JDog's Profile

? I'm kind of confused by TotallyPutOff's remark -- my reaction was, I enjoyed seeing ways in which various AT community members have been influenced by Sendak's work over the years, and the variety of creative ways in which Sendak has inspired parents and children to experience his world. Isn't it usual, when saluting or remembering important cultural figures, to engage in a bit of retrospective on what their influence has been? It's not like AT was pushing a commercial agenda here to buy more Wild Things products, which I agree would have been off-putting.

Anyone else note the (I think unintentional) irony of the middle poster ("Stay Curious")? "FOCUS" is right in the middle, surrounded by two dozen other instructions that encourage you to do anything but focus.

I much prefer the simplicity of Ankuchma's poster -- thanks for the inspiration!

JackieD-- funny, I had the same reaction even though rationally it makes no sense -- as you point out, there are raw eggs in cake batter and you bake these things, so should be just fine!

I'm wondering what it would be like to peel the eggshells away from these -- sounds like a fun project if the eggshell comes off easily (and somewhat less fun if the eggshells have a tendency to stick to the cake!)

Lovely. And I love the description of this style as "nature walk"!

So visually appealing, in every way. And I LOVE the ombre cake.

Beautiful! When can I move in? =)

To multiple commenters: hey, different strokes for different folks. Either you like it or you don't -- and feel free to express your own opinions as personal opinions, but please don't judge one approach over another as superior.

@Pinkett -- How to do it with small kids? I think the choices on hard-edged furniture + kids boil down to: a) teach kiddo to behave properly around the furniture, and be cool when the occassional accident happens (works better with some kids than others -- and frankly, with some parents than others), b) kiddie-proof the furniture for a few years with padded edges (which you remove, of course, when your house is being photographed and featured!), c) assume the two things cannot co-exist and make furniture choices accordingly. Unsurprisingly, different approaches work for different families based on their kids' personalities, their own parenting style, and the space they live in.

@Chenell: Perhaps I'm reacting a bit here to having my comment lumped in the same category as Medusa's comment -- here are some links that may help you understand why choking and helium shortage are not (in my opinion) "jaw-droppingly silly" issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/13/garden/balloons-made-of-latex-pose-choking-hazard.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/why-the-world-is-running-out-of-helium-2059357.html

But to the main intent of the post here, I still think this is a truly lovely use of balloons, a beautiful color scheme, and a lovely looking party!

I share many of the other posters' concerns that the new redesign focuses more on "visual style" with less regard for "usability". I would have guessed that a majority of your readers want to check in daily on the latest content (in which case a main page that aggregates all content -- except kid stuff -- in chronological order makes sense). I agree that readers with kids is a separate segment that should have easy access to the Family content (which is likely of no interest to readers without kids). Similarly, it seems like there are distinct segments of readers -- those who look for design inspiration, others who want a clearer focus on attainable design -- and I would have expected a redesign effort to help clarify use of the site for those two segments in some way. (DIY only addresses part of the motivations of the "attainable design" crowd, I think.)

From an aesthetic perspective, I find the new design most problematic in that it is not well-designed for people with smaller screens -- the photos and font size are too large to fit in a single screen view, and so the user spends a lot more time clicking and scrolling and actually loses the overall visual impact that I think the redesign was aiming for. I had a more enjoyable experience viewing content on the old site. Time will tell if this means I continue to read for the content, or, whether the overall experience is annoying enough to effectively drive me away (or at least, reduce the frequency of visits).

While I'd expect any new design to provoke strong reactions from a loyal and vocal readership (both positive and negative), the commentary here suggests that the AT redesign might have benefited from a bit more understanding of how people wanted to use the site and perhaps a bit more beta-testing before a full-scale launch. It will be interesting to see whether and how AT chooses to respond to some of this feedback, and what the overall impact on its readership will be.

I agree with what some_myrrh said. A Ukelele is just the right size for a kid, and "functional sound" is right -- the 4 strings on a Ukelele are tuned to notes that are actually pleasant to hear strummed without fingering (whereas, a guitar's 6 strings are not so much). Mahalo makes some cute ukeleles.

A nursery! and all its accompanying gear (crib, changing table, etc.) I never expected to go this route, but co-sleeping has become our family's choice -- and has reduced the amount of space and stuff we have needed or acquired, at least over the past 2 years. Certainly not for everyone, but definitely has helped reinforce a minimalist approach to baby gear.