You're Probably Here About the Story

... or, how do you blog?

I'm not new to this blogging scene. I've kept websites and online journals since around 1997, hopping around from place to place. This site, my final resting place on the web, began when I was a sophomore in college and despite going through many changes, has always been centered around my journal.

I remember having to explain to people exactly what a blog meant. I had people asking me why I would want to put my life out there like that, because even back when I started, it wasn't as prevalent to do something like this. Now, it seems like everybody and their brother has a web presence.

I've seen the genre's change. I've seen design styles morph and evolve and just like high school, I've seen (and been a part of, natch!) trends that exploded then died a quick (or slow) death.

I've watched cam girls grow up (not too well in that case, unfortunately), seen the transformation and departure of some of the more famous net presences, and to this day wonder what happened to many of the prominent bloggers from back in the day who have all but disappeared from the net scene.

Remember chromeless pop-up windows? Splash pages? The constant rise and fall of 10 pt Tahoma and Verdana? Tables? Java applets? I-Frames and the little check box required to open links in new windows? Button walls? Calls for hostees to any random people? Guestbooks? Tagboards?

Like the interweb, this site has evolved. And I'm grateful to look back and at its beginnings and see what it has become.

But sometimes, I find that even as I grow up, I find it harder to maintain than back in the beginning. Maybe because it was new and exciting back then. I certainly wasn't less busy. I was more busy, working two jobs and going to school, but I always found time to blog.

Maybe I feel like I've run out of ideas. Kind of like reaching the end of the Internet. I feel like I've been on it so long that I've written about everything.

Sometimes mustering up the creativity is hard enough. I spend all day on the computer and when I come home, I'm usually on here too, mindlessly surfing, trying to let my mind settle from all the crap that I had to concentrate on during the day. Coming up with a post can be taxing. And even worse, when I go long periods without updating, I have so much to say that I have to strike a fine balance between wanting to tell everyone everything and not wanting to bore you all with a ridiculously long entry.

Then there's other times when I don't want to get caught blogging at work. Or when I'm trying to spend time with Boyfriend and watch a movie or a TV show and don't want him to feel like he's being neglected. Particularly if I know it's going to take a little while to compose my thoughts properly.

Maybe I'm too easily distracted. I've always been the type of person that has to mute the TV in order to talk on the phone. Or if I try and watch TV when I'm on the computer, I miss half of everything. Don't even try to speak to me when I'm reading a book. Maybe a quarter of the information will get to me.

I guess what I'm saying is that I stopped concentrating so much on the graphic design part of this site in order to try and blog more. Aside from the fact that changing up the layout every month or so became even more cumbersome than writing an entry, I wanted a streamlined process. Change some colors and upload a new masthead and voila, old but new.

But blogging has a tendency to fall by the wayside too. Maybe I need to schedule it. Maybe I need to get up earlier or stay up later and turn off every distraction and just write.

I'm not looking to try too hard, I'm just looking for some motivation.

How do you blog? How do you fit in or find the time to write amongst all your daily activities? How do you get inspired? How do you compose your thoughts?

We all are a part of the blogsphere. Sometimes it's nice to see people's methods and motivation.

Feel free to kick me in the butt once in awhile. It may just be the motivation I need.