Ch-ch-ch-changes
June 22, 2007
As some of you have already noticed, the blog has a new look. Thank you to the ever talented Karen Rani at Vodkarella.
And once again the photo is from the lovely Stacy
I know change is hard for some of you.
Remember how much you hated the tiny shoe? How you thought it was depressing? How much you missed the big yellow house?
And I held your hand and stroked it and promised that nothing would change? Remember?
Well, change is good.
I like the new streamlined look much better. The old one was all cluttery. Too many things lining both sidebars. And soon all the little linky things up top will work.
And the blogroll will be back. Remember you like the blogroll?
Embrace the change.
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Ooooo….love the clean new design.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:49 pmI like it too. Cha cha cha change is good.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:57 pmI love change.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 amNoooo…I loved the shoe!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:10 amChange is very hard for me!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:21 ambeeautiful. very current.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:34 amIf I must. I do love the book, though!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 amChange IS hard, but I love the new look! Congrats.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:54 amJennifer
I’m a change hater. I admit it. I didn’t read your blog when you had the yellow house, apparently, lol. I’ll adjust, it just feels like an unfamiliar blog!
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:10 amVery nice design, though! I like it! I wish you’d go back to “where the insurgents wear diapers” because that is hysterical!
i noticed earlier today. i like it. very nice.
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:23 amI like the change…too bad I didn’t get to see the yellow house you were referring to. Change is very good!
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:26 amI love how everything has a nice clean look to it, I do find the red hard to read but I do like it’s contrast. So what is a girl to do?! I guess I will keep on reading and enjoying your blog.
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 amI will miss the shoe but I do like the new streamlined look. Very classy and I love the new headings!
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 amWell, I can’t say I’m the sort of girl who embraces change but a good housecleaning and a bit of rearranging the furniture always does a person good.
However, I do still have you on my tool bar as the “The Big Yellow House” and I doubt that will change anytime soon, LOL.
P.S. I do find the read a bit difficult to read, too. Um…were you asking for contructive criticism? Probably not, in which case, ignore mine!
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:26 amI personally liked the shoe, but I will work on embracing this - I DO like the new look. It’s very clean
I’ve been working on a post about change as well . . . must be something in the air!
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:54 amI laughed, as I am one of those weird people that cringes when web sites change their looks. But you are right in that I eventually get used to and love the new designs
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:27 amIt’s very nice. The open book is beautiful. I’m going to go rock in a corner for a while now.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 am(in Franken-voice): AARGH! Bad! Change bad!
I like the clean lines, and the fact that all the doodad-y stuff is on the left, but having the only color be in the actual text is a tad post-industrial modern for me.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 amI love the uncluttered look.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:03 amChange is good sometimes. I don’t like change very much so you’ll have to hold my hand a little longer. I do love the picture, though. Pretty.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:15 amIt is wonderful. Nice, clean look. I’m embracing the change!!!
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:22 amI couldn’t tell what the new picture was until I read the comment…a book. okay, I’m slow like that.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:44 amWhile I love the new look, I do miss the tagline “where the insurgents wear diapers”. Thought it as brialliant!
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 amChange is good. I like it very much.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 amI must admit, I don’t like change. I loved your last one and thought it went with your blog title very well. Maybe someday I’ll get used to just seeing a book….. then you will probably decide to change it to something else! Oh, woe is me.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 am*stomping my foot* I don’t like change. Unless it brings chocolate. Can I expect chocolate soon?
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:27 amVery nice!
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:50 amI like it.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:00 amAww.. I don’t like it. It looks so cold and steely and industrial. The open book on top looks like some steel construction at first. I know I’ll get used to it but it doesn’t feel quite homey to me.
I also miss “where the insurgents wear diapers”. Even my DH laughed out loud at that.
I’ll still keep reading though.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:10 amThe little shoe was a little depressing (hope you don’t mind me saying so!), and I do like your new look. Very streamlined! I didn’t read your blog when you had the yellow house. Is there anywhere I can see previous headers to take a look?
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 amPretty- but damn it all! It makes me feel like I should go clean and organize my house to look like a Pottery Barn page!
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 amI’ll embrace the change AND miss the shoe…
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:41 amI don’t mind change. I like that it has a cleaner, more organized look. However, if the book is supposed to represent your “notes” . . . I think the pages should look like they’ve been used a bit and not just blank pages. They need “notes!” But I come to this blog to read your posts, and I love your humorous and “say it like it is” writing style. And I love you!
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:46 amit looks good — i love the cleaner design.
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 amnice new look, congrats!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 pmLooks great. Clean is GOOD!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 pmIt looks great, Chris! I like the lines.
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:10 pmPurdy and sharp!!
(PS, I like the Miles Haircut Flicker on the sidebar)
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:24 pmChange IS good! Although in my mind, you will ALWAYS be Chris from The Big Yellow House (because I love yellow houses)
I really do like your new look! Very sleek
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 pmNooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I don’t like it. Put it back! Put it back! Put it back!
Go all the way back and put it back to THE BIG YELLOW HOUSE. Nooowwwwwwww or I’ll hold my breath!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:57 pmI likey. I liked the shoe too, but this is clean and less cluttered.
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:08 pmLOVE IT !!!!
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:12 pmDamn change. This is nice and all, but I was just thinking how much I loved the shoe.
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 pmThis is nifty. The shoe was neat, but this is way hip.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 pmYay! The archives are back. I always intended to read some of your old posts and never got to it and now I have that opportunity again! Thanks…
And my 2cents is that since a blog reflects the person writing it, it’s good for it to change as the writer changes … and I like this new design …BUT I wanta say that I loved the big yellow house banner with the photo of Miles’ smiling baby face and that floppy hat. Maybe you could put your old banners under your archives link so that we can visit them from time to time.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:49 pmI like it enough, but I’m with Gina….I want the big yellow house back….;)
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:50 pmMaybe you can have a little shoe picture in the bottom corner of the sidebar for all the shoe-missers…..the rest of us will just be happy as long as you continue to post. I can only try to articulate the daily struggles of raising children in the same humorous way you do. You make us all laugh, shoe or not.
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:50 pmI like it! I do web sites and it’s always fun to change things around every now and then just to freshen things up. Great look and I like the color scheme!
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:26 pmI feel stupid because I thought the picture was some funky stainless steel sculpture. I didn’t figure out it was a book until I was reading your comments. So my opinion that The Big Yellow House was the most awesome obviously wouldn’t matter…but at least I knew it was a house when I saw it. I guess I need it to be very, very, very simple.
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:40 pmI’m usually pretty good with change.
Well, no, that’s a big lie.
But I can usually adjust. I was just thinking that maybe the book isn’t as evocative of the whole Mommy trenches as the baby shoe. But maybe you’re moving beyond the Mommy trenches? Because I see that book and I think–”Oh my gosh, I’d love to nap–er–read a good book and have the solitude that requires.” Yeah, and I’d love to win the lottery and to have a self cleaning house, too.
Your book looks so peaceful up there. Maybe if you add some grape jelly fingerprints, we’d feel the love…
Barb
June 23rd, 2007 at 4:41 pm…can’t help whining about how much she LIKED the pink shoes…, but Barb’s idea about grape jelly sounds good, would make it feel like home.
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:42 pmoh!!!! i liked the pink!
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:53 pmchange is excruciating!
I like it and I am not big on change. Everytime I looked at the little shoe, I just wonder where is the baby that lost it’s shoe. I wonder why would a mother not run back and get her baby’s shoe. That baby’s foot must be cold and, more importantly, the baby’s fashion would be thrown off. It kept me up some nights.
I will say that I thought I was brought to some other website. It took me a minute to figure out where I was and I was freaked. You know when you wake up after falling asleep somewhere other than your home and you have no idea where you are for a spilt second. Yeah, like that.
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 pmFresh and mod (as in modern, because I am so hip myself). I think it looks great!
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:52 pmI LOVE IT!
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 pmI like the less cluttered look. The shoe looked to me like a tragedy, like a war zone or a tornado, where they find a baby shoe and use it as a sign of how tragic whatever was. I think this signifies that your family is getting older, and away from “baby” stuff as much. It is a little chilly and modern, but I’m sure we’ll all get used to it, and you’ll personalize it.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:05 pmI loved the shoe, but the new look is fab!!
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:03 pmChange is a necessary thing, but I don’t like change.
My principal has given me a 2 year warning that I will be packing my classroom (again) and moving ……. back upstairs.
If there is a vote, I still love the Big Yellow House.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 pmI kept imagining the big yellow house full of children and laughter and fun -
Looks nice!
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 pmLooking good, Chris!
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:07 pmI like! Nice clean design.
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:36 pmChange is good.
Very nice. I love change.
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:47 pmI’m going to need some hand holding. And consoling. And Swedish fish.
I like it, but agree that, should a reshoot be deemed appropriate, a pen and more “note-like” look to the book might be a neat angle to work in. But maybe you did? And maybe it wasn’t what you wanted? And maybe it’s your blog and your choice and I’ll get used to it? Definitely.
The “where the insurgents wear diapers” tag has been missing for months (right? hasn’t it been “this is your brain on kids” for a few months?), so I’m all zen with the new tag. And really, I don’t miss the shoe nearly as much as the little Miles-with-holster shot. That made me giggle every single time. And the Barbie in the noose. Ok, maybe I’m a sadist. But those were funny.
But seriously, I’m here for the writing. The archvies are back and you’re still posting and so I’m good. Keep on keepin’ on.
June 24th, 2007 at 12:31 amChange Is GOOD!
So chants the horde of transexuals waiting for change by surgical measures……
June 24th, 2007 at 1:49 ami miss the yellow house. this one is a bit post- modern cold for my taste. but the writing is still good and that is what counts.
June 24th, 2007 at 9:10 amI guess I am feeling less being shared with and more being lectured….kinda like you’re the mom and I’m the 8th kid. Kinda don’t need it. Good thing is this is your blog to write and my right to read it or not. Change is good….life is change. But, I guess the sidebar tells it all. Donate here, sponsor there, advertise everywhere. It feels less like friends talking over the back fence and more like taking a class at night school. Maybe you have outgrown me LOL
June 24th, 2007 at 10:37 amGood luck, happiness and health to you and your family.
OOOoo, la, la…….nice, clean, polished. I loved the baby shoe but the book is OK too. I’ll adjust to the change as long as you stay as witty and real as you’ve always been
June 24th, 2007 at 12:48 pmThe book is way better than the baby shoe thing…that just evoked some sort of a war zone tragedy in conjunction with your tag line and blog title. In this day and age that seems like imagery we’d want to avoid. (Although with kids it can definitly feel like that sometime…so I knew what you meant and wasn’t overly traumatized!
) The open book ties in nicely with your title now. And as for the suggestions for there to be visible writing, don’t think it’s necessary. The blank page symbolized a life yet unwritten…possibility…future. Thanks for sharing.
June 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pmMissing the sweet shoes. Boooo-hooo-hooo.
June 24th, 2007 at 2:32 pmWell I loved the shoes and the “insurgents wear diapers”. But I’ve been known to have a very bizarre sense of humor.
Change is refreshing.
June 24th, 2007 at 3:21 pmoh, oh! i love it! colors, streamlined, drop-downs, everything!
but the absolute best is the new tagline! fab. u. lous.
June 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pmLooks good. I like it. But the picture of the not-yellow house will always hold a special place in my heart.
June 24th, 2007 at 4:36 pmBoo-hoo on the new look. I loved that shoe. It was my friend. It consoled me when I had a bad day. I will miss it sorely.
June 24th, 2007 at 5:32 pmBut I do like the more organized sidebar, I’ll give you that.
I like it - although my comment text now appears red, which always says “text” to me - looks like it will be black and safe once I publish.
June 24th, 2007 at 7:58 pmWhoa, sleepy - I didn’t mean “text” I meant “debt” - but they are spelled nearly the same, so no wonder I made a mistake.
June 24th, 2007 at 7:59 pmWhoa, where am I? Chris, are you there?
(I’m a change hater too, I’ve had the same look at my site for about 2 years now…)
June 24th, 2007 at 8:30 pmLooks great!! Just as long as you keep writing, I’d imagine we’d visit you on Skid Row.
June 24th, 2007 at 9:07 pmHaha
Before I read the post I was thinking “I still miss the yellow house!”
I also miss the blogroll.
One of my happiest blogging moments was when I saw myself on your blogroll!!
You are still my favorite blogger and the ONE I must read every day!
June 25th, 2007 at 6:54 amI like it! Good for you for changing it to your liking.
June 25th, 2007 at 7:08 amI love it! Good for you! Change is good!
June 25th, 2007 at 10:44 amcoming from a person who is constantly bored with their life, change it good.
love it~
June 25th, 2007 at 11:31 amHaha, I am also one that misses the big yellow house, but I like this design much better than the pink/purple one. I loved the picture of the shoe though…I like a lot that your site is always improving, good for you.
June 25th, 2007 at 12:05 pmI’m always late to the game, but I really like this new look!
June 25th, 2007 at 1:56 pm[...] The changes in my life I’m referring to are a little bigger. Now they pale in comparison to a major illness, the loss of a parent, moving to a new city, or starting a new job. I guess the biggest for me was having baby #4. Since I’d had three other babies, this was a welcome and fairly easy change. Normally, however, I really struggle with change. (Chris knows what I’m talking about.) [...]
July 12th, 2007 at 10:47 am