Me, myself, and my name
As you may have guessed by the inordinately ornate logo located screen-left, you’ve stumbled upon the blog of one J. Bradford Dillon, but you can just call me Brad. My parents named me John, but called me Brad. Don’t know why, you’ll have to ask them yourselves. Putting the initial before my spoken name puts me in the ranks of such men as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and T.S. Eliot. Yeah, I realize they use multiple initials, but I couldn’t possibly go through life known as JB. That would be silly. So instead I went with the 5 syllable and much more pseudo-arrogant J. Bradford Dillon which you see emblazoned upon the decorative family crest on this blog.
What I do
So that’s who I am, here’s what I do. I’m a web developer. I develop webs. I try to develop great webs. Webs of any size, color, and style. I specialize in front-end development, but I’ve been known to dabble in design and architect a bit of a back-end from time to time as well. HTML, CSS, Javascript, ActionScript, and Flex, these are the tools of my trade. I’m entirely self-taught, both a blessing and a curse. Didn’t go to school for any of it. I went to Georgia State University for just under 4 years, studying psychology, computer science, and just a touch of graphic design. Didn’t get anything out of it that wasn’t already obsolete, so I went the autodidactical route.
About this blog
Since we’re on the subject, let me explain a little about the design of this site. I’m not a designer, but I enjoy grids and typography as much as the next guy. However, I’m ridiculously indecisive and hard to please, so if I waited until the design of my blog was perfect, it would never launch. So, let’s call this a work in progress, which you can fully expect to change and evolve over the course of time. In the past, I’ve been known to redesign my blog monthly, clear out my content quarterly, and switch domains annually. My first blog started in ‘99, ending in ‘00. It ran on Blogger.com, using the FTP solution for hosted blogs. Since then, my blog has gone through 6 or 7 iterations, spanning 4 domains, 6 platforms and content management systems, and 9 years. Now I’m here, and I’m not planning to move anymore. It takes too much energy, and it’s just not worth it. There’s something to be said of evolution, but longevity is much tastier.
Family life
I would be incredibly remiss if I failed to mention the most important thing in my life: my family. First, let me explain my logo. The lion in that logo is actually part of my family crest. The Dillon family hails from Ireland, where we had been exiled from France, where the name was De Leon (as in Ponce De Leon). Our family motto was “Dum Spiro Spero” (While I breathe, I hope), a motto shared by many other families of that time. I don’t really have any connection to my heritage, Irish, French or otherwise, but I do value my family, both immediate and extended. My beautiful wife of 2 years, Jennifer Lynn Dillon, and I are expecting our first child, Nevaeh Noelle Dillon, at the beginning of August. We look forward to her arrival with eager anticipation.
Wrap up
Why do you care about any of this? Couldn’t tell you. I’ll talk about some interesting things. From web development to design, from real life to philosophy and psychology. I’ll probably talk about movies and music, too. Just for good measure, you know.