Photo by Jason Berg
In the span of a week, earlier this month, I got five inches cut off my hair and I got new glasses. I felt so different that I pretty much avoided mirrors for a few days, just because my reflection startled me so much.
As I ventured out into the world—going to the cafe, mingling with other parents on the school yard, meeting a friend for lunch—I felt more self-conscious than I think I have since I was 14. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the new look. I just didn’t want all of the attention such drastic change would surely attract.
But no one noticed.
Well, Jason noticed (he also knew I was getting my hair cut, and he helped me pick out my glasses).
Also, another regular at my cafe, whose name I don’t recall, noticed.
For the most part, though, I walked around feeling like a stranger to myself, and just the same old person to everyone else. I guess I could be grateful that I didn’t get the attention I didn’t want to get. It felt strange, though. I tweeted this:
when your haircut seems extreme to you & no one notices, does that mean you’re overly self-aware or that others go through life half asleep?
Shining a spotlight on what’s new
I don’t want to go through that weirdness again, so I’m just going to make an announcement here: I have a brand-new, super great blog design!!
A couple weeks ago I hired the wonderful Ryan and Sarah of Oktober5, in honor of publishing my 100th post, Eeking some magic out of a milestone, on January 15. And here we are, releasing the new design just as I reach the halfway mark of being featured as part of Chuck Westbrook’s under-appreciated blog project.
So? What do you think? Do you like it?
I realize that many of you will hardly notice the change, but I’m almost giddy with excitement over the new design. First of all, it looks very light and clean, and the colors and mood feel like a good reflection of who I am.
I’m even more excited about how the new design functions. I think it will be much easier for you to find and read the posts you want, as well as follow and participate in the discussion.
Here are a few new features for you to check out:
- The index tabs at the top (home, about, contact, archives, bloglist, portfolio) keep that info always-handy, freeing up space on the sidebar for other cool features. The “contact” tab lets you send me a direct correspondence, the “archives” tab lets you find all 100+ posts by month and year, or by category. (The bloglist will come soon, I promise, and an online copywriting portfolio will eventually make an appearance.)
- As some of you know, problems with my RSS feed button in my old blog design gnawed at me plenty. Now the buttons to subscribe and find me on Twitter are impossible to miss. Not only are they very visible, but they’re very pretty, thanks to my husband’s drawing skills. (You will also be able to subscribe via email very soon. The button is there, I just need to get the service.)
- Now that there’s extra room in the sidebar, I’m able to highlight recent reader comments. This is a great way to follow discussions—particularly the ones happening around older posts, that would otherwise be buried. (To get your picture to show up next to your comments, register at Gravatar.) There’s also a “Most popular” posts list. If you’re wondering what defines “popular,” the auto-generated list pulls in the five posts with the most traffic.
- If you’re looking for something in particular, you can go to the archives, or use the tag cloud (for instance, if you click on “sex” or “Christians against Christians,” you will pull up all the posts I’ve tagged with that word or phrase). There’s also a search tool below the tag cloud. (Jason immediately typed in his name and felt very loved when he saw how many posts mention him.)
- Finally, my favorite part of the new design: All the way at the bottom of the most recent post, you’ll see three columns, each with a new category header: Belief, doubt & hope; Culture, ideas & paradigms; and Love, family & community. I have boiled what used to be eight categories down to three. What you see at the bottom are the three most recent posts in each of the three categories. Not only does it give you a quick way to find nine recent posts, but it lets you focus in on your favorite category, if you want. (Plus, Ryan designed that whole section so it looks super cool.)
One of the things I like best about this change, though, is how it came about. I didn’t think to myself “I have to hire someone to redesign my blog” and then go out searching for someone to do it. I got to know Ryan and Sarah on their blogs and Twitter, and the very day I was writing my 100th post, Ryan posted a Tweet saying he wanted to build a blog design business and needed to beef up his portfolio.
The timing was right, Ryan felt like the right person, so I went for it. In the end, it feels like another example of being open and striving to live “less intentionally” in 2009. And I’m liking it.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I like change. Fantastic job. You go!
I like your changes, and I noticed. The little susbribe and twiter circles are cute. Did I just say cute? I especially like the categories pulled together so well. That has me thinking about how to categorize my own stuff.
I love the new design! The header is fabulous :)
I like the change.
Oh, I think I could hang out here! I love the new look. Ryan Rocks! :D
Oh boy. I’m must be going through half asleep. I didn’t notice the design until you mentioned. Then, I scrolled up and it was obvious it had been redesigned. Thanks for waking me up. Ha. I really like the subscribe and twitter icons. The design is so clean. I like it.
Congrats on the “redecorating”. I especially like the color pallet. It’s comfortable.
It looks fabulous! You should always announce celebrations, successes and changes. People are busy and grateful to have been notified so we can share in the happiness :)
I once ran this little experiment. I shaved half of my face and left the other side unshaven (this is after one week). Nobody noticed.
It looks great. I love the header design and the big RSS, Twitter, and Email buttons. Plus, I just noticed the great footer. Congratulations!!
It’s funny how we don’t have time to notice what’s in our own backyard. Taking the time to really look at life is so important. Thanks for a little reminder……………….:)
Jen, thanks! I need all the cheerleaders I can get!
TJ, yes, you said “cute.” And remember, my husband created those icons for me—I’m not sure how he’s going to feel about “cute.” (Although he’s super cute, so he should be fine.) I highly recommend making yourself think about categories. I really resisted, and just wanted to let everything run all together, because that’s the way my life works, but now I’m glad I sorted it out a bit. It was an interesting process.
mommyknows, thanks! There’s a story behind the banner illustration. A friend created it about two years ago for our wedding invitations. The building on the left is our church, where we met and got married; the building in the middle is a bar/club we really like, where we’ve danced and had fun with friends, and where we had our post-wedding party; and the house on the right is home. Finding balance and being myself in these three realms is what Halfway to Normal is all about!
Megan, thanks for saying so! Change is good, isn’t it?
Jamie, I hope you do lots of hanging out here. (And yes, three cheers for Ryan and Sarah.)
Jenx67, isn’t that funny? That’s what I’m realizing more and more: we ARE really overly conscious of self and underly conscious of others. We should all get into the practice of waking each other up more, don’t you think?
Laura, comfortable is important, isn’t it? Sometimes it seems vain to focus too much on how I look or how my blog looks, but when I feel like myself in my skin and my spaces, it really matters.
Rebecca, yes! As I said to Jenx67, we should help each other along more and bring others into the celebration, rather than take it personally when people don’t notice on their own.
Kelvin, seriously?!? That’s pretty funny, and sort of sad, too. Do you think people noticed but felt strange mentioning it, the way people avoid telling others they have food in their teeth?
Lisa, thanks for detailing what you like best about the new design. When I look at your avatar, I always imagine that you’re very observantly taking in the world as you walk. :)
I just started reading your blog through Chuck’s project. I really enjoy the flow of your writing. It’s light and serious at the same time. I also feel like you are letting us get a sneak peek of (your) real life.
And I absolutely love the blog design. Great use of colors and logos. It feels very clean and organized, and makes it easy to read. It’s a bummer that 95% of the time I’ll be reading your posts through my RSS reader. Thanks for sharing your stories!
Hi Kristin,
I love the new look and feel! You did well (the Oktober5 gang did well!)! You know what I really like – it’s the little green circles that appear when I hover over the header and the different pages that you have – that is very cool!
Oh, and nice glasses too!
Matt, I’m so glad you found and are enjoying Halfway to Normal—the stories as well as the new design. I like that you wrote “I also feel like you are letting us get a sneak peek of (your) real life.” My real life looks a lot like many other real lives, I suspect, which is the whole point of writing about it at all.
Lance, thanks for noticing! (The little things, like the green circles, and my glasses.) :)
Kristin…looks great! And the new site design isn’t bad either. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Seriously, though, I noticed the new site design right away. Very nicely done.
Hey Kristin,
Love the new design–from the header to the footer. So much attention to detail…very clean with a “readable” font size (do most website owners have 20/20 vision? At most blogs, the font size is soooo small, I might need a magnifying glass.)
I’ve not seen a footer so well utilized…instead of reading & clicking away, a reader faces more enticing posts. Clever!
Congratulations, Kristin. You’re a very talented writer with a beautiful blog.
Michael, thanks for noticing! You’ve always had good taste, so if you say everything looks great, I trust you completely.
Mike, thanks for your kind words. I really like how the footer turned out, too. The credit goes to Ryan and Sarah at Oktober5, my husband for designing the icons and buttons, and my friend Derek who drew the banner illustration.
Hi Kristin
Your new layout is just gorgeous. I love how it is so simple and elegant yet inviting. Its super easy to get around and I just love the categories at the bottom. Fantastic :)
Meg, thanks for the feedback. All the words you used are exactly the ones I hope to hear—”simple,” “elegant,” “inviting” and “super easy to get around.” :)