Guilty Secret #11

I never learned HTML. I still don’t know it.

I got exposed to WYSIWYG’s early on, and learned enough to create a page that could house/contain my Flash .swf files. When I started getting into computers, I threw myself into Flash and that’s about it.

At work, I’ve started to delve into code more, but it’s mainly on a troubleshooting basis. I’ve learned to spot inconsistencies, but there’s not been any overall comprehension. So far, I’m getting better… but trying to learn by only examining broken pages isn’t the most efficient method.

It’s embarassing to me to confess this. I talk with so many strong programmers, and this is such a basic thing that I feel like everyone but me knows. Everyone else says "Oh, HTML is easy to learn." So it’s about time. Hell, I never took any programming classes, and I’m able to do somewhat complicated things with ActionSCript… so that’s a reassurance.

While I was off buying RAM today, I picked up an HTML book. I’ve decided that I’m going to go through it and study on my own, outside of work. I need to be more like Justin and Ben. Those guys are constantly reading and studying and improving on the shit they know. They do this on week nights, when they get home; they do this on weekends, when they have an afternoon free. They read, they keep up, they improve.

I’ve gotta start building up more of what I know. I’ve spent too long just sort of coasting on what I already know. I need to build on that. Actively.