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There is something to be said for making resolutions. I don’t necessarily attach these to a particular time of the year or particularly special occasion, but I do make them. Resolutions help you grow, right? At least, that’s the intention.

There has been an interesting buzz trending around the internet, for the past few weeks, that shouldn’t go unmentioned. The buzz word in this trend is critique. Whether it’s criticizing ourselves, criticizing others or criticizing how others are criticizing us, the venom is in the air. ‘Tis the season, right?

I think critique is healthy. It can be a method by which to grow, much the same as a resolution. In fact, at best, healthy critique can lead to thinking, reflection and ultimately resolution.

On December 13th, Andy Clarke stirred up the bees’ nest by calling for a disbanding of the CSS Working Group. Two days later Jeffrey Zeldman responded to Andy’s rally, with rather harsh criticism.

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Years ago, while I was studying art at the Baskin Visual Arts Center, we were tasked with constructing an on-the-spot, interactive art piece. We had about 20 minutes to come up with a compelling art piece that embodied the fundamental principals of interactivity.

For this project I partnered up with one of my classmates. Five minutes later, we had our masterpiece. It was simple and direct. We stood before the class with two cardboard signs, a box of chewing gum and a stack of singles. The sign around my neck read, “Scream in my face for a dollar.” The sign by my partner read, “For a dollar, I’ll put another stick of gum in my mouth.”

It was the most beautiful play on an age old child’s game. We started out with 100 $1 bills and finished with close to $160, not that that was our aim by any means. Don’t ask me how he fit all that gum in his mouth; I really couldn’t tell you.

The reason I bring this up, is because this silly little piece has a lot in common with web design. Don’t believe me?

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My life as of late, has been nothing but work. I’ve been caught in this vicious loop that interconnects my bed, my computer and my bar tender. Seriously, I’ve been that pathetic. I’ve been so over worked that past couple weeks, that it’s all I can do to muster up enough energy to drag my sorry self to the local bar to “unwind”.

My day is like this:

• 5am Wake up to girlfriend making breakfast (we have an open loft, sound travels).
• 6am Lightly start to doze off again.
• 7am Wake up (for real)
• 7am - 7pm Check email, email clients, fix crisis, email, call project meeting, phone conference, reply to email, and maybe (if I’m lucky) design.
• 7pm - 7.5pm Stretches (while discussing with the girlfriend where to go this evening).
• 7.5pm - 8.5pm Go to Dovre for a pair of dirty martinis.

I like a good adventure, a change of pace. I just haven’t had the energy. So every night, for the last few weeks, we have ended up at the Dovre. Don’t get me wrong, I like the place. We treck all the way across the city for a decent dive bar and they don’t get much better than that.

This, lack of having anything that could even remotely resemble a life, next to a dry stick in the mud, has led to a small problem.

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