I'm really sick of the cluttered look of this blog. I've got to do something about it.

For one thing, I've got about five billion different banners, ads, etc... and it all just looks like a pile of junk. I need to delete some of it, I guess.

I think that what I really need is a three-column blog template, but Blogger doesn't have any to pick from. I've looked around the net for free blog templates, but I can't really find anything that works. Some of them aren't freeware or linkware, so they're out of the question, anyway. I'm off work with a back injury. Right now even paying the water bill is a struggle. I can't even think about plopping down $20 or $60 for a flippin' template.

There are lots of free ones out there, but none of the ones I've seen really suit my needs. Some of them just look awful... others are related to themes or subjects that just wouldn't work here. I can't imagine this blog with, for instance, an Anime theme, or a Corvette theme, or a naked-chicks theme.

Part of the reason for the clutter is that I have a thousand Amazon ads, none of which I really need... but I love music and books and like the idea that I might turn someone one to a good read or a good listen, so I put those ads up. My blogroll is also really in need of attention... but I don't want to ditch any of the blogs in there because I read 80% of them on an almost daily basis. All of those clickable banners really ad to the clutter, too... but they're all for causes and interests I really support, so I hate to get rid of them.

There are blogs that I read that look great, but I imagine that the guys and gals who have them are a lot better at html and code than I am. Jerry's blog looks really great, and he has a lot of content, but it isn't cluttered. Derek Gilbert's Weapons of Mass Distraction is just about the coolest looking blog out there, and I noticed that Derek uses Wordpress, which is freeware... so I downloaded it and tried to learn how to use it. Brain surgery would be easier for me to pull off. The Rhodester has a really sharp looking blog, too... I think I'm going to have to face that fact that, in order to make my blog look anywhere near as good as some of these blogs look, I'm gonna have to just ditch some of the clutter.

Sigh.