Blogs with slow loading times are a pet peeve of mine but with good reason. First, consider why people read blogs: they want to be momentarily entertained/informed by someone's opinion. This means that the most important content is the blog post itself. Everything else is extra.
Slow loading times happen when there is an excess of widgets/gadgets on the blog. Honestly, I'm not going to be looking at someone's tag cloud or scroll through all the latest movies they've seen and then later play a cute mini fish game while reading about their latest posts on Twitter. I want to read the friggin' blog. All the extra stuff looks fun but it is preventing readers from reading the content that could make them come back for more.
When adjusting the layout of your blog, always keep in mind the reader, not you. Your blog should load quickly and the main content should be easy to find and prominent. Any extra features added should only be there to help the reader more easily navigate or follow your blog.
