First Impressons of Blogging and Blogger

 

     As an inveterate reader and erstwhile aspiring writer, blogs both attracted and repelled me from their inception.  I dearly love books — especially old books . . . the smell of the paper, the texture beneath my fingers, the sound of a turning page.  Those things feel necessary to immerse myself in the full experience of reading.  And I am passionate about living my life staying as far as I reasonably can away from the gravitational pull of screens.  On the plus side, I love getting inside people's thoughts, living in their worlds, walking in their shoes, and catching a glimpse of what life looks like through their eyes.  I want to learn new things and be exposed to new ideas, and blogs allow a wide range of opportunities to do just that.  Through blogs, we can be exposed to people, places, and ideas we would likely never encounter in our day-to-day lives.  We can learn new skills, expand our horizons in a multitude of ways, and develop and interact with communities of people who are seeking to do the same.  The example blogs in section 0.6 illustrate just that.  

     I found several new recipes I'd love to try while scrolling through Food Blogga, and got some good ideas while reading about the intersection of travel and budgeting while reading Yellow Van Travels.  The layouts of these two blogs reminded me more of earlier blogs I had encountered, however, and did not pull me in as far as they might have if they had a more sophisticated or user-friendly design.  As far as attractiveness, format, and navigability, I especially enjoyed both Two Wandering Soles and Cup of Jo.  I found that the delineated topic areas helped draw me in further, and the profusion of pictures helped to pique my interest in clicking on the posts.  Overall, I found it really interesting to look at the blogs with an eye to what ideas I might pull into my own.  Even though I have a love-hate relationship with technology that veers sharply to the hate side when it comes to social media, the longer-form posts of a blog have a draw to me that other forms of online communication lack.  I've thought on and off about starting a blog myself, so I'm enjoying the opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts of what that might entail.  I'm looking forward to the adventure.