So, it may seem odd that immediately following an assignment designed to help you become familiar with the layout of the blog that I completely change the layout. You’re right: that is odd. But there is a reason.

Although I liked the look of the previous “theme” (which, by the way, was called “Hemingway” and probably because of its connection to my favorite writer I probably favored it more than I should have), I did not like the choices the blog viewer had when immediately descending upon the site. What I mean is that if you visited the blog the first post you saw was the most recent one and not only that but you had to scroll through the entire thing in order to get to the next one, if you didn’t know how to use the widgets on the right-hand side of the blog. So, what often happened was what happened in the previous two days: the post last posted received the most views, which is not fair to the writer who just happened to post just prior to the most-recent post. So, I’ve been searching for a new theme.

This one (which, by the way, is called “Garfunkel”) allows the blog viewer to see many different posts at the same time and then choose depending on their fancy (and which heightens the importance of the headline, because that is what will most likely attract the viewer’s attention), and once the viewer is reading a specific post, all the widgets we are familiar with – the calendar, rotating tag cloud, lists of recent comments and posts, etc. – are at the bottom of the page. I think this theme will suit our needs better. If you disagree, please feel free to comment.

In the meantime, here’s a video by Simon and, yes, Garfunkel, from a famous concert I ALMOST attended when I was just seven years old (my family had visited a museum by Central Park that day and thought of following the crowd to the stage but then decided my then-4-year-old sister, Erin, would not be up for the event. (I probably would not have been up for it either, but I like to blame her when thinking about my near miss in seeing this historic event). Without further adieu, here’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”: