Why am I NOT Blogging?
I started blogging because I wanted someplace to download the variety of ideas, thoughts, ponderings, etc. that relate to my business as a designer and developer – anything creative or fun and interesting.
What happens, though, is that I get so BUSY with the projects. It feels like I get my goggles situated and I go into my cave where I begin to sculpt away at a new project. I become immersed, and fleeting thoughts are nothing more than that – they whiz in and I’m so involved with what I’m doing, that I have to shoo them out again.
A professional blogger, I’m not. A professional probably follows the impulse to hold those thoughts, fingers leading them to the closest keyboard to download.
I haven’t mastered this yet. And probably won’t anytime soon as I chase my 15 month toddler with a big pregnant belly. But I’m NOT giving up.
I’m A Published Artist!
One of my artists’ books, Sweet Compulsions has been included in this handmade book compilation:
Why Am I Blogging?
This is my existential pondering for today.
I’m someone that needs time to really process new information regarding this virtual world of the Internet. I’ve heard about blogging for a few years now, even though it’s been going on even longer than that. I tend to approach things like this that are new to me with caution and a little skepticism.
But lately, for whatever reason – maybe I’ve caught some kind of bug – I’ve been drawn to do the blogging. That explains these new blogs on my site. I’ve realized that aside from just kicking out the work for my clients, I really have an interest in what I’m doing and I enjoy thinking about the possibilities and talking about what’s effective – for me and the people I’m helping to achieve their goals.
So, I’m really standing back and opening up to possibility of blogging. Turns out that, even though it started out as a tool for on-line personal journaling and sharing this writing, it has become a pretty popular tool for bringing people to your website and engaging them in your business, or at least your interests as relate to your business. A big part of the reason it attracts is that it is one of the key ways that gets the attention of the search engines.
Since I’ve started having blogging on the mind, and I’ve just jumped right in to start practicing it, I thought I would avail myself of some experienced advice on the subject. So far I’ve found a book I really like – The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie
So, I think I will continue to explore the blogging ritual for a while. So far it’s been fun and a great way to organized my thoughts and experiences with my business and my related interests.
But now – back to work!
How I Fell in Love with Expression Engine
You may be as alarmed as I was to discover that I get really excited about a content management system. But I do. There are some open source CMS’s that I’ve tried. But the one that I was originally introduced to by fellow business owner Alison Rodriguez of Wedding Chicago, who uses it from the client side to update her site and write her blogs, is Expression Engine. I’ve come to understand that the inexpensive fee that is charged for the lifetime use of an install of EE is WELL worth it. They system is so clean, well monitored, updated and user friendly – and the support of the administrators and community is amazing.
I spent about a 1/2 year (and part of that time nauseated in bed from pregnancy!) training myself by building a site in Expression Engine, and spent a good deal of my time scratching my head and reading the how-to and technical forums, but each time I learned something new I was like a kid in the candy store. I was just so excited at what I could achieve. I would literally jump up and down and clap hands – real dorky, I know – and exclaim that the makers of EE gave me another reason to love my job as a web designer and developer.
So, this is the reason I’ve created a blog for EE. Aside from just gushing about it from time to time, I decided to make a dedicated place to document some of the finer points of the system.
Stamp Happy
If I didn’t have so many interests and a beautiful baby boy, I would stamp all the live long day.
Rubber stamping appeals to my love for letterpress and making anything in multiples in general. It also appeals to my need for immediate gratification.
I’m thinking about it today because I’m with my friend Marilyn Dollar, who often shares her office space as we keep each other company while we work. She’s one of my creative kindred spirits and has got me hooked on stamps.