I started this blog in 2012. Fourteen years later, there are more than 400 posts and more than 250,000 words, enough for 2-3 books on here. During all that time, I resisted the temptation to redesign the page or do any other major tech improvement to my online persona. AI has changed that to some extent. While I don’t use AI for any of my writing on the blog, I have begun putting Claude’s coding ability to work by helping me design websites, including this one.
Among the major tweaks are a static byline at the top, welcoming new readers. Most of the traffic to this page comes from search engines (for how long, one has to wonder, in this day and age of more and more reductive intra-bot research?). Some people click on the home link and can now find some clear information on where they have landed. I have also started putting together some curated blog posts summarizing the content on this blog in a more orderly, thematic way. There are now photos on the right, encouraging me to pick up my old camera and go out to document the world around me visually. A better category and date archive makes navigating the page easier, especially for myself when I’m looking for something.
More than anything, this little redesign is a commitment to keep writing in this space even as new and exciting other opportunities come around. I cannot overemphasize the stability and grounding this blog has provided to me over the years. The next birthday post is due next year (see here for the 2017 and 2022 editions). I hope I have some exciting new stuff to report and to thank this public notepad for then.
