Some of the regular readers of this blog might have noticed that the design has changed. When I originally setup this blog, I of course chose one of the many ready-made themes available for WordPress. I settled on WP-Andreas01 and modified it for a two-column layout, swapped out the header image, and adjusted the colors. It was clean, it was light, and it was minimalist. Eventually I grew tired of it and wanted a dark theme, instead. I eventually settled on Never Ending Darkness which again was clean and minimalist. In the back of my mind, something bothered me even after I made the requisite changes to the layout, colors, and graphics. I finally determined that the design was cliché. So if I was to be happy with the design, it would have to be a design of my own making. This is a post-mortem analysis of that design.

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So yesterday (Friday), my job and my part-time freelance contract both ended at the same time. The publisher I worked for finally succumbed to the economic pressures of the credit freeze after having made a poor investment. It’s sad too, because the company was finally heading into the black after having a major dip in sales post-9/11. Unfortunately, the bank was threatening to call in the loan unless drastic measures were taken to curb the spending and to get some cash. So myself and another coworker were let go, and the company will be liquidating some assets.

Now, I’m just one among the many listed in those dismal unemployment numbers you hear during the evening news. Thank goodness I got that part-time job to give me some cash to float on. Unfortunately, that means some of my planned purchases will be delayed. I’ll be spending part of this weekend brushing up my resumé and reading about unemployment claims.

I watch anime. That, Lego blocks, and video games are the three childhood vices I never outgrew. It’s just that my hobbies have matured along with me. I now prefer games that are rated M even though I still enjoy those that are rated E. I now prefer Technic sets over LEGOLAND Space sets. I now prefer anime that deal with mature themes (e.g. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Seirei no Moribito) over those that are juvenile (Pokemon). I wish more animated shows in the US were more like those from Japan.

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OK the move is more or less complete. I even went ahead and upgraded to the latest WordPress version. The site runs so much faster now thanks to the new server hardware. One of my non-crucial WP plugins did not work after the upgrade. No biggie. Any way, if anyone notices a bug with the site, let me know and I’ll try to have it resolved ASAP. Comments have been re-enabled.