Welcome to my new personal blog. My name is Jay.
I’ve said this countless times, but I think I’ll say it again. I like to write. I’ve deduced that my writing, or shall I say, blogging, is my hobby of choice. I’m not a great writer, but when it comes to blogging, I’ve got a lot of experience. Whether that experience has translated into any sort of quality remains to be seen. Whatever the case, here I am, blogging away.
Blogging is so much easier than real writing; there’s less pressure associated with it. I needn’t be perfect. I can easily use the word needn’t without fear of intellectual reprisal. No one’s looking over my shoulder waiting for me to produce and there are no deadlines. Yes, I’d say that blogging, as they say in the UK, is up my street.
About this website, me, and how I like to blog.
WordPress: I’ve been sharing my thoughts using WordPress software since 2005 and I currently write on four WordPress websites in total. I’ve experienced (and have endured) the typical fits and starts associated with blogging, as I’m sure most long-time bloggers can attest to themselves, or at the very least, sympathize with. Sitting at my desk, typing away in the hopes that someone might just enjoy what I deem to release gives me a sense of pleasure. I can’t say it’s a hobby that holds any sort of power; only a few very dedicated readers ever visit these pages. I suppose I’ll say that the entire thing is more of a release. Again, everyone needs a hobby and apparently, this one is mine.
The Hoffman Theme: A few days ago, I got this crazy idea to head back to my roots; to blog as I did in the early days. To write opinion pieces that align with my personality. I miss those days. They were good days. Back in 2005, blogging was more about writing about one’s life and ideas, rather than producing well-crafted pieces that rank well in the search engines.
I did a bit of browsing, read through a some Reddit posts, and landed on a few personal blogs I enjoyed looking at. From that stemmed a new domain name with a .me domain extension. It’s the first time I’ve ever use a .me extension and I must say, it’s rather exciting. Apparently, .me is the internet country code top-level domain for Montenegro. Who would’ve thought? One day I’d be sitting somewhere not even knowing where Montenegro was located and the next, I’d not only know where it is (directly to the east of southern Italy – the heel of the boot), but I’d also be enjoying the fruits of owning a domain and writing on a website that’s all about ME. And MY thoughts. That’s what the .me extension is about, by the way. In internet land, folks purchase the extension for blogs about themselves. How fitting.
The two personal blogs I took inspiration from are owned and operated by Chuck Wendig and John Scalzi. Both blogs are opinion-based, diary like websites, and both host very simple WordPress themes. Of the two, I preferred Hoffman; a free theme developed by Anders Norén. Anders began creating themes back in 2012, is currently up to 32 of them, and at this moment has enjoyed 4,556,873 downloads. I’m proud to say that I’m one of those lucky souls who downloaded one.
Photography: You’ll see lots of photography on this personal blog of mine. I like taking pictures. I own a Canon T7i and lots of lenses. Through the years, I’ve studied the methodology and theory of photography and have done well for myself. I know quite a bit on the topic. So oftentimes, if I post a special photo, I’ll also discuss what went into capturing it. Since I’m an amateur, my photos won’t be perfect or close to what we all see on the daily web, but technically, I know what’s going on and I don’t mind sharing my so-called wisdom.
By the way, the photo above is a dahlia and these are the specs: Canon T7i, Aperture: f/7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/160, ISO: 100, 18-135mm lens @ 78mm. I’m not sure you wanted to know that, but there it is.
How I Enjoy Writing: If you’ve visited and have browsed blogs running on WordPress, which I’m sure you have (perhaps unwittingly), you may have noticed two different setups. The first setup displays an excerpt of the post text on the homepage/category page and the second setup displays the entire post. Back when I first began blogging, I used to display the entire post. Like you see on this website. Along the lines somewhere, I began displaying only an excerpt. I remember discussing my new display style with my mother and her telling me that she didn’t like it. She said she much preferred staying on the homepage and simply scrolling, not having to click into the post itself. The thing is, the world was changing and it seemed as though more and more people were displaying only excerpts. I did that too and I never looked back. I’ll tell ya, I should’ve listened to my mother because my blogs have never ranked as well in the search engines as they did before I made that change. We’ll discuss that another time, but for now, just know that I’ll be displaying the entire post on all pages here. I like it so much more.
Also, the entire reason I set this new website up is because I’d like to begin writing like I used to; opinion based and of a more casual style. Another aspect of blogging that’s changed through the years is a shift from the diary/journal styled personal blog to a more search engine friendly, “5 Reasons Your Girlfriend Doesn’t Love You Anymore” commercial one. I can’t say I’m pleased with the shift, so I’d like to shift back. And as I mentioned above, blogging appears to be my hobby and as such, I really shouldn’t take it too seriously.
With that, I bid you farewell. Until next time.
