i've had a recent burst of creative energies and have been doing some updating of the site behind the scenes. some of it (programming code enhancements, mostly) you've already been privy to, some of it you'd see if you poked around, but most of it is lying hidden until i finish all of it and roll it out in one big, heaping mess of a new release. strap on your galoshes!

what i've done so far:

• updated much of the programming code across the site to be more efficient, faster and use more centralized functions. this may show up in slight performance improvements but for the most part, it's an enhancement only i will enjoy.
• re-doing Sean Recommends so that it is prettier, more useable, easier to manage and, y'know, actually has content. i shut it down a while ago when i realized it was shit and needed to be fixed. the new version is way cooler. you'll see.
• moved the Photos section into PHP and MySQL. this makes it a whole lot easier to manage and, therefore, easier to add pictures to. this is good for you because it means more pictures. and you like pictures. i know you do. i watch you and you head right to the pictures. or the news. i'm on to your scheme. (also, added some minor visual improvements and linked up my portfolio images to the main photo section.)
• added a new content section for various oddities including fiction, essays and poetry i've written, and works i've collected from other people. it should be a good read if i can gather the resources together in time. otherwise, it'll probably be useful only as a sleep aid.
• created an obligatory, but previously absent, Links page. i realized i have a lot of curious, interesting, useful and weird site links to share. i also realized i'd kind of like a place where i can store and access the lot of them when i'm away from my usual bookmarks.
  
• got rid of the seriously ugly Join design and replaced it with a very temporary, very austere layout. you could actually go see this right now, if you were so inclined. and, yes, i know that you can no longer go look at the current cult members without joining. (well, you can but there's no direct link from the main page.) i will add a link later. or maybe i already did!
• added a whole bunch of neat behind-the-scenes management tools that you will never get to see. so nyah!
  

what i plan on doing before releasing the whole thing to the general public (this means you):

• finish off Sean Recommends: complete coding the other portions of the section, write content, test.
• upload new pictures.
• update the About section design. just clean it up a little and replace the main graphics with something that doesn't suck quite so much.
• remove/update the main navigation to be appropriate for the new sections. this means saying goodbye to Television (the idea never came to fruition and has been replaced with something simpler and better), changing Vespa to include other motorized vehicle love (haven't yet thought of a name -- ideas?), adding Links, and consider combining Resume and Portfolio, though this requires completing a couple items below.

what i'd love to do before the release but seriously doubt i will:

• update my portfolio with a better design, new case studies and complete content. it currently seriously sucks and i'd love to change that.
• move my resume into a new design i've had laying around for a long time now.
• consider merging my resume and my portfolio.
• add search functionality to either the whole site or just the news section.
• provide a login, personalization, "protected" areas for only logged in folks, email aliases for joined members, base "last updated" dates and content served on dropped cookies, etc. these are pretty big deal items.

so, as you can see, i've been busy. this is a long overdue update that i have been only sort of working on for the past year. it was only recently that i had enough inspiration to rub together and make it happen. i'm pretty happy so far and i'm hoping the rest of the progress goes as swimmingly.