I like the layout! I often scrolled down to Recent Threads just to see what was happening around the site, but it definitely catches my eye better now.
I have a (sort of ) related question/comment. The "Thread Watcher" seems to show the most recently updated thread at the bottom of the list of updated threads... Is there any way to reverse this?
I sometimes keep threads on that list for ease of reference, not necessarily clicking on each new update... so the threads where I'm actively participating end up at the bottom of the list (where I have to scroll down for them).