It's Alive! chrisbmn.com Gets a Proper Refresh

Okay, so let's be honest - the old site had been running on "I'll fix that eventually" energy for longer than I care to admit. If you visited before and thought "hm, this feels a little… dusty," you weren't wrong. But that's all behind us now, because I finally did the thing.

The site got a full refresh. And I'm genuinely pretty happy with it.

The visual overhaul was the obvious starting point. Everything got cleaned up, tightened up, and given a look that actually feels like me — not just whatever the default theme happened to be. Colors, layout, the whole deal. It's sharper, it's more intentional, and it loads without making you question your internet connection.

Speaking of loading — the old WordPress setup had gotten rough. Like, "go make a sandwich while the page thinks about it" rough. That's gone. The new site is fast. Genuinely, actually fast. I don't even have caching fully enabled yet, and it's that fast!  Turns out when you're not dragging along seventeen plugins and a theme built in 2014, things tend to move a little quicker.

But the speed wasn't even the most exciting part.

The bigger news is the blog — which, yes, you are currently reading, so clearly that part is working. Writing has always been something I've wanted to do more of, and now I kinda feel a little more inspired to do it. I mean, not a lot, but its more then it was..  Tech stuff, gaming, random thoughts, life in Minnesota — if it's on my mind, it'll probably end up here at some point.

Oh, and dark mode. Obviously. Because it's the right thing to do and I will not be taking questions. Light mode is there too, for those of you who apparently enjoy staring into the sun. No judgment. Much judgment. Ya bunch of maniacs!

There are also some new features baked in that I think people will actually find useful. Nothing I need to over-explain right now — half the fun is poking around and finding them yourself. Let's just say the site does a little more than it used to.  I mean a little, like maybe one or two tops.. I swear.

Is it perfect? Not yet. It probably never will be — that's kind of the nature of a personal site. But it's alive, it's functional, and it's a place I'm actually excited to send people to now.

So, if you're new - welcome. If you're revisiting, welcome back!  Poke around. And if you've got thoughts, the feedback is always welcome. 

— Chris