And so, the saga of yet another new website begins, and yes, I too seriously hope that this one outlasts the previous one as I can’t be doing with all the work involved sorting out a new site every six months or so that’s for sure!

Oh no, not another website? What’s going on?!

I know what you’re saying, it’s something along the lines of “Oh no, not another website? What’s going on?!”, and you’d be right to throw your arms up in the air, exasperated. Sorry. What more can I say? Oh yes, that’s right, maybe I could explain why I’ve ditched the old site and started a new one?

Why the new domain name?

I wanted something different. Okay, I could have just designed a new theme for the old site, but ultimately it came down to more than that; I wanted a place to go and write my random scribblings that meant something different, and the old domain name wasn’t sitting right with me any more. The main reason for that was the fact that I can indeed smile now, so I don’t need to learn to any more. Yes, as with everyone, there are days I don’t smile, but in the grand scheme of things, after everything that’s happened, I am quite capable of smiling…properly smiling!

It’s like a black cloud descends on me, stifling normal thought

One of the really big problems I have is I suffer from bouts of depression. When these come along it’s like a black cloud descends on me, stifling normal thought, driving me down into a not very nice dark place. It’s not fun when this happens and a lot of the time I don’t even understand why it happens, all I know is it happens and I’m trying my best to learn to cope and deal with it.

The new domain name is supposed to be a way to signify this, but more importantly it’s supposed to show a positive side to the whole dark cloud thing. I do come out through the clouds eventually, and life is good again. I want this corner of the World-Wide-Wait to be a positive place for me come to and write, something I’ve missed a lot since finishing the LEJOG walk, something I know has helped me a lot in the past to exorcise my demons.

What’s with the new look?

The old site was very minimal, very bleak and simple. This was a conscious choice at the time to make sure it was completely different from what came before, and I guess in some ways it mirrored how I felt inside a lot. Again, this wasn’t what I wanted with the new site so I spent a lot of time looking around and came across a great little framework which features as the backbone to this new site. I had originally intended on doing everything myself, but being completely honest, I’d lost the “bug” for designing somewhere along the way and this was a good way of easing myself back into it.

As you can see it’s completely different in almost every way to the old site and, I think, is much fresher. All the images used for the backgrounds are mine, taken by me on my travels and times spent with the girls, so they’re very personal to me, making coming back to lay down my thoughts a lot easier in some ways.

So what do you think?

Personally, I really like the new site and I hope to come back regularly to update you all on what’s been going on, adding new photos and generally talking about anything and everything that takes my interest. I want to make this site work for me, to help me with those forward steps and to try and avoid the clouds as much as I can.

I hope you enjoy your time here!

So I will appreciate the future of a day where the clouds open up and scream, and I sing. I ain’t gonna spend my time wondering why I never made it, I’ve already made it