Redesign
So at this point I can say that the first redesign of the blog is at least marginally complete. There are things I don't like: I'd like the banner image to be more image-y and less text-y, and the text needs to be a different color to mix things up a little. I really don't like the navigation at the top -- the idea is fine, but the execution currently annoys me no end. At the very least I'd want to make those text links into buttons. However, this is all little stuff that I probably won't fix anytime in the near future.
In fact, this isn't at all what I set out to do when I started. I really wanted to end up abandoning, or at least modifying and building on, the standard-issue two-column deal that doles out entries in one column, and links and whatnot in the other. You can scatter stuff around a bit more and still make it work. Unfortunately, when I sat down with a piece of paper to sketch stuff out (which is how all my web design starts, since I can't go directly from my head to the code), this is kind of what I got. Oh well, I at least got to play some with the coloring -- once again, not really what I intended when I started, but what the heck -- and maybe I can fiddle with some off-kilter positioning later.
Also, I would like to state for the record my opinion that Internet Explorer is the stupidest browser in existence. CSS always works fine until I open IE and try to view something. Speaking of CSS and compatibility, I tested this in Firefox and IE on WinXP -- it looks fine in Firefox and passable in IE, but I haven't tried other browsers or platforms yet.
Edit: Okay, so some further goofing around with the text color is going to be required. This is less readable than I had thought.
Edit 2: It's past 3:30 in the morning and my eyes are a little tired. If anybody wanted to let me know just how unreadable the text is as things currently stand, I'd be much obliged. There doesn't seem to be a color that works nicely with the scheme, other than the link color. Kinda thinking I may have to enlarge the text. Or just totally change the color scheme again, which might be the smarter route.
Comments
I'd consider enlarging the text in the entry column, at least. But then, I'm on the Screen Resolution of Doom, so I'm always up for enlarged text these days.
As for text color, have you considered a pale gray?
And the Wagner quote amuses me to no end.
I found the page hard to read, unfortunatley. For some reason, dark backgrounds and light text don't work well for me. The text looks grainy and faded. (I am using the Safari browser on my Mac laptop in case that helps.)
And what is the Wagner quote Nicole is referring to?
Thanks, guys! That's helpful. Generally speaking, light text on dark backgrounds is a bad idea, but I tend to gravitate toward such designs anyway. Maybe I can somehow invert the colors here.
Prof. Singham -- It's not actually (to my knowledge) a direct quote from Wagner. "Historically necessary mistake of tragic dimensions" (as in the banner) was the phrase used in a set of program notes accompanying one of my recent CD purchases to describe Wagner's attitude toward Beethoven's ninth symphony: During the composer's lifetime these late works were above all incomprehensible, shocking, and the Ninth Symphony, particularly the choral finale, seemed to many people to be an artistic aberration. [...] Richard Wagner saw the work as nothing less than a historically necessary mistake of tragic dimensions: in his opinion it marked the terminal point in the development of instrumental music, and everything pointed to the "music drama" -- Wagner's, of course -- representing the only possible solution for the future.
I never cease to be amused by the idea of Wagner rescuing classical music from Beethoven, so I ended up using the quote (from the author of the notes, I think, not Wagner) when I needed a subtitle for the blog.