I can’t blame the lad for my lack of writing; our life settled into a routine after a few harried months of negotiating with a newborn. I don’t have the free time I used to, but fortunately he still requires sleep.

No, I’ve just been happy with Facebook and Twitter for keeping up with folks (and, recently, Kontain).

These social networks have spoiled me; I’m now used to simple, fast updates. While we still sporadically post to the photoblog, the process of posting pictures feels laborious compared to posting pics to social networks via mobile phone. The boy does a heart-melting interpretive dance to ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ in the car? Moments later it’s posted where folks will see it. That’s fun and spontaneous.

Remembering to take the camera with me, then downloading, organizing, cropping pics and uploading them to the blog — well, that’s a bit less spontaneous and easy. (Don’t worry, mom – we’ll keep updating the photoblog.)

Plus, there’s a vibrancy to a social network that makes a personal blog seem like an outpost. I’m used to Facebook emailing me when someone comments on something I’ve commented on. You get sucked in to the pulse, the dialogue.

To hopefully bring a bit of that energy here, I’ve incorporated disqus comments, which makes it easy to keep track of chit chat on a post and share comments elsewhere. That said, you don’t need a disqus, Twitter or Facebook account; you can simply post as a guest.

Also, you can subscribe to the blog and receive an email when I’ve (finally) posted something. Click ‘subscribe’ at the top of the page (or just click this link right here).

Lastly, I’ve done a bit of optimizing so the site renders well on iPhones and Android-powered smartphones. Take me with you, eh?

Apologies for the radio silence. Hope to be back in fighting form right quick.

You’re relieved, I can tell.

Why the switch? Potential clients may be less interested in my capacity for doughnut consumption. Plus, Evolvingpage will be my nom de plume once I go all corporate, so I took advantage of a relaxing client deadline to give the site a fresh coat of paint and some shiny new language.

Glad you’re still along for the ride!

That comment has rattled around in my brain ever since. I love how sinister it sounds – like we’re at our desks staring at an eclipse without our pinhole sunglasses. Then there’s the “energy efficient Google” post I read a few months back, as well as my constant need to explore new design and code iterations.

So – I’ve redesigned this site. Again.

There’s a school of thought in the design world that light text on a dark background is hard to read. Clearly I’m not a believer; I find it soothing. So I’m trying it out for awhile. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve really missed having a sidebar on the homepage to call out things such as the Chicago Web Meetup (seems we’re taking the summer off) and anything else that might pop up. So the sidebar is back.

Speaking of the sidebar…

I’ve received notification from a flickr friend that I have loaded a measly three photos to my account this year. I’m calling myself out on my homepage; hopefully a flickrstream will keep me updating my pics on a regular basis.

I’ve also been introduced to the addictive Goodreads.com by a few people. My ‘read’ shelf is woefully understocked, but I’m just getting started with the site. I really love the concept, though – it’s well worth checking out.

Please let me know if you spot anything buggy with this design. Hope you enjoy the change!

A link to the feed can be found below the comment box on every post. Add it once to your feedreader or your live bookmarks in Firefox, and you’ll always see if there’s a new comment on every post across the site.

How it works in Firefox:

• Click the ‘Comments RSS’ link, which takes you to a screen that asks you to subscribe to the feed.
• Subscribe to the feed using ‘live bookmarks’ (it’s the default option).
• Place the bookmark wherever you keep your bookmarks.

That’s it. Whenever you click on that bookmark, you’ll see a dropdown that lists the latest comments. How very exciting.

Okay, maybe that was Will Ferrell as Neil Diamond. But I like to think Neil would want us to cool out as well.

If you’ve been here before, you’ll notice things look very different, and I will explain everything. Or, at least, some things.

A New Concept: the Tumblelog

I’ve been quite taken lately with the visual aspects of tumblelogs, in which brief posts and links are thrown together into the flow of the blog. Tumblelogs I’ve perused feel very fresh and top-of-mind, and I wanted to emulate that feel while giving equal weight to all the content on my site. This format also allows the homepage to visually change on a more regular basis, and places the reader’s focus squarely on the site’s content. Me likey.

Of particular fun is styling the tumblelog mix, and here’s how it’s working on Evolvingpage:

• Basic posts begin with a large, centered header;
• Film reviews appear in courier typeface and are sandwiched between two art deco-y doodads (for you non-designers, ‘doodad’ is a technical term that means ‘doohickey’);
• Incoming links are marked by double carrots at left and a different background.

Have Your Say

In a marked reversal from when I launched Evolvingpage, comments are open (for 30 days) on everything, including Incoming links. I’ve had to switch the way I produce those links to make that possible, so here are the archived Incoming links. The current stuff can be accessed in the nav at the top of the page.

A caveat: all comments by co-worker Kenny will automatically be isolated and sprayed with a water bottle until they learn to stop clawing the furniture.

Finally…

I can’t lie. The overarching goal of this redesign was to apply pressure on Todd Prouty to do something beyond this lying splash page. You’re all talk, Prouty. Put your html where your mouth is.

There’s bound to be some tinkering needed along the way, and if you spot something ‘buggy’ in a browser, please be so kind as to let me know.

For now, that’s it, and that’s all.