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Well, the last week was a retread of want went before. I finished the first module in the Web Development track on Team Treehouse and progressed to CSS basics. It was very helpful to go through it all again, especially with respect to the box model and floating in general. I have a much improved feel for how the whole caboodle fits together. Now it's just a question of applying this knowledge through practice.

As I think I've previously mentioned, I bought the domain mouseispressed.com. I have uploaded a custom site purely to get a better feel for what the process of making a website involves. What surprised me most is the sheer amount of coding employed for a fairly basic-looking site. There appeared to be a number of 'normalising' CSS folders for IE8 and IE9 which I'm guessing I should leave as they are. I have a relatively good idea of what I can safely expunge.

So, the question now is 'what is mouseispressed.com?' The initial idea was that it would be a workshop in which I could practice and demonstrate what I have learned. But now I want it to be a bit more than that, there needs to be an objective.

However, with a name like mouseispressed.com it isn't immediately apparent what its purpose should be. The name is a reference to Java Script and at the time I thought I was being clever. At least now I have the creative task to make it relevant, to something. Maybe it could be a blog about a mouse who has a great deal of work to do in an ever-tightening schedule? Hell, maybe I could make that work.

But no.

Perhaps it should simply be a portfolio of projects, a step up from a workbench alone. Still, I like the idea of pretending to be a games developer. That could be a lot of fun.

I will think on it.

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I'm going to lob some words at this page before I'm entirely spent of my ability to concentrate this evening.

I think I managed about 4 to 5 hours today, primarily on CSS. It all seems very sensible though it will take me a while to get to grips with what I would call a not-entirely-logical set-up. For example, I'm damned if I fully understand the distinction between margin and padding. As far as I can tell these terms are better understood if you take the a potential border into account. Up to the border you have the padding and separating the element from other elements beyond the border is the margin. A margin can be shared with other elements, padding cannot. I think that's right. I guess comprehension will be borne out in experience.

What I think I'm beginning to now appreciate is that with CSS you're not stating specific and absolute rules that apply to a static plane but working in a relative space where the relations between elements is of greater importance than specific location. This might not be a groundbreaking epiphany but stating it this way helps me make sense of it even if this is a provisional plateau which I will look back at and laugh derisively. On a side note, I'm noticing how the specific terminology of coding and the use of those words for the purposes of written language are bleeding into each other and how I feel that I need to keep them separate and how that is as easy as separating things that are bleeding into each other. I'm tempted to tag my prose.

Most recently I have been learning about media queries and in so doing have observed some anomalies in my work compared to the course tutor. It's pretty damn annoying but I'm at the point of exhaustion (not primarily caused by coding) meaning any further attempts will likely exacerbate the problem. I must be patient.

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What have I learned so far?

I've completed the 'Introduction to JS: Drawing & Animation'.

 I had originally started learning JS at Codeacademy but found that the immediate feedback offered by Khan Academy made the concepts more intelligible. By showing the way the code controlled the animation it was easier to grasp the concepts. Further, Codeacademy would often indicate that I had completed a section of coding even though I had a very strong suspicion that their evaluative criteria only recognised certain aspects of the code (usually the 'result') and so I didn't feel fully satisfied that I had fully comprehended and executed the task. You could argue that it was up to me to make the necessary corrections until I was satisfied. I would reply that I'd prefer to be absolutely confident in my work before moving on. This doesn't mean I've written-off Codecademy, I will return to it in the future to tackle its other courses. It's HTML course appears to be superior to Khan Academy's as it doesn't spoon-feed you so much and appreciates that at the core of HTML is the simple, pain-in-the-ass necessity to just <em learn /em> the tags. 

So far I feel like I've approached this in a pretty scattershot way, dipping into a topic which takes my fancy. While it is of course essential to grasp the rudiments of a language it doesn't appear necessary to lean it all in extensive detail; that would be akin to rote-learning the dictionary as a requisite for speaking the English Language. What is necessary is the deployment of the skills that you have learnt. So, I guess I'm going to have to build a website, in some way, shape or form.

A good friend of mine recommended Spiral Hosting and between the beginning and ending of this sentence I have bought the domain 'mouseispressed.com' and that's about as much as I understand from this recent transaction. It tells me that its status is pending and so I shall wait until that stops pending before I continue to stare at the screen in slack-jawed obliviousness. 

The objective of mouseispressed.com is as a workshop for developing my understanding. I expect I will commence with an unforgiving blandscape which I can update with cute little ideas and oases of showboating as I progress. If I ever get to the stage at which I have acquired some professional sheen I will use it as a catalogue of my abilities, though at that point I probably won't be using Spiral Hosting and will have figured out how to do it myself. Watch that space. If you want.

Also, I guess I'll take this blog materiel over to the blandscape once I've understood what the hell I'm doing. 

It's difficult determining what objectives to set myself. While the above carries the general gist it's the steps between that aren't especially clear. I'm thinking that it might be helpful if I continue with Codecademy on the HTML and web stuff, however monotonous it becomes.  Overall, I'm looking to work on HTML, JS and JQuery and might as well buy that John Duckett book (even though it looks like a magazine, but maybe visual learning is my meal ticket). 

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This is not going to be an especially readable blog.

It will afford me the opportunity to document my trajectory on an alternative career path: web development. I'm not seeking to entertain or educate. The most I can offer is an account.

Why have I chosen web development?

It appears to be something that I can (largely) teach myself from the comfort of my bedroom. I appreciate that, should I apply for a job, I will require a whole set of skills outside the actual technical expertise but, for now, that can wait.

Rather like writing, the proof is in the pudding. I can make products and I can show them to people. While that is no guarantee of paid employment I can nevertheless keep adding to a portfolio and increasing my prospects.

Technology is interesting. I know that's blunt, and a bit dull, but it's a creative industry (ideally) and that is something I need to be involved with (any creative industry). As jobs are becoming increasingly automated I would like to be in a position where I'm managing to find a place on a curve where I'm not going to be made redundant. The great thing about web design, for example, is that although there will be plenty of customisable sites the layman can use, they will not offer the uniqueness you could expect from a designer working from scratch.

The last reason is a little tenuous. I am truly concerned about the state of the world. People always will be. Climate change poses an insurmountable threat and is largely being ignored (by the majority). Arguably, tech would be among the first victims were the world to go tits-up (well apart from those living in the developing world, they tend to bear the brunt). Like philosophy, technology seems to be a privilege of civilisation. When I'm fighting off a horde of - uh - hungry people my knowledge of JavaScript is not going to save me. And nor, for that matter, is my appreciation of the finer points of Kierkgaard. Technology moulds minds and minds mould action. There are possibilities here.

This summary will do for now. It's not exhaustive. In fact, it's barely coherent.

One last reason for setting out on this path: I need to regain a sense of self-respect and autonomy. While my current employ is by no means lacking in such there is always the pressing feeling that I might be doing more with my life. I guess we'll see.