Using jQuery we can easily target all the content <img> tags, wrap them in a <b> tag, and even assign the Left/Right/Center/None classes on the fly – no manual fixing required! The script is pretty simple to implement:


$('img.alignleft').wrap('<b class="alignleft" />');
$('img.alignright').wrap('<b class="alignright" />');
$('img.aligncenter').wrap('<b class="aligncenter" />');
$('img.alignnone').wrap('<b class="alignnone" />');


Just like that you can retrofit all your existing posts to be ready for a responsive layout. To learn more about responsive web design you can read @beep‘s article on at A List Apart or buy his fantastic book Responsive Web Design.

This year is going to be a busy one! I hope to increase my skills, make new friendships, attend another conference, make more money than ever, and improve my quality of life. This is going to be so fun. Lots of hard work ahead, but so very fun.

My new focus right now to help myself accomplish my goals is IDENTITY. Defining who I really am. To become who I want to become, and do what I want to do, I need to clearly define my identity. I am not just a freelance designer, I am a successful freelance designer. I am not just a web developer, I am a lean-markup making web developer. I guess I’m diving into the world of self-affirmations here, but really, I need to define to my core who I am, and what I do. Only then will I be able to successfully obtain my goals, improve my life, and be what I want to be. In order to get there, I have to know where I’m heading first, right?

Happy 2012 everyone, I hope you have a great year and can spend some time defining who you are! Live to the identity you want to be.

Shortly after my endeavor into the freelance world I stumbled upon Harvest, a fantastic tool for taking care of all of the above. For a mere $12/month (write-off!) I have access to fantastic client/project tracking tools, time tracking, expense tracking, estimate creating, and invoice making, and more. Harvest handles the delivery of invoices, and even provides a link for clients to pay via Paypal if you so desire.

To make life even easier for you, they have a plethora of apps and methods you can use to check your hours, start or stop a timer, and more. They’re also active of Twitter, providing the perfect balance of information, articles, and customer service.

So go ahead, if you’re looking for a great solution to tracking your freelance time and more, give Harvest a try.

Several years ago my older brother Scott drove a cement truck. To do so required him waking up well before the crack of life at around 4am so he could have his truck ready and loaded up to deliver by 6am.

As he drove all over the valley he noticed something that I find very telling about success and those who find it. In the more affluent neighborhoods he’d see dozens of people out running and jogging on the streets early in the morning. They were generally in great physical shape, and were obviously doing well in their business endeavors.

On the other hand, when he was driving around other neighborhoods the streets were bare of runners. Only a few were out and about before work getting in exercise. I’m sure countless were rolling around in bed wanting to get up and go exercise (we all want to, right?), but only a small few were actually out doing it.

Am I saying that depending on what neighborhood you live in will dictate how willing you are to exercise? No, not at all. There are lazy people and hard working people in every neighborhood around the world. What I believe the missing trait between the joggers and the wishful joggers is, is discipline. There was just more to be found in certain neighborhoods.

Discipline is choosing the right instead of choosing the easy. Discipline is defining a set of standards you will live by at all times, in all places, and in all things. At it’s core, discipline means being a disciple of a better life; one who adheres to obedience of a higher law above that of the natural and carnal. One who is in control.

Recently I chose to quit the normal 40 hour workforce and join the ranks of the independent. I am very blessed to live in a place that rewards people who chose a lifestyle like mine. One thing I am focusing on more and more every day is my personal discipline to this endeavor. Now that I don’t have to clock-in at a regular job, do you think the temptation to sleep in is high? You betcha! Do you think stupid afternoon court room drama shows call to me when I’m stuck in a rut? Yep! Do you think I’m going to be successful if I give in to every whim I want to do? Nope!

If I plan to succeed at working for myself, at improving my skills as a web designer, at offering the best product to my clients and meeting my deadlines, successfully scoring raving fans to my portfolio I need to be disciplined. I need to set a daily schedule and stick to it. I need to establish rules and not break them. I need to learn to be accountable to me.

I guarantee if you polled successful business people, professional athletes, top salesmen, etc you’d discover a defining trait they’ll all have is excellent personal discipline. Maybe not in all facets of life, but I guarantee that what they succeed in they have incredible discipline in.

My question to you is what are you establishing yourself as being disciplined in? Are you improving your life, or throwing away opportunities to a better future? The great thing about what we live in now is, the world will reward those with discipline, regardless of which course you choose.