based layouts really quickly and easily, but I would love to learn how to effectively use MS Expression Design, or hell, even any old design tool.

This has really been my biggest peeve with learning how to do design work. I don't really need to be able to make crazy works of art with illustrator, but I do want to know how to make slick UI and web design assets, such as menu bars, buttons, etc etc. For example, I would love to make my menu bar have that 'glass' look that the Windows Vista start bar has, or the menu bar over at ComponentArt.com has, and I feel like those types of 'effects' or designs shouldn't be that difficult to do, if only I had someone show me how. Another example is the design to the main page of this site, that yellow banner has two cool arcs going through it, and I can draw an arc, but you also have some sort of fading trail, which I have no clue on how to do. Other things like going through Expression Design(Or any design tool) and looking at the different blend modes. I see those all the time in every design app, yet for the life of me cannot figure out what they all do. Like I mentioned above, I feel like any of those skills I could pick up in a 5 min video just going through how to make them, as I could tweak them to my hearts content once I know the process, I don't feel like they are incredibly difficult effects to pull off, though maybe I am completely wrong about that.

I guess I just wish there was a program that would make creating web UI art assets as easy as I feel it should be, though maybe I am just waaaaay oversimplifying things. maybe it does require night classes or an art design degree, but I can't help feel that if I wanted to create a button with rounded edges, but just on the top, give it a dark glass look, etc, etc, that that should be really easy and straightforward to do, and that I am just missing something.

So I guess that was a very long winded way of saying hey, are you still planning on publishing content to this site, and if so, there are some ideas I would love to see

Oh and by the by, if you happen to know any great resources to learn things in the vein of what I was talking about above, I wouldn't complain if you shared

Ryan