diff --git a/gmirator.sh b/gmirator.sh
index 7495b45..9f84eab 100755
--- a/gmirator.sh
+++ b/gmirator.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ make_gemlogs_index() {
 	echo "generating index.gmi"
 	printf '
 => tinylog.gmi tinylogs go here
-=> gemlog/index.gmi full gemlogs here\n\n%s' "$(head $WORKDIR/articles.gmi.temp)" \
+=> gemlog/index.gmi full gemlogs here
+\n%s' "$(head $WORKDIR/articles.gmi.temp)" \
 	| cat $WORKDIR/in.gmi - > $LGMI/index.gmi
 	echo "" >> $LGMI/index.gmi
 
@@ -58,21 +59,9 @@ gmi2html() {
 			continue
 		fi
 
-		# this next condition allows for adding extra line breaks
-		# with 2 empty lines in a row
-		if [[ $line == '' ]]; then
-			if [[ $prev_line_empty == 1 ]]; then
-				printf "<br>\n"
-				prev_line_empty=0
-			else
-				prev_line_empty=1
-			fi
-			continue
-		elif [[ $prev_line_empty == 1 ]]; then
-			prev_line_empty=0
-		fi
-
 		case "$line" in
+			'')
+				;;
 			'* '*)
 				in_list=yes
 				printf "<ul>\n<li>%s</li>\n" "${line/\* }"