Making

From time to time, I have something I'd like to let you all know, and now I finally have a place to put it. Welcome to the new and improved, JENVILLE 2.0!

This poor site has been gathering dust for years because I've just been too busy to give it the overhaul it desperately needed. In addition to the new look, the site is now running on Drupal (surprise, surprise) which should make it a lot easier to update and maintain. That means you can leave comments (nice ones, of course) and keep up to date by subscribing to the RSS feed.

XL is the latest installment in my end-of-the-year compilation tradition. Although this compilation may be “x-tra large,” the title actually refers to the fact that I turned forty in 2005 (XL = 40, get it?).

I've always been a hard worker, but I've never worked like I worked this year. This year, I worked at the expense of just about everything I love: cooking, listening to music, socializing, personal projects, and last but not least, updating my sites. It has been exhausting, but I do have a few things to show for it:

ARLO

Oh, Baby! is the latest in the fine tradition of "Jen's Favorites" end-of-the-year samplers. 2004 was the year of adjusting to life as a new mom to my gorgeous son Arlo. To be honest, it was difficult to find time to listen to new music at all. I considered titling it "Blood from a Stone".

This month Jeff and I launched a redesign of Ringo Starr's web site. We originally helped create his site last year, but there were lots of bits that were out of date. After a year and a half of site maintenance, we had a better idea of the site's requirements, so the new design is better suited to Ringo's needs.

I've had a couple of fun web design projects this year, both for women-owned ventures.

The most recent is a site for Red's Travel (above), a personal promotion site for Amy Harkin, who speaks and writes about travel. Amy is also known for her appearance on NBC's Starting Over, a reality television show that takes in women with specific goals and gives them the tools to change their lives.

It is with tremendous joy and excitement that I announce the birth of my son, Arlo William Robbins.

Arlo gave us a bit of a surprise by arriving on Wednesday, January 14, 2004--he wasn't due until February 6. Despite being early, he weighed in at a robust 7lbs 6oz. The labor and delivery went smoothly and everyone's happy and healthy.

This is by far the biggest project of them all. Think this kid will have a website of his own? I'd say the chances are pretty good. Let me rest up a while.

Out of the blue, a small avalanche of logo design work came my way at the tail end of 2003. Which is good. I love designing logos. Here's the rundown on some of my new projects.

FirstLever

It's been a month since my last post to Jenville, but I have a decent excuse -- the chaos and insanity of MOVING. Jeff and I recently packed up and moved to a spiffy and spacious new house in Seekonk, Massachusetts. The new house is actually only 4 miles due east of our old house in Providence, but it lands us in a whole new state (with its accompanying new drivers licenses, registrations, etc.).

I've been doing some design work for Neal Pollack. In case you don't know, Neal is the Greatest Living American Writer. He's got a rock-n-roll novel coming out in October called Never Mind the Pollacks, and to promote it, he'll be going around the country doing readings and performing with his band, The Neal Pollack Invasion. I've seen them. They are a spectacle to behold.