It's only just occurred to me that the basic design of the site has remained largely unchanged since February. That has to be a record for me. The background is probably the biggest change I've made to the design in 9 months.
Either it's because I've chosen a design I actually like, or because I really don't have the inclination to design something new. I'm guessing it's probably a mixture of the two.
As a designer, my first instinct is always to come up with a flashy, graphically-lush site that’s pretty much there to detract visitors from the content. For my blog, I made a conscious decision to use a design as plain as my sensibilities would allow, so that it would force me to work harder on the content. Whether I managed to succeed on either point is debatable, but it has given me a real appreciation for blogs that don’t feel the need to hide behind anything. That being said, your blog shines for content, and I would be perfectly happy reading it with no design or layout whatsoever. :-)