Since the last time I wrote about my updates to the blog, a lot has changed, even if it doesn’t look like it. The menu above has undergone some work. Now it is responsive, has a nice drop down menu that also works well on mobile, and looks a little better in light mode. Oh, yeah, there’s light mode now. If you’re on desktop, there is a button on the upper right that will give you a nice light mode if you want it. I’ve also made it so that it should remember your choice (that took some doing).

Back in August, I participated in Blaugust, an event where the goal was to write every single day during the month. I had a blast, and wrote all 31 days. Back earlier this year, I did a little self-created thing where I wrote for 30 days in a row. I had a great time then as well. I really actually miss challenging myself to write on this blog everyday.

So, I’m going to start up again. Even if I only write 100 words or so, I’ll be able to say I wrote something. Even if I just share a link to someone else’s blog. It still counts. My goal is to do this through the end of the year. This one counts as #1 for September 24th. I may come up with a counter to put on the about page or something like that.

I admit that I do a lot more doom scrolling than a healthy person should. I enjoy other people’s drama and opinions, and there is no shortage of that on social media, and I’m a little addicted to it. I also like good things too, and that is my excuse for staying. Things like BookTok and BookTube are usually great places to find some good books (though they do seem to all get attached to the same books, so you have to be choosy on who you follow), so at least it’s not all politics and hating on other people and people who want to constantly predict the end of the world.

A few days ago, Forking Mad wrote this post about the location where they get their finest ideas. For them, it’s in the shower. The prompt for this post, I believe, was not supposed to be the location, but instead something along the lines of where do you get your inspiration? But I like the location thing better.

First off, my inspiration comes from many places. I steal liberally from other authors, developers, and YouTubers. I have no shame. If you have a good idea, and I have thoughts on that idea, I will take it. I’ll give credit, of course, but once you present the idea to the world, it’s open source in my opinion, and I’m forking that bitch. 🤣

A couple of days ago, I wrote about how I’ve been working on improving this blog. Well, that task continues. Today, instead of making a video for my YouTube channel like I was supposed to, I worked on adding a drop down menu to the menu up top. Yesterday, I got that menu so that it collapses when the screen gets smaller so that it works well on mobile and tablets. And now I’ve added a light/dark theme switcher up in the upper right hand corner (only appears on desktop).

I’ve made some changes, and I’m pretty damn happy with them. First off, I have a new menu system. A new font, a new location and some tidier back end work. It’s still early days, though I have to get it looking and working better on smaller screens. But I love it.

I’ve also changes some accenting and font colors around the blog to go better with the gruvbox theme.

I didn’t come up with the idea of a /now page. As with most things when it comes to blogging, I stole the idea from @Joel. But I really like the idea, and I’m working on expanding the things I put on that page, along with the other slash pages I’ve created.

I think this is an important topic, because it reminds us that blogs are about more than just the posts. They are repositories for our lives in many ways. A lot of people, myself included have a page for what we’re reading, some have a page dedicated to the beers they drink, while others have dedicated pages to what they’ve been watching. These are just some of the ideas people have had. It expands the scope of your blog into a true portfolio of things you want to share with your audience. Or, things you simply just want a record of yourself.

I’ve been writing a lot about blogging during Blaugust, but I’m fascinated by the whys and hows of why people write and read blogs. Back when Blaugust first started, I wrote about how I subscribed to every Blaugust participant’s RSS feed. I’ve weeded quite a few out since then (people who don’t capitalize their letters, and ones that just aren’t my style), but I still have almost 150 new feeds that are seemingly constantly updated.

I’ve seen several people, including myself, talk about not having something to blog about. When we undertake these blogging challenges, we often suffer from the idea that every blog post needs to be “epic,” or perhaps “revolutionary.”

I’m not sure about other people, but I feel that pressure. The pressure not only to write everyday, but to make the blog posts matter. After all, I’m writing this, I want people to want to read it. Blogging about some nonsense that nobody should care about would make it a waste of time!