mcville: Glen Chiacchieri Interview

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Glen Chiacchieri Interview

Jan 3, 05:20 PM by Marko

Interivew with Glen Chiacchieri at glench.com

Marko: Heya Glen !

Glen: ‘Sup, Marko?

Marko: Chilin’

Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)

Glen: Well I’m currently 16 years old and go to high school in Massachusetts where I’ve lived my entire life. I love to read and I’m working on becoming a better writer with my website. I’ve been doing design and website work for just over a year and have progressed immensely (please don’t remind me of the first website I made). I’m really not the artsy kind of person that typically does web design, but that’s why I love it; it’s a beautiful mix of science and art. And despite all appearances from my stuffy website, I love having a good time and laughing a lot. Oh, and I play baseball and run track.

Marko: How are you doing these days?

Glen: I’ve been doing pretty well, I guess. Things have been a little hectic with school, but the Holiday break has been really relaxing: lots of Halo 2 and Battlefield 2 ;).http://glench.comis doing what I’d call very poorly in terms of traffic, but that was never really the point in the first place.

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?

Glen: This is really on the fringe of my memory, but I do recall using a really old dos machine when I was about 5 or 7 in the early 90’s. To use a program you had to boot it from a gigantic floppy. Were those the days or what? I remember playing Duck Tales, quite possibly the best game of all time, for hours on end. I always forgot what the prompt was to open it, though. It hasn’t been until recently, however, that I really got into computers.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?

Glen: I don’t really have a favorite because there’s so much talent out there, but Stopdesign would definitely be at the top of my list. Douglas Bowman was one of my first sources of inspiration.

Marko: when you launched glench.com are you happy with the result of the site?

Glen: Overall, I was pretty happy with what I had going. I liked my design (which is a first) and I was pretty happy with the content I was pushing out. Plus I gained a lot of experience with PHP which is always good.

Marko: What do you do in your spare time (We realize that spare time, in this context)

Glen: Spare time, or sparse time, is pretty rare over here, but when I do get it I try to relax however I can. I play Battlefield 2 and Halo 2 pretty often. I also like to design in my free time, and I try to read whenever I can. And of course, since I’m in high school, I try to get out, but I rarely find the time.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?

Glen: Chocolate milk would probably be #1 because I drink it more than anything else. I drink at least a glass a day and often more.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Glen C?

Glen: My life is pretty boring. I get up at about 6:40 and go to school until 2:30 when I have track practice. Then I come home and do homework and relax. I usually catch up on all the blog posts I’ve missed throughout the day during this time. During the summer break, I wake up at about 11 or 12 and find something to keep myself busy :D.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Glen: Well I’m definitely not the person to ask this question to since I rarely have time to do paid design work, but I imagine it’s all about advertising your work and gaining experience. The more experience you have, the more you can show off.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?

Glen: My biggest influence starting out was definitely Doug Bowman< whose site was really my first example of a beautiful site. My other inspirations are those who do freelance work or blog full time. Jason Kottke is a machine.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like?

Glen: Being so young, I really have no background. I’ve never been artistically endowed. In fact, I’ve always been more of a scientific person than an artistic person. Lately, I have been taking small classes in design.

My progression into development was very short compared to most people. It’s been just over a year since I’ve actually gotten into development. I started very very modestly trying to learn all the basics and then I moved up to the nuances, specifically of css. I’ve really taught myself everything I know. My real development was experimenting whenever I could. It’s a great way to learn.

Marko: If you were not a designer/programmer what would you be?

Glen: Well I guess this option is still out there for me since I haven’t even graduated high school yet. I’d probably be some kind of engineer, but I still have very little idea what I want to do.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?

Glen: Heh, I love it. So many great interviews. Love the little javascript navigation.

Marko: If you could change something on mcville what would it be?

Glen: Well the right column seems a bit congested with all that stuff. And the main column is a little buggy in that there are some random space and line height problems. Other than that, it’s great.

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?

Glen: I really can’t explain my taste in music at all. To see the full scope of my musical taste, check out my playlist. To simplify things, I’ll just say I like almost every type of music.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?

Glen: There are three that come into mind: cheeseburgers, fettuccine alfredo, and spicy chicken.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?

Glen: I really don’t get out much, but when I do I usually go to the movies or just kind of hang out with friends.

some relaxing question to follow

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?

Glen: Neither. I only like Chinese chicken fingers and have never tried Thai.

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Glen: Trying to get a one word answer out of me, eh? Never! I think Coke done right is better than Pepsi done right, but Pepsi is consistently made better than Coke.

Marko: html or css?

Glen: css.

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?

Glen: I rarely watch TV. If I do watch it, it’s usually to see these shows: Prison Break, 24, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Family Guy, Futurama, House, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?

Glen: Heh, since you’re interviewing web developers, shouldn’t you change this to rss feeds? Anyway, here is a list of my bloglines.com/public/xinex subscriptions. My bookmarks are reserved for sites I visit often, but don’t have an rss feed. I keep any stuff I might need later in my del.icio.us/Xinex account.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.

Glen: A lot of css showcases inspire me as well as nature. The thing that inspires me the most is people that are better than me. They keep me motivated.

Marko: Thank again for having this interview Glen, Cheers!

Glen: Thanks a lot for having me!