.:nonverbal communication:.

it seems very "you" to want to tidy up and simplify things for your blog - and i like some of what you suggest. so, here's my honest feedback, since you asked:

- love the above image. very you, very seattle, the right shade of 'samantha blue', etc. it'll be a great template and a nice change. rectangles are good.

- only one post? well, i see what you're going for and if it actually resulted in you posting every day, i'd be all for it. however, reality dictates that you may go days or even weeks when life gets busy...i'd hate to encounter a blank sheet for weeks on end - or would the latest post stand until a new one came up? that said, it's your blog! i like being able to scroll through past recent dates myself, that perhaps i looked at but only briefly, or that i want to easily revisit. so, personally, i like the idea of having at least a few days worth of posts (you asked). OR, having a link to recent posts like you do today handy.

- cleaning up the excess furniture is a good idea and i see what you're going for upon further inspection. if you asked me "what should I have there?" which, i suppose you are, i'd suggest the following short list of clickables but without anything underneath them (not in any order):

Archives (links to a page with all past months listed, similar to what is on the front page today, but on it's own separate page)

Links - yeah, keep a handful and maybe add a "more links" at the bottom the list for those you don't want front and center but still want accessible via a different page(p.s. thanks for letting me stay)

Posts by Category - i've always liked being able to look at family photos with one click, lyrics, etc. but having a link on the front page to click on and then go to a page with the categories (and perhaps a little sample photo or whatever of each on that page) would be fun to have minus the home page clutter

- also, it might be an option to have a clean, simple, horizonal menu bar at the top with drop downs - but i don't know how complicated you want this to be on the backend.

- I do like the clickable calendar

- yeah, it's never occurred to me to use the 'search' to be honest. sorry. i just take the hard way and look until i find what i'm looking for...

i'd love to actually talk about it and am happy to clarify my thoughts if unclear - excuse any of my suggestions that don't make sense or seem obvious...it's possible (um, likely) i misunderstood some of what you said above.

Is this what you were looking for?

while i sort through your copious comments, here's a pointer to a very poor mock-up which may help clarify what i'm after...

http://samandbabs.com/test/

a couple of caveats:
-- no white text over a white image
-- i have a separate design for posts which are only images
-- yes, the image in the background is different from what i've posted above

ah! i'm very visual. this helps. so ignore my copious comments, since most are addressed here. here are the things i'd call out:

- i think 'archive' can stand alone. let it look like 'categories' and link to a separate page. it'll look cleaner. my 2 cents

- where are links? if added, i'd do a single spaced, shorter list with "more..." as one option that links to a separate page where you can then beef it up and add not just sites of people you know, but all of the pages you read regularly (i'd be curious) as well as weird ones you just stumble upon

- i still think a horizonal menu bar along the top would look hot, but, like pockets with a rounded bottom, that may be a detail that doesn't work for you.

not as copious, i hope...

p.s. i really like it! nice change, but still very 'you'

I love the rough shape/edges the background image creates around the post, even as it sort of nests inside a square.

I'll just come right out and say that as a rule, I find background images very difficult visually. I love the image itself and how it combines some of the shots you've taken of your environment but I find it awfully hard to read text against an active background. I'll reserve judgement until you've finished though because I know this is a work in progress.

I have a horizontal nav on my new design and I think it's hot but I have no idea what in the hell to put in it or when I'll have time to figure that out so now it says LINK! Joy.

I really like the image itself, very visually interesting. And, of course, I'm a big fan of blue. :0)

I guess you asked for honesty, and that you shall get.

Right now it is visually difficult on my eyes. The gray text on the right is a little too flat against the background. The other text (is it a tint of your background color?) is also a little difficult to read. It needs a bit more contrast. I'm guessing that you were going for something subtle, but I think it's a little too much right now.

While I really really like the image (I do) I personally don't think it works as a background image for posts....regardless of the color of text that is used. It's also too difficult on the eyes to read text over the image. When I first looked at the test page I didn't even have the patience to read the text that is there now (I know, it's not much at all). I've since gone back and read it, but it's not something I want to do on a regular basis (and I read your posts every time you update). Maybe if you ghosted the image back a little more, but even then I don't know... It's a shame to lose too much of that image anyway.

I am interested in what ways you are going to put it to use. Rather than make any comments on that I'll just ask....uhm...whatcha going to do with the calendar?

wow. thanks for all of the thoughful comments. much appreciated.

i read (hear) what you all have said about the background image. that was my concern, too. in light of you comments, i have a couple of new ideas.

i'm cobbling together a proof of concept and should be able to cobble together a new proof which is:

1. easier to read
2. scalable
3. addresses most of the great comments made so far

side note: babs is out of town tomorrow night and it's probably too hot to take the kids to the grand forest...

thanks for taking the time to help me out!

Samantha,

I like the blue color--reminds me of your painting.

My two reactions to the collage are that the pictures themselves have lost the power they had on their own. But, I think this is just because I remember, and liked, the individual pictures, so the memory of them color my response to the pictures.

The other response is that as a background for a daily post, it the collage may be too strongly thematic. Maybe you want something neutral or abstract instead? The large bold "NO RUNNING" and the chain suggest confinement, constraint, oppression. The word "ELECTRIC" provides a possible point of energetic contrast, but since it is subdued in the background, it seems like it should be read as being constrained and not as a counter force to "NO RUNNING".

I really like the idea of making the page less boxy however, and the suggestion that the daily posts are like clouds instead of boxes is interesting. A cloud that is amorphous, or rather one that changes shape and becomes different animals as you watch it drift by.

david: thanks for the kind words about the snapshots!

thanks for the insight on the impressions formed by the images; they're spot on in a number of respects, especially the feeling conveyed by the cloud. for me, the contrast between the constraint and the 'impermance' (reference) is an interesting idea to contrast.

hopefully, i'll calm the css bear (you'll probably get that reference, too) this evening and post the new design tonight.

again, thanks!