You ever get that feeling that things've been right for a long time, but upon feeling an itch over weeks, even months, things need to change TODAY? That's how I felt yesterday. I really enjoyed the On Demand theme I was using (pictured right); it was video-centric and that definitely appeals to me, but it also interfered with my flow of consciousness. Embedding videos in a special field and other layout oddities slowed me down — it's attrition that adds up to, "I don't want to bother anymore". This sort of thing you can only find out naturally through experience down the road, and here I am.
I browsed through many themes, but have to applaud Chris Pearson's forthright and unabashed style of claiming:
"You'll never have to change your theme again… with Thesis!"
(my paraphrasing). So that's where we are now, torley.com running on it. I could use some tweaks like a vivid image heading to make my personality stand out, but I got the bulk running in minutes "out of the box".
I'm really satisfied by the elegance of this theme so far. On Demand was looking at an upgrade targeted for late May I think, but since the core files would've needed to be replaced/merged, I didn't want to deal with all that. I'm getting old and time goes by so… quicker. And above all, I'm always thinking about how to best present useful fun for you. So here we are now, and I hope you're OK with that.
If not, we can make more changes. 
Other things I'd like to do:
- Make sense out of categories and tags so it's easier to browse archived content.
- Really zoom in on what posts are popular and do more in that vein — it's not so much the Second Life stuff but the Sony Vegas and general computer how-tos, along with my piano music.
- More CSS tweaking. Not sure if gray-on-light-green is the way to go.
- Adjust right sidebar widgets to a beautiful state.
Suggestions?
What do my relaxing piano music and futuristic racing have in common? I don't quite have an answer to that yet, but eerieyellowlights and some others nicely let me know that some of my pianistic adventures are among the most-played songs on Audiosurf.
I would've expected my techno fare to do better… so thanx to whoever's playing and listening! Apparently, the "as-steep" tag makes slower songs more exciting. What's pretty neat is some of my fave other songs are on the charts, two of which I've done mashups of: Prodigy's "Omen" and Katy Perry's "Hot 'n' Cold".
Admittedly, I've only seen Audiosurf videos (looks kewl!), and haven't played it firsthand. This is incentive.
I love process.
Or more accurately, knowing what comes before getting things done. Not just the tools, but how other people use — and misuse them to achieve majestic ends. So often, we see so little of this; obviously, I refer to the workplace, where you likely know your coworkers' basic routines but can't elaborate into their psychological interaction with those tools. But it also applies at home, because productivity is for EVERYTIME.
Sometimes, people are afraid to look under. They're fearful of the tangle of wires in "the machine". But it's all those connections that keep things going, and flowing.
When I make a choice of a tool or highly endorse anything, I like to explain why. I then like to show why, give a demo. Infomercial-esque in a nice way. I understand skepticism of glowing praise (no thanks, you shamsters, you ruined it for the good folks!) but I understand passionate enthusiasm, applied vividly, even more.
I was just marveling over music tools like the newly-released Ableton Live 8, whose Suite is a studio-in-a-box. 10 years ago, this wasn't quite possible. 20 years ago, it was near-unimaginable. Didn't happen all at once — like the name implies, it evolved through versions. But here we are, bedroom rockers rejoice. And Live involves a combo of linear arrangement and non-linear session jamming. Brilliant.
I also love documenting process.
If you fought hard to find answers and detail the steps, it's like a treasure map. It tells other people how you got here, so they have less bruises on their own path to success. And they'll remember you for that.
But there's no substitute for doing.
Even if that means initially feeling intimidated, wading ankle-deep, then finding you like the feel of this water, so you dive in. (Take your time, but not too long. That's always a tricky dynamic balance, innit?)
Too many people are scared and put off tools that'll enhance their lives. They're hurt by inaction, passively pained by lack of hands-on. Now…
I agree it's a turn-off when the barrier of entry is too high: that's why I like how easy most webapps are to get into (a minimal signup process, a modern web browser, and prolly Flash is installed), that's why I appreciate generous trial versions that DO let me decide whether something is right, is best for me. Firefox add-ons are good this way, too, because I can install a whole bunch, work 'em out for weeks, then uninstall what I don't use.
Above all: keep moving… keep moving!