If you love to tinker, the Internet is a virtual playground and anyone can create graphics for their various projects using nothing but totally free resources. Free and Open Source is what gave me the opportunity to grow and I have used so many of these resources myself. Here are my top free graphics resource picks:

• The Gimp – a very robust image creation/editing software that is free. You can work with virtually any image format including Photoshop proprietary files.
• Inkscape – An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
• BgPatterns – Web Background pattern maker
• Imagelys Picture Styles – Create seamless textures, etc.
• Stripemania – create unlimited striped backgrounds.

Have you got a favorite free graphics resource you’d like to share? Let us know.

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I just love this quote because I know I’m not the only one who has friends and family members who expect you to live your life according to their own standards, and when you don’t, it upsets them. If it ever happens to you, just remember this:

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.

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Whew, while I am knee-deep in shopping cart mode as I get a client’s site converted to e-commerce, I decided to pause for a short break to post here and share some stuff with you.

Music plays an important role in my life. The music I love tells a story and lately I’ve been listening to and watching videos of story-telling classic rock singer-songwriters and musicians, like Peter Gabriel.

Although I’ve always liked Peter Gabriel, lately I’ve been drawn to his music more and more. Anyway, I missed his concert in Toronto this summer but I did find the odd great video from that night. Here’s the one I really like:

Do you fee like more music? If you are a lover of classic rock and classic rock legends, I’ve put together a collection of my favorite classic rock videos over at ClassicRockLover.com.

And Tearose Underhill has informed me that in Middle Earth, Pareth of Gondor cooked up a storm among the best cooks in the Shire. Tearose loves to gossip and tell tales!

Meanwhile, in real life, last night was a stormy one in Southern Ontario. We didn’t have it that bad in Niagara, though I’ve never seen so much lightning ever. The skies were lit up for hours with constant fork and sheet lightning and thunder, of course. It started at around 10:30 p.m. here and didn’t stop until after 2 a.m.! The tornado watches and warnings in this area ended after midnight. Apparently there was a touchdown somewhere in Burlington and parts to the west of us. I know trees are down and some 14,000 households were without power. The storms forced me to stay off the computer and do other things, which is not such a bad thing, really.

Anyway, my break is over and I am getting back to work. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week and weekend. Summer is quickly winding down and so let’s enjoy it while we can!

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