Updates on this site and other associated projects:
So after having moved to self-hosting for a couple of days, there are some upsides and downsides. I don’t believe new posts will appear in the reader anymore, and subscriptions appear to follow to the old site. This is going to mess things up for the short term until I figure something out. That will probably take the form of an increased social media presence, but I need to be a bit careful with that. There will be news coming on that front in a few days, I think. Please be patient as I figure this out. It’s necessary disruption, but it’s disruption.
The upside, though, is I get much better control over the look and feel of the site. Though no one has yet taken advantage of it, there are post ratings that could take the place of likes (and frankly, could actually be a little more troublesome for me, as the feedback may not only be positive), and the commenting system is much fuller featured – I haven’t even begun to take full advantage of what it offers. There are also other plugins that could provide some really interesting functionality that would not have been available on hosted wordpress without an expensive business account. That will also come soon, as I do some tweaking.
As far as Texihabara goes, I’ve been slowly adding content, and will continue to do so. The big issue is that there is so much. Morning Musume’s discography alone is huge, then add the other popular groups, and I’ll have a project for literally years. And that’s just Jpop, add in manga and anime, and, well… Not that this is a bad thing by any means, but it does require some work. Oh well, as I’ve said, it’s good to have a hobby, dontcha think? I’m also thinking of adding a directory for Japanese and asian restaurants and other eateries in Texas, with a review feature, but that will require some work. It’s a project for a future time. Texihabara has not yet found its actual niche, and the Jpop review are solely to provide some starter content, kind of like a sourdough starter. I’ll figure it out eventually. I’ve also commissioned a custom mascot, which should be unveiled in the next week or two. She’s cute! And the price was very good as well.
I’m actually, honestly, a little conflicted about Texihabara, as it is quite transparently more of a product than a labor of love, but every good thing has to start somewhere. And I think I take things too seriously. I’m majime, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
I’m working on another project as well that I have yet to unveil, but that should be coming soon. I am going to take some of the early blog posts I made here and turn them into a standalone resource, but I don’t want to go into further detail juuuuuuuust yet. Watch this space.
As I’ve mentioned, also, I plan on moving the “social justice” content off onto its own site. I have started that process, but I haven’t settled on exactly what that site will look like yet. It’s a delicate balancing act, because I have a lot to say, but it’s far too easy to be a jerk about it. That requires a lot of thought. I have worked up a framework, but I don’t really like it, and I may end up scrapping and retrying.
As far as this blog goes, I think after nearly four years, it still hasn’t quite found its niche either. I need to figure that out. Hopefully moving some stuff off into its own blogs or sites will be helpful with that, and what’s left will be more focused.
I’ve been busy busy! Isogashii desu!!!