Through some stroke of incredible good fortune (or plain dumb luck), I seem to have been blessed with a super-fancy account upgrade (free of charge!) over at Typepad.

God only knows what possessed them (something about me being dedicated and -er- influential, my heavens), but before they come to their senses and take all the glory of Advanced Template Hooha and Total User Control Thingy away, I figure I might as well make something of it.

Which brings me to you, dear readers and commenters and lurkers (I know you're out there, you silent masses, don't think I don't seeeee youuuuu). I know absolutely diddly squat about design and Photoshop and making pretty banners and other such hallmarks of a personal Weblog run by someone who actually knows what h-t-m-l stands for. I've always just used a plain old Typepad template because it was easy to use and I didn't have to lift a finger besides choosing a design that looked simplest/plainest/therefore prettiest and then clicking on a "save changes" button.

(Yes, it's true - I know absolutely nothing about The Internet.)

But I have been bored for a while, itching for a site design that is a little more personal, a little less cookie cutter. Something simple and subtle and pretty, yes! But also something that is all my own. I think we can probably all agree that I/we could use a change around here. Yes?

So.

Hrrm.

Do you have any advice? Tips? Art direction? Are any of you people out there designer-bloggy types who would be willing to share your wisdom? Or actual help? Perhaps some of you have been sitting on your hands each time you read a post from me, wishing you could reach through the computer screen and rearrange fonts/photos/colors/banners/the-whole-damn-thing-so-help-you-God?

If so, please leave me a comment or send me an email. Let's talk. I need your help.

(Let's discuss incentivization - Ben told me that was a real word and so I'm using it - offline, though I can already tell you that it will certainly include lots and lots of cookies. Homemade by me. Swear to God.)