Kevin In the world of observances and holidays, both official and unofficial, today’s is one that hits close to home for me. It’s Blogger Day 2024, and I felt like there was no better way to celebrate it than make it a part of my Blogger’s Highway series. It’s 2 for the price of 1, I guess you could say. Before I make too much more headway into this post, I’d like to let you know that this post contains sponsored links. This means that I may make a commission from any clicks or purchases. However, you’re in luck, as this comes at no additional cost to you! Thanks a million for supporting the brands that help keep the lights on up in these parts!
According to National Today, Blogger Day got its’ start in the 1990s, in the format of its’ predecessors on the interwebz of yore. However, Blogger is a platform in and of itself, and its’ rollout was in the summer of 1999.
In the summer of 1999, I was a rising 8th grader, and the Internet was still a long ways away from coming to my house at that time. I wouldn’t have even known about Blogger’s existence, let alone cared in the first place.
National Today says that another company owned Blogger, and once the Google buyout was a done deal in 2003, it brought blogging and Blogger as a platform to something accessible to everyone if they wanted it. Over the years, features and tools that were once premium on the platform became standard, giving users more options in terms of what they wanted their blogs to look like.
When I got regular access to the Internet in college, I read quite a few Blogger-made blogs. Most of them no longer exist as of this writing, and others have taken off in whole new directions.
I often wonder how those bloggers are holding up these days, since for a long while, they kept me company and gave me something to look forward to each day.
I’d considered doing something on Blogger, but never got around to it. Probably for the best, looking back. It just wasn’t the right time, and I wasn’t ready.
I’m writing this on the eve of another work week, so Happy New Week, everyone. I’m currently doing some meal prep for the week, and happy to be back in the swing of things w/ that, since I fell off the wagon in that department.
Hey, I’m guessing it’s part of how I gained back 60 pounds in the first place. Well, that, and being wildly off in my calorie counting.
Big shocker I failed math all through school, eh?
No worries, though. What happened, happened. I can’t change the past, but I have the power to do something about it in the here and now.
It’s been a hell of a ride in the years that have passed since I officially started this blog, both personally and in terms of my day job and my summer job. When I started this blog, I never dreamed I’d actually have a job that didn’t pay me bad enough that even calling it a pittance was giving it too much credit, let alone one that paid hourly, and anything even close to the double digits.
Yet, here I am.
I never thought I’d ever live to see the day that would happen. No, that was something for everyone else except me.
I’ve gone long stretches w/o so much as a post on here, and it’s royally fucking w/ my head. Like, seriously. I feel like I’ve failed everyone, and failed myself too. But that’s a whole nother story for some other time, haha.
The good news is that you get to be the one to call the shots when it comes to blogging. Sure, it’s a long, drawn-out process, and overnight successes are the super-rare exception, not the norm.
Besides, ppl start and leave blogs all the time, and the way I figure it, the more the merrier. Sure, you can go the free route, which I’ve actually done before during my days on LiveJournal, but you can also go self-hosted.
I love the free route for blogging, since it’s a great way to test the waters and see how you like it. If you decide that’s something you’d like to stick w/ and be done w/ it, that’s totally cool w/ me.
If you decide to go self-hosted, a great way to start is by snapping up your domain name at Namecheap, like yours truly did. I’ve gone into more detail here, if you’re interested in going all-in and self-hosting.
Have you thought about starting up a Blogger blog too? Got one now? Or do you have something else? Is it the free version, or is it self-hosted? I’d love to check it out sometime, so drop your links, plox! I’d also love to hear your thoughts and takeaways, so drop it all like it’s hawt, and let’s talk!
Missed the previous installments? No worries! I gotcha covered, right here: 2, 3, 4, 5
