Diary Tuesday
A Blog With Any Other Background Would Read As Sweet?

Some of you may have noticed the blog background and layout going through some changes. It may yet change again, or I may just leave it, like the last one, until several years pass. The dark, dotted background had been around since the inception of the blog and may have stayed that way if the template hadn't been so intractable to new features, such as YouTube's widescreen videos. So in order to give you all better service, I reluctantly updated to a new background. I don't like doing this because I like it too much. If that makes sense. Once I get the idea that I can change the look of something that defines me as much as my blog, I get obsessed with the perfect look. Although this one is quite pretty (my sister describes it as "very haiku"), I just don't feel like it's perfect yet. But it met more of the requirements than the short-lived dandelion background. My requirements on a background are as follows (more or less in order of importance):

1.) Readability and professionalism: Some of the backgrounds that are absolutely gorgeous unfortunately made the blog's title and / or quote nearly illegible, which no matter how pretty, always makes you look like an amateur. Something about the title did look better designed with the dandelions background. But the rest, while nice, was a bit clip-arty. My apologies if you did like it though, I hope you don't mind the new one.

2.) Nature themed: I did consider a few abstract designs just so it wouldn't be that different from the polka-dot background I held for so many years. I may yet go back to abstract. But if I'm going to decorate anything to represent me, it's either going to be covered in dragons (which unfortunately might be too busy) or nature. I suppose it's because I spend so much time indoors, staring at a screen. So I prefer that screen to reflect what I don't often see. One English teacher I once had envisioned me writing under a tree by a babbling brook. In reality, at the time, I wrote on an old computer in my dank, unfinished basement with a little figurine of E.T. dressed as a girl, staring out at me--my muse. In my heart, I guess I was under a tree by a babbling brook. The dandelions met the nature theme requirement but not the next.

3.) A real photo: Otherwise, it's very obvious I'm still staring at a screen.

4.) The color green: It's my favorite color and it's a good color. I snuck some in with the text and there's a tiny bit in the picture, but as much as I love fall leaves, I also love green. So it's a constant struggle for me.

5.) Makes me happy: This one makes me happier than the last one, and maybe I'll get used to it before I get around to changing it. But I look at it too much for it to be something I don't like. Which none of my backgrounds have been, but I don't think I've found exactly what I'm looking for quite yet.

4.) Distinctive: Neither the dandelions or this background fit this requirement but this one is marginally better than the dandelions because while those were one of the template defaults, you'd have to fiddle around with the dozens of background options to get this one, so instead of tens of thousands of blogs looking like mine, now perhaps only a few thousand do. Ultimately I'd prefer one of my own photos so that it would be nearly impossible to be copied, but I've yet to find a photo that perfectly fit.