I like the new site, except that the ad was for dark chocolate M&Ms which I have to say I love but should not be eating at 2:00am. ("or ever" is debatable because there is no way I would have them only in moderation, but anyway...)

It all looks lovely and I'm impressed by your web development skills :-). The email notifications I will not miss because while I always clicked the box, I never got one email even though my comments were replied to several times (okay, once I got an email saying you had responded but it was five days after the fact).

Congratulations on the redesign and thanks again for the free ice cream, I just used it to get some Klondike bars today!

About the new look, if you're asking for our honest opinions... I don't love the new look. Two things: it's very white, which makes it look kinda plain, and I think the two columns of sidebar overshadow the writing. Part of my hesitation is also due to the fact that I loved the old look. It will take me a while to get used to it. I reeaaally like the light blue sidebar background though :)

YAY! I'm excited :)

I love the earthquake metaphor. I think incorporating your life other than fitness and weight loss into your blog is a great idea!!

I can't wait to read more!

looking forward to the new style and love the facelift!

It's refreshing to hear that you have a well rounded life, complete with ambitions, goals... all that jazz.

BTW, I'm almost finished with your book. When I read the line "I always thought people who were eating healthy were living a miserable life but unaware of it... kind of like people who use AOL." I spit my water out I laughed so hard. Ah, geeky humor! :-)

Best of luck with your new format (both in terms of appearance and topic). I will continue visit and look forward to following your new direction.

I know what you mean about wanting to write about other things. I keep my two journals fairly separate, but that means the readers don't cross over much (well, except you, maybe). I think that's a pity.

Also, I don't care what you blog about, I've enjoyed every entry I've read.

:D

1) Ads in the upper left of a web site get more click-throughs than on the right. If people are going to spend money advertising on my site, I feel like they should get their money's worth. If I bought an ad on a web site, I wouldn't want it to get dumped in the gutter.

2) Most users are right handed and have to scroll on the page using the scrollbar on the right. By placing the content on the right everything is closer together and you'll have to move your hand less to navigate around. This should be a better experience for the user.

3) It's different. I wanted my blog to stand out. Flipping the traditional sidebar position is one way to do that. It risks confusing the user, as you noted, but I think people will get used to it pretty quickly.

Am I the only idiot who is thinking, "It's OK, come on out" ?? If so, rest assured that nobody should be freaking out. You will continue to be loved for the great writing, fabulous sense of humor, strong character and sensitivity that are you.

If these are my own twisted thoughts that resulted from working a midnight double shift, then try to get a good laugh out of it and know I'll never blog again!

Glad the earthquake was not serious. I live in California (San Francisco, to be exact) and always got a kick out of earthquakes UNTIL the Loma Prieta hit. Since then, they are pretty frightening! I can pretty much claim the land speed record for jumping up from wherever I am and running to the "safe spot" in my apartment. ;)

The redesign looks great.

I am guilty of blogging about things other than weight loss on my site, even though losing weight was my primary reason for starting it. But I am more than my weight so it seems only natural that I write about other aspects of my life.

And, I too, think while I write. Helps me clear my head when I can get it on paper, or um, monitor.

I highly of approve of PastaQueen 2.0!!

You are a very entertaining writer and I will be here to read no matter what you're writing about.

And I'm really glad you're expanding the blog topics, too. THAT is the thing I'm most excited about, actually! Woo-hoo!

And, I totally agree about branching out to other topics. I'm glad that you're not abandoning the fitness, health, size of your ass, all that, and looking forward to all your posts.

I said that once to the general manager of the public radio station that I was working for, when he found me writing in my journal one day -- "I don't feel like I've completely experienced something until I've written about it." A little different from what you wrote here, but the same idea.

Good luck with your new look. Everyone'll get used to it and learn to love it as much as they loved the old version.

I decided to just jump in and blog about whatever. It's still mostly funny and it's definitely not just a run-down of my days. But it works for me. And for the handful of readers who visit.

Good luck, PastaQueen. I'm still with you!

I don't think your comment notifications were working anyway. I always clicked it on but never got any e-mails with future comments.

Love the new look. You did a great job with the new layout although I think it may take some time to get used to. I have been reading for so long and did a double-take when I clicked tonight.

I'm looking forward to reading about all the other areas of your life and not just weight-related stuff. I seem to have lost my weight loss focus and have been thinking of changing my blog or giving it up.

I'm going to go check out the rest of this new place.

As for the redesign, I love the clean, easy-to-read font, the wonderful header and your new filing system. I would like to make one suggestion: Move the middle "rail" to the right. I find having the main text so far to the right uncomfortable.

Kudos, Pasta Queen, on embarking on this new blogging challenge. I'll be reading in the full confidence that I'll enjoy your personal insights and humor on a wide range of topics.

I have struggled with this very thing on my own blog... what if I don't talk about running? What if I want to talk about my dog instead? But it all works out. And sometimes I even talk about the size of my ass, which turn out to be the most popular words of all.

:)

I blog about whatever blows my skirt up that day be it diet, fitness or life. I don't think anyone expects you to only blog about diet and fitness and if they do...tough luck! The rest of us want to hear about earthquakes in Indiana :-)

Can't wait to read all of the new posts!

And you are a talented writer so I'm sure your following will only grow from these changes...and your fellow techno-geeks will be thrilled. Your non-techie fans, such as myself, will deal and may even get more informed, despite ourselves.

As usual, you are proving yourself to be groundbreaker!
Keep up the great work!

I actually had you categorized under "humorous" in my reader instead of "weight loss" because I enjoy your sense of humor so much. By the way, that humor actually shows up VISUALLY in this redesign. You should be so proud of it.

However -- i'm also torn because it's like the weightloss me is this totally different persona than the hometown, music loving me. I'm kind of jealous that you're at a state where weightloss you has pretty much morphed into you, period, where you whole life isn't about the weight, and proves something we've known all along, you're much more than your body.

Hoping to get to that state soon, myself. In the meantime, I'm off to update my links to you.... I should probably add you to my "regular" blogroll as well, no? Of course!

The new site looks great! As someone who read the whole of your archives a few months back, its a great change!

And girl, I totally relate on the previous picture post. The half marathon pictures of me were DEPRESSING AS HELL. You can actually see flab rolling across my thighs in one of the pictures. Do I really look that slow? And that fat? Ugh. There was one decent photo of me, and the rest just bummed me out. Which is stupid. I ran 13.1 miles, for crying out loud. I shouldn't be bothered by how I looked, but I was. Sigh. Still got work to do on my fat head thinking.

Love the new look!

I've been reading your blog for sometime and I enjoy it very much, and I think it's great that you are going to talk about more things. May I suggest a particular topic? What about your love life? You are a pretty and acomplished girl, and you must have many male fans, don't you?

Anyway, congratulations again, and thanks for your blog.

I love your writing voice, for one thing.

So I am delighted to visit your blog a second time and learn that you are planning to write about other topics as well.

Oh! But the main reason I came here today is to thank you for linking to my blog (www.IndyTheatreHabit.com) after you wrote about meeting me at the 2008 Blog Indiana conference. 'Sorry it took me so long to say thanks! I really do appreciate it.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your blog.

on the whole, it looks great and i love that the content loads before the ads.

of course you shold blog about you and whatver you are thinking. it seems odd o me that you think you have to mention it. but i like that you are taking control of what you want to write about.

one thing that does bug me about the redesign is your 'you'll laugh your ass off' tag line. it's very commercial, very branded. like pastaqueen inc's new motto. one thing that's attractive about sites like this is how uncommercial and real-people-y they are. yours was already teetering on being too commercial, with all the promos. now with the twitter competition and the tagline, well, i like it a bit less.

also, you didn't just laugh your ass off. you laughed, and you made us laugh, but you also worked and fretted some, and thought about it and tried new things and read books and joined gyms and running clubs and ate things you never knew existed, which was sometimes hard but not always. some things worked and some things didn't. it wasn't quick or obvious or easy. if you could just laugh your ass off everyone with comedy central would be thin.

This week, a story about my dog barfing up tampons - nothing to do with my blog "scope" but just a funny story to tell. You are a great writer so it will be great to just read about you.

Oh, and great new look. Love it!

Mary

I'm excited to reach what you have to say on any old front you'd like to explore.

Congrats on your big branch-out!

So - stop apologizing - keep writing - write what you want - be who you want to be and the majority of people is now reading this blog to read about YOU.

I was wondering when you'd make the transition. I can't wait to read more. ^_^

Also? The new layout if lovely. I adore the little blue flowers.