I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July, or for my Canadian visitors, a wonderful Canada Day. One of my top favourite holidays, what other day do you get to enjoy the simple act of blowing stuff up?

On to me? Well, I’m working at simplifying my life again, clearing out the clutter, and getting back to basics. I’ve put some serious research into this, and I fear my amazon.com wish list has grown (and will continue to grow) at a rather insane rate. I’m not looking for a lot of things, I’m looking for a few nice things, but the wish list gives me a place to decide “hrm, do I want to go this route or that route?” A couple of things I’m focusing on:

1. Kitchen supplies – I’m really looking at going mostly cast iron. Getting rid of the insane excess I own, and paring down to a couple nice pots and pans. Multitaskers of the world unite. Alton Brown would be pleased.
2. Furniture – I’ve come to realize that most, if not all, of my furniture is very old and worn out. Replacing this is one of the biggest things on the list, but also the most complicated. Admittedly the area I could use the most help in figuring out a good set that would fit my retrofit. Ideas? Suggestions? Comment section or contact me! I’d love to hear what others are doing.
3. Clothing – Much like my furniture, I haven’t done a proper clothing shop in I honestly don’t know how long. So I’m getting rid of the old and worn (for the most part), and getting the new and comfortable.
4. Electronics – Yes, I’m a complete geek. I’ve now got a 40″ Sony TV, a new Panasonic Blu-Ray player, and a Miele Vacuum. That said, I’m not done… Technology was designed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, and while the former part of that may be scientifically proven wrong, the latter half can indeed be true. What’s life if you’re not willing to have some fun right?

So I’m making things simple, I’m cleaning things up, and I’m getting back to basics. I like this idea, it’s refreshing, and while it’s a lot of work now, the result is entirely worth it to me. If you’ve wondered what I’ve been up to of late, this would be the answer. Well, that and working my 4 10s each week, as well as crowbaring some overtime in here and there to help. Oh, and playing some WoW, heroic Lich King dead, woot!

This is me, signing off for now, enjoy your day!

_{Credits to header image for this post to: Eustaquio Santimano}

Secondly my websites, peoii.com is still going to remain my official blog, but my other domains (most of which I’m certain not as many know about) are going to undergo some re-defining as to their purpose.

Peoii.com – My main blog, where content shall remain unfiltered. If I need to rant something off, this is where it’ll happen. More frequently, this I promise to myself. I need that outlet in order to resolve things, so here’s where it shall be.

Anpobal.com – I’m working towards a more healthy me, so I’m going to start publishing dishes I’m trying, recipes I’m creating, and a specific focus on the newer healthier me tips that might help others.

JamieHarrell.com – Yes, I actually own it, and now it’s just a quick portal for myself that I made. It’ll continue in that same light, but I want to completely modernize the appearance and jazz it up. Suggestions are completely welcome to this end!

Photos – I’m going to set up a photo blog for myself, I just need to narrow down which platform I want to use. There are quite a few options, and unlike services like Flickr, I really want that security to know that my photos remain mine. Plus, I pay for web space, why should I pay them too?

Facebook – My “a sides” as it were, not fully formed thoughts, just ramblings/etc. More private audience, and if you haven’t befriended me there, by all means send me an invite. It’s filtered, but only just.

Twitter – My twitter account is likely going to be subject to simply a placeholder whereby my activities on all my websites will be syndicated.

To that end, it’s quite a task, centralizing everything and making it flow properly from site to site. Likely you’ll see massive changes on all fronts, but in the end, it’s the goal I’m after anyway.

There are many more changes in the works, but these are the beginning stones to me. I’m anxious to see what this may provide, and how it may change me. It’s been needed for a while, and I’m writing it here as a commitment to myself to get it done. Here’s to the beginning.

1. I have a vision, I know exactly what I want to see from the site, and I know how to accomplish that. Ironically, a lot of things I want are part of the new default theme coming with WordPress 3.0. So I’m going to hold out for that, and modify the theme accordingly.
2. I won a digital camera… something I’ve wanted for a long while, and that’s going to allow me to get the vision I want for the website done properly.

I’m personally very anxious to play around with the camera, and I just got the UPS tracking information for it today. So yea… look for new stuff coming soon!

When I originally launched this site the upkeep was insane. Everything was hand written, but I loved the look and feel I had developed for the page layout. Problem was, my tastes change a lot when it comes to design, and I found myself spending more time on maintenance than actually posting content. Lately, I’ve been slacking on content because the presentation isn’t where I want it to be. So it’s time to fix that, it’s time to get back to my roots, while still being able to allow WordPress to do it’s job and handle all the backend code that I’d honestly rather not deal with on this project.

So hopefully you’ll be seeing a change again by Thursday, and if nothing else, I’ll post some screenshots of the work in progress. (Even though my visit count has gone down recently due to lack of updates, I still can’t launch an at least mostly complete theme)

Until then.

In other news, I apologize for my silence of late. I’ve had a lot on my mind, and even more on my plate as it were. It’s been a very insane month for me, and the next one doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down at all. Crazy how things work out like that huh? Oh well! Starting into better weather, and that should help a bunch for me personally. Love the winter!

Anyway, just a quick update to say yes, I’m alive, yes I’m around, and yes I’ll be updating this sooner than a month from now.

As June comes to a close, and August starts anew, I’d like to wish everyone out there a wonderful wonderful new month. May it treat us all better than the previous, and for the love of all that is holy in this world may it actually COOL DOWN! This heatwave is beyond stupid.

Anyway, just a quick blurb saying “Yay! I updated the page!”, and more to come still down the road!

One thing I will say, I missed my friends, both old and new. You don’t really realize what you’ve got staring at you in the face until you’re not able to contact it for a while. Granted, I was there for a very specific purpose, and I wouldn’t have traded it at all. But it does put one into kinda a reflective mode. Anyway!

Coming sooner than later (ie: very likely this week):

1. Updated About Me Page: I’m not pleased at all with the great american novel that is my about me page, so yea, major revamp time.
2. Couple Posts of Ideas: I’ve been organizing my life a bit of late, and there’s a couple ideas I’ve come up with that would assist me with using the tools I already use better.
3. Integration: If you couldn’t tell, I’m not only here, but I’m on Twitter and on Facebook as well. They’re my choice for ‘asides’ posts if you will. What do I want to do with that? Get a little more bi-directional posting, so that everywhere can be updated every time.

Anyway, yea, that’s me. And look, it didn’t take a year for the next update! *cough* More later.

P.S.: Broiler + Sandwich stuffs + 5 minutes == Charcoal.