Unaware of the atrocity I had slapped together, I went to a forum (remember those?) to ask for feedback. I was summarily told that my site was not worthy of 1999, much less 2004. It was the Internet, so people were pretty mean, but one person’s constructive feedback has stayed with me.

Just because you can do something, it definitely doesn’t mean you should.

In reflecting over the last decade in my last post, I remembered that advice. As I conjured up the mental image of the worst website I’ve ever made in my life, I took a look at this site. I saw a useless sidebar with unnecessary graphics, confusing static page titles, and an inconsistent site methodology. I went back to the drawing board, updated WordPress and my trusty K2 theme, and hacked away at CSS and PHP until I came up with the design you’re looking at now.

I’ve thrown away as much template text, promotional material, and other crap as possible. I upped the size of the beautiful Lucida Grande that graces these pages, and completely ditched the sidebar. I’m pretty happy with it, and can’t believe I didn’t go simple sooner. In writing, design, or any other art I can think of, simplicity is king.

Carry on.

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your descriptive and honest blog. I wish I had googled this topic earlier, I am about to undergo my third tympanoplasty. I got my ear wet after the first operation, and blew my nose after the second. My surgeons never really emphasized how fragile the graft really is, they just kept telling me about high percentage rates of success. Although I have not been the best patient in the past, I am going into this third surgery ready for hybernation. I plan on locking myself up for 8 weeks: no work, no showers, no physical activity, no blowing my nose and no sneezing. I hate to resort to this extreme form of rehab, but am desperate. How did your rehab compare? How did you take care of things like hygiene, congestion, and the constant idleness? Any advice is appreciated.

Yet another holy eared one,

Adam

The idea that people from across the world can search for stories about almost anything and bond over their experiences still surprises me, despite the fact that I’ve been on the Internet for close to six years now. It’s so amazing. Thank you for continuing to read what I have to say and have an awesome holiday weekend if you’re in the United States!

And that’s my obligatory birthday post.

I’ve been comfortable not blogging, whereas I used to need to blog all the time. It’s easy for me to blame Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media like Google Reader for killing my need to publish long-form. In this case, I’ll elect to take the easy way out.

I’ve funneled the energy that used to go here into sharing news stories, putting together 140 character quips, and tagging friends. I’m not sure whether this is a good or bad development, but a development nonetheless. When I blogged here, I wrote about my journey into college. As soon as I got there, I hit a wall of life and energy, and I focused on living.

In the coming days, I’m going to try to catch up with you all, if you’re still subscribed. I cannot express how grateful I’ve been for your support and advice during the run of this blog. You make it happen.

Ideas to write about?

College is hard. That is to say, time management is hard. In a ridiculously social environment, it’s hard to make time to sit in front of a computer for the sake of sitting in front of the computer. I took five classes this last semester, and have been funneling tons of time into the Tufts Roundtable, a new publication at Tufts. I’m the head web designer.

What I’ve run against over the last year is the ongoing debate between living life and broadcasting life. It’s a debate I’ve been struggling with, and over the last eight months, I’ve focused on living over lifecasting. With my new pool of time, we’ll see how that changes.

This last semester was amazing, and I’ve actually had the time of my life at Tufts. For better or worse, I’ll be passing my time in Dover Plains until September, and because I’m Ricky, I have goals for that time.

1. Resting.
2. Reading.
3. Getting outside.
4. Tinkering with computers.
5. Spending time with friends.

This July, I’ll be working my standard summer job at the Dutchess Community College Computer Academy, a computer camp for kids. Other than that, I have no concrete plans. I’m looking for another job, or some volunteer work in Dutchess or Putnam counties. Let me know if you have anything in mind.

Oh, and welcome back! I’ll be writing much more often than I have now.

Blogging and other social networking activities like twitter suffer under a lack of time. In a list of my priorities, they come after my studies, which has been reflected by my absence.

Here’s the verdict: For now on at this site, there is no schedule, there are no quotas, there are no promises. But, if you subscribe (rss), you’ll find me sending some thoughts your way every once in a while. I’m retiring the Monthly Resolutions project, not because I think it’s a bad idea, but because I’ve demonstrated that I don’t have the time to keep up with it online. I’ll keep continuing to challenge myself offline, but the rigid structure of the project doesn’t fit my life as a student anymore.

It’s not the end of the world; the end of the world would be if I kept lying to myself and you, my readers.

Thanks for sticking around.

In the beginning of this year, I vowed to set a new goal or focus for each month and work at it. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again – I messed up. August was noticeably missing a resolution, but the most important part of accomplishing a goal is getting back on track when knocked off course.

Let’s get back on track. I’m dedicating September to trying new things, meeting new people, and immersing myself in new experiences. Although this is what college is all about, I plan to put special effort into this endeavor. I won’t lay back and let these experience find me; I’m going to go out and seek them myself.

Besides the changes in my life, you may have noticed a change on this blog. Because this is a very symbolic time in my life, a time of transition, I changed the color scheme of the blog to something much more refreshing. It’s only one of many changes that I have lined up for this website when I get some free time.

I don’t know how my blogging will change now that I’m starting college, but I assure you that I will continue to write. I’m not sure how often or about what, but I will always write about the important things in my life and how they may relate to you, especially when it comes to bettering our world.

I hope you’ll stay with me on this journey.

This is the first post on the long-awaited Exposay Blog. Facebook is now importing my posts as Notes. You can register to post comments on the blog, or can just comment on Facebook.

It’s only the beginning. Beginnings are meager, sometimes. It begins, and it begins today. Meagerly.

It began meagerly, but I’ve come so far with your help. The community around this blog helped me get into a fantastic college, survive an ear surgery and its ensuing traumas, grapple with a decaying high school, and graduate from it.

It all started as a way to document my college admissions experience. Now, it’s so much more. This blog is, for me, a way to voice my opinions on all sorts of issues around a group of fun and intelligent people who care about the world.

Keep caring, and thanks for hanging out with me.

You may have noticed that I changed the tagline at the top of the blog. I am, in fact, a student in transition. This blog was founded to capture my college admissions experience, and I have a few more College Admissions posts kicking around in my head. I’ll put them to virtual paper and then organize the College Admissions page. I plan on leaving the page on the navigation at the top of the site as a resource for students going through the same hell experience I just emerged from.

Now that the first goal of my blog is accomplished, I don’t think I need another one. I’ll keep writing about the end of my time at Dover High School, my summer employment, and my transition to Boston. That sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

Let me know what you think. And, by the way, how are you?

If you don’t know what any of this means, stay tuned. I’ll have some very interesting news for you this week.