I've had the new look up for a while now and only one person noticed. Now I know what women feel like when they change their hair and nobody cares.
As the decor indicates, I am spending more time in previous centuries, at least in my imagination. Why? Because this one sucks. And that's official. I waited nine years before rendering a verdict, so you can't say I didn't give this century a fair chance.
Can you honestly think of one good thing to say about the 21st century so far? We're nearly one-tenth of the way through it, and it just keeps blowing bigger chunks, year after year.
That's it. I'm outta here -- and you're coming with me. Topics for discussion:
The Concert of Europe -- will it work? The Decembrists: Freemasonic plot or great lost opportunity? Napoleon III: Is that mustache stupid or what? Did Disraeli go too far when he said that a conservative government is an organized hypocrisy? Andy Jackson: Crazy, or just one ornery sumbitch? What shall we do about the Sepoy mutiny? The Ems dispatch: Does the proportional spacing indicate the use of Microsoft Word in creating a forgery? Victoria and John Brown: Are they really "just friends"?
Your comments are welcome.
26 comments:
What's this about women changing their hair?
The internet is pretty awesome. Other than that, the 21st Century backs up the Hindus, who believe we are going through the dark historical period known as "Kali Yuga."
I regret to say Kali Yuga lasts around 100,000 years. Hindus don't sugarcoat things.
What I get visually--the page--when I'm typing a comment, I like, for the "cleanliness" and simplicity of color, layout and fonts.
As for the main page... I like that cannon and the concept of the letter O placement at the mouth of the bore. Too many fonts. The newsfeeds are so ugly on so many levels; I can't imagine why you want them there. I hate them. Fortunately, I can deal with them from my end.
The 21st century hasn't started yet... either we are going to stay here in the 14th we somehow got blasted back into, or the 21st is just slow getting started. I'm aiming for the latter, and a woman on the moon, myself. These kids deserve a future.
Wasn't there some guy in the old days what said something like, "America's democracy will last until the unwashed masses figure out they can vote themselves the proceeds of the Treasury". Well he got it partly right, the unwashed masses of Congress and Wall Street got the treasure.
So much for that part of the oath about protecting us from all enemas, foreign and domestic.
Sorry, I was away for a couple of days and did not see the new look until now. It rocks!
I like the layout of this page. It's easy to read. There is a blog out there (that you have all been to) that is so hard to follow, that if I go there it's just for a quick look. Then I give up and leave.
Keep up the GREAT work. Love the cannon (of course I loved the one before too). The new one is more visible and that's a plus!
great new look, joseph. definitely the kali yuga, perry, I think we're sliding into a great pralaya.
justus
The music has been pretty good and people are dressing reasonably at the Grammy's again. I like that.
What I am despairing of is that we are almost certainly in for eight years of bad leadership, which is a disaster for our nation because the previous eight were even worse. Either Obama's going to win re-election - which will be no better for the Dems than Bush winning was for the Republicans, or a Republican will get elected. Either way, our next shot at a real leader is 2016. We have to hope that we do no worse than muddling through the next eight years.
I like the browns. They're soothing. And I need to be soothed.
You're starting to sound like Griffy from Zippy the Pinhead.
"Can you honestly think of one good thing to say about the 21st century so far?"
Scorsese finally got an Oscar?
I like it. Can you make frames for the ads so they look like tomes - old books? Just be sure that those of us who are female refuse to give up any gains made since the 14th; otherwise I'm with you. 2000-09 sucks.
I just opened the site with plain vanilla Internet Explorer. Looks great!
Me and Firefox and it's bells and whistles (perhaps the worst of which was me "ctrl-+ing" to get larger text for my old eyes) had thrown everything askew -- even the newsfeed seemed practically invisible using IE. And I didn't have the sense of being struck by a mishmash of fonts such as my "tuned-up" Firefox had seemed to present. What I had made wasn't pretty... even the masthead got reproportioned. Lesson learned.
Did I just lose my right to vote then and go back to being the property of my exhusband who I wouldn't be able to divorce so I could live happily single ever after?
Eric, the Scorcese thing may be the best thing about the 21st century so far.
I use FireFox, and have no real problems with anything. (Ok, some realplayer feedsdo better when I switch the view over to an IE standard, using the IE tab add-on offered for FF).
As for the new century, it's not worse than the last century's early days, which saw a panic run on the US Treasury requiring a Morgan bailout, the institution of personal federal income tax, the creation of the beast from Jekyll Island (the Federal Reserve), WW I (the war to end all wars), the Great Depression, WW II, etc.
When the body count reaches 50 million dead, let me know. Until then, and unless the worst possibilities come to pass, we are well below the horrific enormity of the past century (and that's a good thing).
XI
I would like to point out that the 20th Century worked out pretty good for the United States despite containing some of the worst periods in our history.
But if we're gonna pick a different century to live in I wanna explore one of the negative numbers - the 5th Century BC (400-499 BC)
Just coming down from a hellacious week, so I missed rollout of the new look. I think it looks really, really good. Clean, easy to read, but still very much YOU.
As for the 21st century, so far I'm more depressed than I ever thought I could be, but I must say, the iPhone has been a pretty nifty development, at least for me. For the queen of scattered data, it's been a life saver for me. I think that's as excited as I can get about nine years in to our current century, although I think the Furminator and Swiffer rank pretty high in my book as well.
I like the some of the new site elements, but it's a wee bit overdone to me. (Sorry.)
As for Andy Jackson--ornery sumbitch.
Nibbles, I've been tweaking further. Maybe it's better now.
(I've done websites for other people, even for pay, but I always plan those out beforehand. This one just kinda...grew.)
Joseph, any layout you do, as long as it suits you, is just fine by me.
The content of your blog is what makes it my first viewed each day.
Very eclectic, always interesting.
You could blog on a blank slate and still "ignite intellectual cannonfire". So, tweak the layout however YOU wish, just keep writing.
Looks like you tweaked the post font to maroon? Not liking it. Sorry.
I LOVE the new cannon. Really attractive!! NICE!
The newest left sidebar (brown on soft gray) is GREAT (orange on carcaol sucked)!!
I intensely dislike the brown bold font on the older posts. Too heavy & hard on the eyes. I intensely dislike the bold font in comments.
These fat fonts make it harder to refer to a comment or paragraph just above... too much scrolling.
Sometimes one shouldn't ask for input... cuz ya get a bajillion opinions!
I love the new masthead and colors and doo-dads. I hate the big, fat, heavy, fonts. (New aticle font is nice, but bolding older ones is awful)
Great new look, Joseph! (I have spent a few days shoveling snow so I had not checked in).
The 21st Century? A few good books have come out. A new Harry Potter movie is coming out in the Summer. There have been a reasonable number of beautiful days. But yes, it is largely not agreeable. I wonder whether how we would feel about the 21st century had Al Gore taken the office of the Presidency after the election of 2000. I think there is a better alternate universe somewhere.
Re Andy Jackson, must we choose between your alternatives, Joseph?
Perry, I feel compelled to point out that the Internet was invented in the last century -- spying on people's use of the Internet may have been invented in this one. The Kali Yuga possibility is interesting -- do you know whether it is supposed to be related to the current phase of the Processional?
Here's to hoping the rest of the century is better for us all.
djmm
The improved illo is good, however, I preferred the red titles to the new gray ones - much snappier; also, in a weird sort of reversed perspective, the further down I scroll, the bigger the type gets...maybe that's a joke having to do with your going back to focus on previous centuries? :)
Good things about the 21st Century? Scorcese's Oscar, Anne Hathaway, and lunar exploitation delayed a couple of decades (which might be enough to people to become sensible and give it up altogether).
Sergei Rostov
(p.s. Oh, and I would have commented on your hair, too, except that I know you're bald...or you will be once the stuff I put in your shampoo takes effect (my comment about hiding in Jennifer Connelly's bushes was a ruse meant to throw you off-track).)
I don't understand the references to increased or changed fonts. That part of the code has not changed. There may be an odd interaction with various browsers...
Red and black were the Cannonfire colors, chosen in honor of Daredevil, my favorite superhero when I was a kid. But the red/black/white color scheme was starting to look a little too Sieg heil, ya know? So I thought I'd go for something old-fashioned and a bit fancy, but still dude-like.
Too much stuff on the page.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/does-my-web-site-suck/does-my-web-site-suck-checklist-part-two.html
Snowflake: Compare what I've got with TPM or Kos or DU...
I did a compare and contrast before I responded and your site is more coherent and less cluttered than most.
But I think you can do better.
As far as Koss, DU etc... I supported Hillary so I'm banned. I don't bother with sites I'm banned from. Let them wither.
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