Thinking of starting a blog. Your input will be appreciated!

[Geronimo '74]

I thinking about starting a blog. Not really sure what I want out of it.

Do any of you have a blog? Can they be useful?
If so, what are your reasons for starting one?? Just for fun, to vent, to get some stuff off your chest?? Are you looking for responses or does that not matter?

How regular do you write? Daily, several times a week, a month?

Do some of you just read blogs, without writing one yourself?

I guess keeping it anonymous is the most logical way to go, I don't have Perez Hilton ambitions or anything...

Any ideas, input, tips, do's and don'ts would be great.

TIA

[Scuba Steve]

I have one for all the renovation and whatnot going on at home. Guess it's mostly house-centric and about what I'm up to, how to do things and pictures of projects. Updates are weekly at the least often, kind of depending on what I'm up to and how much time there is for it.

Very low readership but hey it's out there. It's useful because my parents, aunts, uncles and whoever are interested in all the work that I've been doing and it's a convenient and easy way to get pictures and updates out to them.

A couple of friends I grew up with have one too, but I don't read theirs so often.

[GH85Carrera]

I have read only a few blogs, long ago. I just can't get interested in some chick and her dumb cat. If you have an interesting subject or can make it funny it might get some readers. In the end will it be worth the effort to write something all the time? Good luck!

[porsche4life]

I've never understood blogging. But I HATE creative writing and that type of thing. I'm not a good story teller.

I did read one blog frequently but it is currently on Hiatus.
NSFW demonbaby dot com NSFW is worth a read

[sc_rufctr]

Depends. What are you into?

EG: If you were planning a round the world trip taking photos and posting as you go then that blog would be cool.
I think it would be more interesting if you were back packing around rather than staying 5 star.

What about restoring a car or vintage air plane? They're always good.

How about something big. Like a move across country or change in career?

Ideally you want one that has people are waiting on the next episode.

[M.D. Holloway]

Isn't this place good enough?

[mossguy]

I have a blog called Mossguy's Garage (how original!). I have two hobby cars, the 911 and the '82 Volvo. I record what I do on the cars as a way of patting myself on the back for having completed part of a project and to keep a record with pics of how I did something, mileage, and steps taken. This gives me something to refer to when I screw up. I am also a wood worker and a gardener, so I keep track of that stuff as well. Blogging gives me a place to post my best pictures, especially since I got a new Panasonic ZS5. (Leica is out of my league, Dottore.) Every month I print a hard copy of my blog to use as a reference. My blog goes to six people; family members, my mechanic, a good friend who is not a car guy, and a fellow brickboarder. I often get unsolicited and useful advice on dealing with a problem that I have written up. I post when I have something to say, a problem to solve, or some neat pictures. No set schedule.

Best,
Tom

[Geronimo '74]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

I've never understood blogging. But I HATE creative writing and that type of thing. I'm not a good story teller.

I'm actually quite good at it and enjoy it very much.

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Depends. What are you into?

EG: If you were planning a round the world trip taking photos and posting as you go then that blog would be cool.
...
Ideally you want one that has people are waiting on the next episode.

I was already planning to go the travelstory route.
But instead of writing about landscapes and sceneries, I want to write about people I meet.
I'm not sure if I would get a lot of readers, But then again, that may not be the main goal of my blog. But it would be nice to have at least some readers.
My main goal is the challenge and to satisfy my curiosity, and some soulsearching might be involved too.

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

Isn't this place good enough?

This place is awesome, but I am planning to keep it completely anonymous.


Mossguy, how many readers do you have (not including the six you send it out to) ?
Are they regulars?

[porsche4life]

I think remaining anonymous becomes mostly impossible after a while. At sons point you will feel compelled to post a photo. Or you readers will want to know mire about the man behind the keyboard as it were...

[Geronimo '74]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

I think remaining anonymous becomes mostly impossible after a while. At sons point you will feel compelled to post a photo. Or you readers will want to know mire about the man behind the keyboard as it were...

I'm not really planning to make it an interacive blog.
Readers ( if any) can react but I will not respond, and I am definately NOT going to post pics of myself.
I have never posted my real name on the internet either, NEVER. A few guys on this site know my real name through email correspondance, that's it.
If I google my name, I get zero hits that are actually about me.
The anonymous aspect is very important to me, I will tell only a few good friends about it and if they want to react, they will have to do it under a different name as well. So I will not know who is who.

[GH85Carrera]

So your real name is not G-man??

[Z-man]

I am not big on blogging -- why should I read up on someone else's miserable, pathetic life when I'm too busy dealing with my own miserable, pathetic life.

I also don't 'do' twitter and facebook, so maybe I'm just not as tech-savvy as the rest of the Pelican braintrust is....

-Z-man.

[Geronimo '74]

Not all blogs are about one's miserable pathetic life, Z-man....
I actually plan to put a good deal of humor in mine.
Dunno if I'll like it, but I'm going to give it a try, see how it goes.

I don't 'do' twatter and fakebook either. ( no disrespect for the people that do, it is just not my thing)

[Zeke]

One of the best blogs was a Hollywood grip (lighting assistant) that was a woman. She blogged anonymously and told great stories about the industry and the players including whiny actors and directors. She eventually got identified by the various references to certain sets she was on.

I don't think the results were kind to her.

A good story I remember was about laying cable for lights from the generator in downtown Los Angeles. Overnight, the cables were peed on and vomited on by homeless residents of the streets. The grips would unhook the ends and leave the cables to be stolen and salvaged when the shoot was finished rather than clean them. Not sure the production accountants knew this beforehand.

Stuff like that will get you read big time. I think she's all done in more than one way.

[nostatic]

I blogged every day for a number of years. Finally in July of this year I slacked off. I don't really care if anyone reads it - it served at times as a platform for various creative output, and also as an edited journal so I could go back and recall what was going on at particular points. Interesting reading for me as it chronicled my life through the divorce. These days I'm just too busy/burned out to keep up writing every day.

[Geronimo '74]

Those of you that have a blog or read them, which sites do you use?

I've tried blogger dot com but it is sooo not userfriendly, it isn't even funny anymore...
It's difficult to find other posters if you do not have their URL, or you need to make some other G reader account... I've got a Gmail account already, how many more do I need...
Browsing in some kind of central archive is not possible, do they even have a central archive??

Site navigation is a complete disaster, I keep getting lost...

Any tips would be great!

[porsche4life]

Never done it but this looks easy...
Tumblr

[nostatic]

i run my own servers. The software I use runs typepad.com.