Preliminary Thoughts

Prelimary Thoughts

Like many millennials, my web design experience started with Myspace. Come to think of it… I believe my old username was LilPatchy7…

In 2009, I took a journalism course and my professor introduced me to something called a “blog” (thanks Andrea). So, I created my first site using Blogger, and it was called EncyloPat and the color theme was black/cyan/pink.

I began working for The Seattle Times in 2010 where I was responsible for data entry and database management for high school prep sports. Which is just a fancy way of saying that I entered high school rosters and stats for the website and newspaper. It wasn’t until the they hired my supervisor Solange, who allowed me to publish short recaps and write ups. I was also able to do live coverage and get my first byline. I’m so appreciative of Solange because it took three years before I actually wrote for the paper. Nonetheless, she was the person who taught me how to use WordPress.

Fast forward to 2019, when I decided that I wanted to create a personal website to showcase my academic and professional achievements. Plus, I wanted to create a blog to express my thoughts. I learned some years earlier that WordPress powers 40% of global websites. Many of your favorite websites are managed by WP on the backend.  I also learned the functionality differences between WP.org and WP.com. Since I was trying to create a virtual portfolio, and not just a blog, WP.org met my needs. Additionally – during my experience at ST, we used WP.org, so I had a basic familiarity with the dashboard.

However – there was still a steep learning curve. For a single page, I didn’t know what a hero was, a header or footer. I didn’t know what a call out action meant… I didn’t understand the difference between building a post versus a page, not when they’re both blank. How did all of this align a website?

I learned that I had to a purchase a domain (the website’s name) plus I needed a web hosting service and it’s wasn’t free. Shoot, it might have been easier to use a public platform that’s already built… I didn’t have UX/UI experience. I’m not a software engineer; I don’t know how to code. I relied on plugins and themes from developers who already coded it.

The website that I built in 2019 was self-titled. It was white/black and I added some design elements. I remember the first piece that I published was called “Cathartic Free Writing,” and it was my Dr. Michael Eric Dyson impression; a bunch of multisyllable, complex words that required to dictionary to comprehend.  Even cathartic, and free writing is redundant, but I digress. It’s funny too – some people have told me that my writing can be complex, which I don’t believe. Especially, compared to my earlier writings, I’ve dumbed it down.

Following my self-titled website, I built a second website called “StandPat” which was the pen name and persona that I wrote under from 2019-2022. I took the same elements from my first website and began my FreeSense series. I began experimenting with different color themes and started to get more comfortable using WP.

In 2024, I had a group of learners who I worked with gracious volunteer to build me an author website for FreeSense. I collaborated with them and gave them my vision including the color theme that I was going for. They received my vision, then created wireframes and coded the site. A special thanks to JC, Alison, Akshat, Simo, and Said. Their wireframe serves as the influence behind the central pages on this website.

The main challenge was the author website was built using Render, and it was static site. As I previously stated–I don’t know to code. So, if I wanted to make a change, such as writing a new post, then I’d have to send them the document to update, and that would not be a feasible solution long-term. They did me a solid and sent me the files so that I could attempt to migrate it to WordPress.

That was a nightmare process and it would not be possible to use WP as a CMS (content management System) for the Render files. So, I was not able to retain the complete functionality, and the best that I could do was create new design that looked similar to my author website. After weeks and one hundred+ hours of troubleshooting, I archived and left it alone for nearly two years.

In March 2026, I decided that I would use ChatGPT to assist me with coding my PATCHYp website with additional functionality. Over the past few months, it’s a been a quite a creative process. For one, I have professional work to do. The job that pays me is the priority. So instead, I’ve spent all of my free time developing this website. All of my evenings and weekends; I’ve average 2-3 hours of sleep per night since working on this project, as I truly wanted to perfect this website.

I feel so fulfilled in what I’ve created. Unlike my previous websites that relied on developer plugins and themes, I coded 90% of this website – well AI did. But I still had to prompt it. I gave it the creative direction and I needed to have content that aligned – both visual and written.

If you read through this entire piece, then you understand that everything on this website builds off each other. That’s ART. There is intention behind every single aspect of this website. From the written content to the visual design.

On the homepage, I have a clip from a 2019 where I said, “At a time in-which ingenuity and innovation is increasing; creativity is being stifled… And, I think I can maximize this opportunity.”

Three years before OPENAI was released to the public.  

Yesterday happened 10 days ago for me….