Life As It Comes 

New Look7 Comments

I’ve launched the basis for a new look. It doesn’t have too many bells and whistles yet, but I like it. I hope you do too.

New things:

- The text should be somewhat larger in most cases and, hopefully, appearing in attractive fonts, depending on your platform (click here for some examples of the page rendered on different platforms). I wanted the comment link to be large as well as the sitemap, so that people are encouraged to comment and explore the site.

- I’ve included my Twitter updates beneath the sitemap.

- The headline-only links for each post are gone. I’m relieved to see some content when I visit the page again, and I imagine most of you are too.

- There’s some oddity with the layout such that when you comment, the page will be scrolled without (seemingly) a way to scroll back up to see the post again or to navigate elsewhere. I’ve added a “back to the top” link below the comment box that will fix this issue temporarily until I figure out how to change the layout and retain the look I want. Update: The problem I was having is detailed here; I gave in and opted for faux columns instead.

Thanks for visiting.

Life is Full5 Comments

Well, it’s time for an update.

I’m a blog-slacker it seems, but there’s good reason for that. Life is really full these days of things to keep me busy.

Yes, a “race-report” is coming for my first Olympic triathlon. I’ve been meaning to write it up, but I also got a little side-tracked behind the scenes by starting work on a new design for my site. I was hoping to get to work on it enough to get it live this weekend, but that didn’t happen.

What have I been up to?

I’m still training after my race. My normal schedule looks like this:
Monday: Specialty Run
Tuesday: Spin
Wednesday: Swim in the morning; Track Workout at night
Thursday: Lead Community Group
Friday: Swim in the morning
Saturday: Long Ride + Brick (+ swim sometimes)
Sunday: Setup, Church, and Tear-down for Crossroads

This past weekend, though, there were a few changes to the schedule. I didn’t swim Friday morning, because I got home late from group, and 4+ hours of sleep didn’t seem like enough to be productive at work. Saturday, my CG and I cleaned up the ranch for Crossroads’ One Year Celebration, which was on Sunday.

This week looks to be overflowing in the schedule department too, with me double-(or triple-)booked on a couple days. Tuesday morning, we’re starting DWAP; Tuesday night, I’m supposed to be part of a panel to discuss/answer question about the Executive Masters Program that I was involved in for new potential students; Saturday, the Kalmbachs are moving, Schlitter-Ben ‘08 is supposed to happen, and there’s a long-ride as usual with T3.

So…. if I’m not posting here, it’s most likely because I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to do too many things. But…. every time I go through a “clear out my schedule” phase in life, it always fills back up like this, so I must like it this way.

Here’s the alarm clock on my phone:

For those of you that know me as a night owl, I’m sure that’s pretty shocking.

Something’s Cooking7 Comments

I’m envisioning another revamp to my site’s look, and I’m hoping that it’ll be coming along soon. I intend to make it easier to use, more attractive, and more “Web 2.0.”

I’ve gone back and forth on the “lifestream” format, sported by legends such as Dan Cederholm. I get the feeling that unless I had it as the most prominent or main page, no one would really be that interested in it. Also, if it was so front-and-center, I’d want it to be more “lively” than which songs I’m listening to, et cetra.

Choosing to stay away from that format ultimately means I’ll be under additional pressure to post more often, but that’s a good thing.

Goals for this iteration:
1) Incorporate some trendy design elements: gradients, irregular lines, …
2) Increase usability with high-contrast links and larger/bolder fonts
3) Pick bold, outstanding colors but let the content be a big part of the design

Some inspiration:
1) Kulturbanause
2) Ollie Kavanagh
3) Billy Hughes at War
4) Grooveshark
5) Jason Reed
6) WordPress.org (recently redesigned)

New Photos Coming9 Comments

I’ve done some work to help in displaying new photos once I get them posted. Also, of course, the look of the site has been colorized and refreshed a little as well.

Thoughts?

The Dillingers7 Comments

I’m back from the mission trip to New Zealand. More about all that soon. Tonight Leon and Lorraine Dillinger are speaking at Perspectives.