good snowboarder and I don’t think she can bring herself to be happy about me going when she’s in no fit state to.
Ah well, I’ll look forward to next year.
Mark, I can definitely appreciate the position you’re in having gone through two sets of major home renovations (gutted two entire floors of our house), and after adding a now 14 month old baby to the mix, all the while attempting to design, writecode, manage projects and clients while searching for any leftover time or desire to writeor be actively involved in the web community.
Best of luck with the book — I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ll have to get Hicks or someone to snag me one of the hardback versions once it’s out.
“and it brings us onto our next project. Mini Me.”
Haha — Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned it. If she reads that in a few years time… ;)
Joking aside, congrats on a great year. It sounds like it was busy, but worth it. And I’m glad to hear the book is still going. I was starting to thing it had been forgotten about!
Finally! I’ve been trying to think of a tagline for my business… “Copywriting and editing and content strategy for the web” doesn’t sound very exciting. But “I kick arse!” or even a royal “We kick arse!” — now, that’s a tagline! Or, I suppose, if I want to be famous, I could be more specific and my tagline could be “I kick Mark Boulton’s arse!” I could put it on my business cards, too. And letterhead. And on a sign on the side of my car. ;)
The baby is the most exciting news, of course. All in all, a wonderful time to know you.
Hey Mark, congrats to you and Emma. My tip, get as much done as possible before hand. Believe me… :)
Happy New Year and all, hope the business continues well for you.
Exciting times ahead — congratulations on the baby — all the best to you and your wife.
My little son is a year old in two weeks time, and it’s been the most fantastic time. Bloody hard work at times, but fantastic nonetheless.
Great to hear 2007 was fruitful for you too Mark — our business really took a leap forward in 07’ — making the finals of the McFarlane Prize was huge for us — kind of validating all the study and dedication to standards we’ve followed from day one.
We too are embarking on a house build this year (looking forward to moving the business out of our lounge / bedroom) though I have to be honest, I’m approaching it with trepidation as well as excitement. Builders aren’t exactly renowned for being a good customer experience though it sound like you’ve made a good choice.
Good Luck with the build, the baby and business throughout 08’ and keep the blogging coming when you have time — yours is one of the more personable blogs I follow.
Congratulations.
As the reasonably happy half-owner of a 6-month old, good luck… and best of luck with the book.
Congrats on the lickle one!
Congratulations on all of the great news, Mark, and best of luck with your various projects. Can’t wait to see the book, whatever it is!
Hi,
Toni here, I empathise with all of the above…had an extension done on our house whilst I was pregnant with our second, our builder was very slow and they only just finished the work before baby arrived!(they were six months over schedule).
So congratulations to you guys!
cheers
Toni
Well, at least you’re no longer the last person to publish an end of the year post. 2007 has been an unusually eventful year for a lot of people and it sounds like you’re in for an even more eventful 2008. You’ll be missed at SXSW, but congrats and best wishes on the new “additions”.
For a local (well, probably pushing a bit there) sneaky snowboarding fix, you could do worse than Chill Factore near The Trafford Centre, near Manchester. Granted it’s not the slopes but we wouldn’t want you to get a case of the snowy DTs.
Wow. Congrats on your business. Whats the book about? :D
hiya,
Wow, everyone seems to be having babies at the moment, you Mr Rowe, Mr Merlin Mann etc etc…
Have a great year, I think twitter did eat my blogging, it also took got bite into my ego and my time. God, i love twitter.
^licks^
Jamie & Lion
What an interesting year it seems to be shaping up for you. And it’s great to have a look on a more “human” Mark, besides the design thinking.
Best of luck to your family.
As for the book, we won’t have to wait 9 months, right ?
Congratulations. And what will be in the book?