The design you’re seeing now is my new (second) WordPress tumblelog theme—Less Is More. It is very similar in layout to the first tumblelog theme I made but there are tons of tweaks to the appearance, and I think this one is more elegant and spare. The biggest change is the introduction of a style switcher (courtesy of A List Apart) that allows visitors to toggle between “less” and “more” modes (see the links at the top of the page).

The blog defaults to “less” and shows only the post content—no metadata at all, not even the post date. The usual permalink graphic (a pushpin) appears if you hover over a post to give you access to more info and features. If “less” mode is too austere for you, just click “more” and the site will display posts with their metadata (titles, date, comments link, category icons, etc.). I think this is a good solution for having a clean, minimal tumblelog but still allowing easy access to more traditional blog features and info.

Tonight I was reading a blog that I frequent and came across this quote by Stephen King:

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.

This is from his piece Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully—in Ten Minutes. I can’t believe (comprehend, conceive, fathom) how often (frequently, regularly, repeatedly) this quote is posted on websites as though it were some sort of sage wisdom (enlightenment, perception, sagacity). It is, of course, complete rubbish (nonsense, drivel, poppycock). One thing you can say for King is that he certainly follows (sticks to, abides by, adheres to) his own rule (maxim, axiom, tenet), judging by his “relentlessly routine language” and how bad (atrocious, lousy, inferior) a writer he is.

Lots of SF film remakes in the works: Fantastic Voyage, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Illustrated Man, Dune and The Andromeda Strain. The latter will be a mini-series done by no less than Ridley Scott.

I recently stumbled upon the wonderful art of Spanish surrealist photographer Chema Madoz. The following three photos really caught my eye. You can see more of his work at Chema Madoz Fotógrafo.

One of my favorite artists is Swiss painter Paul Klee, the man who painted dreams, painted music, and who described his drawings as “taking a line for a walk.” As Laura Cumming of The Observer said: “It’s a very fine line.”

I made these mood graphics several years ago for a forum that I run and they are still used to this day. These are just 8 of the more than 80 in the collection. Feel free to download and use them on your own forum if you wish.

The Christmas DVD is now going to be a two-disc set. I’m currently hunting for good-quality double-DVD keep cases, preferably the single-size Amaray type with the hinged flip tray. Found some at United States Plastic Corp and Sleeve City.