It has been almost two months since my previous post on this blog, so I thought it’s about time to make an update and talk about what’s been going on during that time. A lot has happened, both online and inside my head. And even more is about to happen as time goes and I get all my plans put into action.

First, if you are reading this in a RSS feed reader (Special thanks to each and every one of my RSS readers who have faithfully stuck around though this quiet period!), you probably want to drop by on the site and check out the new theme I built tonight. I did it at one go, in a total state of flow, in about two hours of typing. It’s not a master piece, and it’s not meant to be one.

I call this theme “The Simplest Theme of all Time” and its only purpose for existing is to allow me to post quick updates on this blog while I’m working on the next version of JarkkoLaine.com. 

On Having Two Blogs

Like most of you probably know, around the time of the last update on this blog, I started a new blog called Insanely Interested. More accurately, I moved this blog’s original idea to that new blog and started over — from scratch.

Insanely Interested is a blog about curiosity, creativity, being insanely interested in everything. The very things that this blog used to be about. But it does it in a new (and in my opinion, improved) style, striving for longer, more in-depth, maybe even magazine-like articles that I try to use to reinvent blogging.

I know that’s quite a big goal, and I have a long way to go, but you’ve got to have ambition, don’t you?

So far, I have published the following 6 posts at Insanely Interested, and more is coming at a pace of about one new post every 1,5 weeks.

• Text is Art, Content is King
• What Do We Do When the World Comes Crumbling Down?
• Three Wacky Ideas That Turned Golden
• There is Something About Focus
• Postman Pat (The Good Life)
• But How am I Supposed to Focus With all These Ideas Running Through my Head?

In my next post at Insanely Interested, I will be talking about the building blocks of a community, and more precisely, the bright future I see for the site. I hope you will be there too to participate in building a vibrant community of people who can’t get enough of life by just focusing in one clearly-cut focal point. This will be interesting.

But while I am really happy with the direction I’m taking with Insanely Interested, and can’t wait to see the ingredients that you guys will bring to the mix, there is a lot to improve here at JarkkoLaine.com.

When you have two blogs, it doesn’t make sense to make them too similar.

That’s why, I am making a clear focus division between this blog and my new one, Insanely Interested.

JarkkoLaine.com Will be about Jarkko Laine

That’s it, in a nut shell. Exagerating only a little.

Insanely Interested will be about you. The community. Sharing our ideas about being insanely interested in everything. Getting to know other insanely interested people.  Learning to cope with the personality trait. And making the most out of it.

Now, when the blog is freed from the restrictions set by bearing my name, all of that is possible.

And on the other hand, it means that I can turn the web site named after me to be about me. So, although I have been quite open and personal about my own thoughts already in the past, there will be more of that in the future. 

I will talk about ideas that come into my mind. Sometimes the posts might only be a few sentences long. Sometimes much longer. Just as many characters as the thought will take to be put into words. 

I will talk about things I am working on. In this sense, this will be my portfolio: the place where I share links to the things I have created. Things I have always wanted to share with you but never had a place to do it.

And naturally, I will still talk to you. If you decide to stick around (if you don’t want to stay here and read about me, please consider moving over to Insanely Interested instead), I will always welcome a comment, question or thought. And there will always be room for discussion.

After all, I wouldn’t be blogging if I wasn’t thinking about you: the reader.

Things to Check Out

Thanks for reading! Here are some links in case you are interested in seeing what I have been up to lately:

• Twitter: Check out my Twitter profile and send me a “Hi” if you tweet!
• North x East: A new article of mine was published just last week.
• GoodReads: I’m listing my books read here. Send me a friend request and let’s compare books!
• Nettuts: My first-ever NETTUTS tutorial went live today, on Friday. It’s about making WordPress plugins.

And some interesting things happening around the world right now:

• The Power of Less: Leo Babauta from Zen Habits is releasing a new book around new year. This is going to be big.
• Outliers: Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers, takes a close look at success and shows that we are wrong about its sources and reasons as we love the story of the self-made millionaire.
• The Firefly Manifesto: Jonathan Fields is sharing a free ebook that talks about how the economic meltdown might well be the best thing that ever happened to you.

What Have You Been Up To?

That was my hello. Now it’s your turn: what have you been up to these two months? Let’s chat! And don’t forget to check out Insanely Interested, if you haven’t yet.