I thought I’d take a minute or two to update everyone on the recent changes and moves regarding my online presence. The 10-second version is that I was seeking a much smaller (and modestly ambiguous) footprint catering more to my creative sensibilities than it did to search engine placement. To be more precise, I wanted my online presence to better reflect my own personality along with those of my friends, family and loyal band of followers I have been lucky enough to cultivate over the years. In more practical terms, it simply means fewer spaces to maintain and hopefully more time for the actual acts of creative ideation, experimentation and output.

I encourage you to visit my updated links page for a complete list of active spaces and third-party sites. Briefly, my writing will remain at JamesCurtisSmith.com, but the site will undergo a quick redesign to make it smaller and more streamlined as well. The dedicated site for my upcoming book Solitary Zen: Buddhism for Loners remains intact and no major changes are planned as I focus on the research and writing for that project.

The major changes involve the spaces for my music and photography. After some serious deliberation, I have decided henceforth to record and release my music under the moniker Oh, Say Halo. You can visit the site for a cursory explanation of the name. However, for our purposes here I will simply say that the decision further reflects my efforts at a less narrowly defined musical path and also expresses my desire to include some of my very talented musical friends in future efforts.

My photography site is going away. In the coming days and weeks I will be posting photographic content to this blog. It will be easy enough to simply select the “Photography” category to view the collection of images. I simply don’t have the time, energy or inclination to maintain a separate space for my photographic content. Truthfully, the output isn’t sufficient to justify a separate space.

What else?

Oh, yes – my reading lists. For reasons unknown to me, my current and archive reading lists page has been one of the more popular features of my online presence. I’ve given that content a dedicated space at ReadingLists.org. I’m hoping to give that content a quick “refresher” in the coming days. As always, I encourage your comments, questions and reading recommendation.

I think that about does it. As always, you can send me a quick note via the contact form, you can follow me on Twitter and although I don’t spend any appreciable amount of time there, you can send me a friend request on Facebook.

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing it, but I truly am thankful for your continued interest in – and support of – my creative work.

Namaste,

James