Side effects

I'm changing some things about this website that that was long ago cobbled together with a hot glue gun, some duct tape, and absolutely no knowledge of CSS or HTML. Every time I make a major change, I get a slew of e-mails from people reading the site in apocryphal versions of Internet Explorer telling me that the text is in 48-point font and that my sidebars have mutinied and scuttled the ship. These e-mails are usually followed by the sound of trumpets and angels singing as other readers proficient in the languages understood by internet browsers advise me where I need to install a backslash to close a div, whatever that means.

This time I'm not doing anything cosmetic (although I probably should); instead I've decided to start relying less on flickr for sharing pictures. Since the whole Nerve Media fiasco last year I've been looking to take more control of my pictures and it's taken me a year to figure out how to do it. From now on, I'm going to post a new photo every day on this site, accessible from the top box in the left column (or this link). Yes, just like dooce. I also want to use the photos as a chance to write more content, so almost all the photos will be accompanied by some text that's a little more casual than what's usually here in the center column. Honestly, this is just one way for me to expand the content of this site beyond the parenting stuff, which is what I have been trying to do since last September. I'm very excited about it.

On that note, in the next few days I'm also going to add a second image link under the "new photo" that will be a little bit harder to define. Sort of like an in-house tumblelog, this will be a place for me to share what has inspired me lately or things I find interesting (and hope readers will as well). While some of it will definitely be links to what others have put out there, I also hope to share plenty of original content (things scanned from my vast collection of stuff) and talk about it. I hope to keep this one updated on a regular---if not daily---basis as well.

I still intend to update our flickr every day, and we will keep writing here as we always have: intermittently. But my wife has promised to write a post for tomorrow.