This weekend, I decided to finally hop on the hottest internet trend of 2008 and I got myself a Tumblr, where I intend to compile links and pictures that I find interesting: Twenty Percent Cooler.
“But Chris,” you’re saying because you are the kind of person who objects verbally to things you read on the Internet, “You already have a perfectly serviceable blog! I am looking at it right now!” And that is a true statement, and I’ve spent the last four years making this site your go-to stop for Chris Sims and Chris Sims Accessories. But here’s the thing: Actually posting things on the ISB is a pain.
WARNING: Whining and Sausage-Making follows!
Because I’m super-obsessive about how things look on this site (not that you could tell from looking at it, I know), I code every blog post by hand, and because I don’t trust WordPress to do exactly what I want with my images, I futz with them in PhotoShop and upload them manually via FTP. So even a short linky post (like most of the things I’ve been doing here since I started working fulltime for ComicsAlliance) require me to pop open my text file of useful HTML pieces that I use over and over again and either upload the image that I’ve already uploaded once to CA or remember what its name is if it’s something I’ve previously uploaded (“AHISBLogo.jpg” is one I usually have to type in twice a week, for instance). So if I see a picture I like on the Internet and want to put it up here like I did with Evel Knievel’s ten speed, that’s two additional programs I have to run, plus any resizing and image futzery I have to do in PhotoShop.
I know, I know, I’m whining about having to drag a picture into an FTP client and cut and paste from Notepad. The first-worldest of first world problems. But it’s still more of a pain than it should be to just link to something I wrote, which is probably why I only tend to link to one of the posts I do at CA every day, rather than two. Meanwhile, Twitter and Tumblr make it much easier. Which is partly because I don’t really care if the images on Tumblr aren’t properly aligned or if the spacing is slightly off.
Now, the easy solution would just be to stop caring so much rather than starting fresh with a new platform, but at the same time, I’m always going to care more about the-isb.com than I should. this is what I’ve spent every night working with since 2005 in some form or another. But the hassle of linking to things really isn’t adding much other than just padding out the archives.
Which brings me to The Tumblr Dilemma. I’m considering moving all my linking, self-hype, quick images, pictures of pretty girls, pictures of Pokemon, pictures of pretty girls dressed as Pokemon, short jokes and all over to Tumblr, and then using The-ISB for announcements of grave import or the occasional actual writing. I know some of you have fond memories of when I’d do that, and I still have pictures of New York from last October that I haven’t put up. That way, the ISB gets to be your stop for actual pertinent Chris Sims content, while I still get to link to all my work.
So, peanut gallery: Thoughts?
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