I haven’t been working on the railroad all the livelong day but I have been working on a variety of projects, including some major renovations.
More to come on this after the following important message.
Sometimes Facebook provides me with an endless source of amusement. I made myself busy earlier today by filling out empty sections on my Facebook profile and by preparing new status updates such as this one:
The family and I recently spent a chunk of time living in a remote village in the Amazon. We taught the natives how to read/write/speak English and built a library.
Later on my son and I were initiated into their secret warlord council. I would tell you more about it but it is a secret and since you haven’t been initiated you don’t get to know.
Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Next month we are going to spend some time touring Tuscany and are going to follow that up with another fabulous trip that will make you jealous because Facebook is about one upping your friends.
Oh, did I mention I just won the Shmulitzer. It is considered by a few people to be superior to the Pulitzer. The only down side is that you have to pay a stiff tax to the government of Freedonia.
Since they hand out the prize money I suppose it is only fair, although I do wonder why they can’t just take the tax out of the award money prior to disbursing it.
I also announced that I purchased a McLaren P1. Sadly this is not true. And it is not because I am turning my nose up at the $2500 monthly leasing fee for the McLaren 12 Coupe either.
Hell, if I had the $1.5 million it takes to get into a 2014 McLaren I might even consider it.
But that is assuming that I had so much cash I wouldn’t worry about the car because I won’t let a car control me.
In simple terms it means that if I ever own an exotic sports car I am going to be so loaded I am not worried about valets, shopping carts, gas prices, car jacking, insurance or any thing else.
As things stand I don’t envision any significant changes happening soon so you can rest assured you’ll probably see me driving a Honda/Toyota with an outside chance at a Lexus/Acura.
When Is It Time For A New Look?
There are two things driving this question:
1) I need a haircut.
2) The blog is starting to look a bit old and weathered to me.
The haircut is a simple thing, more or less. Back in LA I visited the same barber for almost 30 years, actually it is a couple years less than that but I like the sound of 30.
Excuse the sniffling, I am listening to I Miss You A Little by John Michael Montgomery. Damn, this song is ripe for a parody or a movie.
End of digression.
Here in Texas I can’t wear the hat all day long so I am going to visit Floyd’s and take care of the mane, or maybe I’ll just shave it all off. Bald is beautiful. Worked for Michael Jordan and it is a sign of virility.
End of second digression.
About The Blog
The question about whether this joints needs to be renovated is a bit more complicated. My friend Danny Brown makes me smile for a host of reasons not the least of which is I think of him as being a bit restless with design.
I smile because it resonates with me, but Danny seems to be a bit more skilled in this area so I haven’t messed around with it as much as I could.
And because my old man (Hi Dad) managed to teach me it is smarter to move more slowly on some projects.
So I am thinking a bit about what sort of changes I want to see here. Boil it down to questions about needs and wants. I know how to do quite a bit and feel confident about my ability to make things happen, but I think I need to figure out what I want before I blow things up.
Your Turn
Are you happy with how this place looks and operates?
Would you like to see any changes?
It is ok to say no to everything or yes to everything. Hell, it is ok to be ambivalent about it too.
Oh and if you happen to be a friend on Facebook remember you don’t have to believe everything you read. 😉
I like the look of your blog myself Josh but you could probably give it a little different look with a new header. You know, without giving it an entire overhaul. That can be a royal pain.
I’ve thought about doing something different with mine because I’m sure people are really getting sick of looking at it. Hence the new header design but in all honesty, I don’t have a clue what I want. So until I do it’s staying just the way it is.
Hope you’re still enjoying Texas.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
Your new header really works. I like it a lot, especially the way it encourages people to sign up for the newsletter.
Texas is still good, weather is a bit unpredictable, but it could be worse.
I need a haircut too 🙂
I don’t look at the design of blogs I visit on a regular basis, but as for first impressions, the blog design is very important. I welcome a new design for your blog, but it’s not necessary. On the other hand, what I would do is to think about navigation and the sidebar, because you have so much awesome content, and I would love to read more of the “best of the best”, but since you have so much to offer, it’s hard to find it all.
Hi Jens,
I appreciate the thought and idea. I may have to put together a ‘greatest hits’ or something similar and maybe give it a widget to help promote those. Or I might stick it in the “About me” page.
Definitely food for thought.
Josh,A rather like the look of this place, but if anything I would recommend an even more spartan design, really. Since you focus on your writing and post so often I think that would serve you well. ZenHabits takes it to an extreme, but I have always liked that look. Super basic works: http://www.markwieman.com
Danny? Yes, every time I go over there he has a new design. He is making all of us look bad 😉
Hi Craig,
Funny you should mention that. I was looking at Danny’s site the other day and thinking about how I like the big font size. I was playing around with blowing things up a bit here in similar fashion while trimming some of the other stuff.
Which I suppose isn’t all that different from what you suggested. Now I just have to put it together and decide if I like it.
Hi Josh,
Yes, some of the FB posts are pretty interesting. I don’t know about Facebook…
As for the place, I think the time to renovate is when something is not working or when you just want a change . I learned recently that I have to renovate over at TCP – some of the code was becoming outdated. 🙁 So I’m all into a huge project, not in familiar waters either! It’s a bit intimidating to do all this stuff but also invigorating. I know that next time I need to re-design the site I’ll know how because I’ll have learned THIS time!
The only thing I’d do over here is get Livefyre back! Why did you leave it?
Lori
Hi Lori,
Overall I think things are working here but I suppose I have that itch to change things up a bit. All the coding can be intimidating and a bit intense for certain.
As for Livefyre, well I got some emails from readers who said they were having trouble commenting with it so I turned it off.
Can’t say I won’t turn it back on, but haven’t felt the need yet.
I for one think it looks great and scrolls beautifully. i love the minimalist approach though i would also like to see a bigger pic of you when i visit.
Hi Vanita,
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. I’ll see what I can do about getting a bigger picture or two.