diff --git a/_includes/head.html b/_includes/head.html
index 3b99471f..a5e62421 100644
--- a/_includes/head.html
+++ b/_includes/head.html
@@ -2,6 +2,18 @@
 
 {% include seo.html %}
 
+<!-- Preconnect to external origins for faster resource loading -->
+<link rel="preconnect" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net" crossorigin>
+<link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net">
+{% if site.comments.provider == "disqus" %}
+<link rel="preconnect" href="https://disqus.com" crossorigin>
+<link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://disqus.com">
+{% endif %}
+{% if site.analytics.provider contains "google" %}
+<link rel="preconnect" href="https://www.googletagmanager.com" crossorigin>
+<link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://www.googletagmanager.com">
+{% endif %}
+
 <link href="{% if site.atom_feed.path %}{{ site.atom_feed.path }}{% else %}{{ '/feed.xml' | relative_url }}{% endif %}" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="{{ site.title }} Feed">
 
 <!-- https://t.co/dKP3o1e -->
@@ -13,7 +25,9 @@
 
 <!-- For all browsers -->
 <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ '/assets/css/main.css' | relative_url }}">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fortawesome/fontawesome-free@5/css/all.min.css">
+<!-- Font Awesome - loaded async to prevent render blocking -->
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fortawesome/fontawesome-free@5/css/all.min.css" media="print" onload="this.media='all'">
+<noscript><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fortawesome/fontawesome-free@5/css/all.min.css"></noscript>
 
 <!--[if IE]>
   <style>
diff --git a/_includes/search/lunr-search-scripts.html b/_includes/search/lunr-search-scripts.html
index 574c3900..f6f1b8bc 100644
--- a/_includes/search/lunr-search-scripts.html
+++ b/_includes/search/lunr-search-scripts.html
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 {% else %}
   {% assign lang = "en" %}
 {% endcase %}
-<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr.min.js' | relative_url }}"></script>
-<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr-store.js' | relative_url }}"></script>
-<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr-' | append: lang | append: '.js' | relative_url }}"></script>
\ No newline at end of file
+<!-- Search scripts deferred to prevent render blocking -->
+<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr.min.js' | relative_url }}" defer></script>
+<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr-store.js' | relative_url }}" defer></script>
+<script src="{{ '/assets/js/lunr/lunr-' | append: lang | append: '.js' | relative_url }}" defer></script>
diff --git a/images/avatar.jpeg b/images/avatar.jpeg
index 7bb35ea8..735a8e71 100644
Binary files a/images/avatar.jpeg and b/images/avatar.jpeg differ