So, i redesigned.
This design is the first one not to use the basic frameset of left-side vs. middle that i’ve been publishing with since day one, and as redesigns go it was quick (less than six hours from starting the logo to publishing). It’s not exactly a visual revolution, but the interior code got totally scrapped and rewritten and a few old mainstays have been given the boot (ie: the rainbow separator bar and the brief date styles). My general dislike of graphics obviously persists, but i still want to add a touch of color here and there so we could be seeing a few more in the future.
Aside from my old sidebar getting entirely too long for my tastes, the old style of the page was beginning to make me feel claustrophobic. The page started out black and green but shortly evolved to a very white look with intricate background patterns, and then to a white on white scheme. I like a mostly white pages and i like tables with outlines, and neither of these facts will be changing anytime soon. However, just the ‘xoxox’ header graphic was too plain an idea to have hung around as long as it did. Behind the scenes i’m sporting increasingly cleaner code that doesn’t quite make it through the W3C validator on technicalities that i’ll clean up tomorrow, as well as a beefed up style sheet that i’m definitely going to hone so that i never have to fuss with font tag again.
I’m not done with this design-shift by a longshot… it’s still slightly too plain (and i have to somehow make the rest of the site continue to work until it gets the matching makeover, and i suspect it doesn’t right now). But, anyhow, here’s the new look that will become the old look once you reload it a couple of hundred times. It’s very… pumpkiny. If it makes your browser cry, or if you have useful suggestions, please feel free to give a holler.