Create a Connection–Getting to Know You Day 6/13

When did you begin your first blog and what inspired you to do so?

I started my first blog (titled rather boringly “erin’s blog”) in late 2002 or early 2003. I was inspired by my good friend Eden of So Anyway, who had sung the praises of blogging and first sent me the link to Blogger to help me get started.

My blog sat mostly empty for quite some time. I posted now and then throughout early 2003, and when I began student teaching in the fall of 2003, I started a second blog-my online student teaching journal. (I don’t think that one’s online at this point…)

The thing that really got me blogging regularly was The Breakup in the fall of 2003. My long-term BF rather abruptly called it quits, and I began blogging regularly both as a way of dealing with my feelings and letting my friends know what was going on in my life without having to tell the same stories over and over and over again.

When I started dating again, I blogged about my experiences to entertain people, and soon I had a small but loyal readership!

Unfortunately, the vast majority of those early posts were lost in the Tragic Blog Incident. (I accidentally deleted my database. Don’t ask…)

Do you have more than one blog? Why? How are they different?

Oh, Lord. I have several.

There’s this, of course. I also have a livejournal account, because I have many friends and acquaintances who are LJ users. It’s mainly a mirror of erin-go-blog (which is even easier since I found the LJ crossposter plugin! I used to re-post or index manually).

I started a writing blog the first time I did NaNoWriMo. I was posting my daily writing online. That didn’t last long.

My friend Jen and I keep The Chronicles of 27, a place for sightings of the number 27 in popular culture. I’ve been neglecting that one a bit!

I have a writing blog, strictly for the purposes of talking about writing, keeping track of my goals and accomplishments, etc. It helps keep me honest. 😉

I have a book blog, Required Reading, which is dedicated to YA literature–book reviews, interviews and news. That one’s fairly new.

My professional website, Educating Erin, is technically a blog, though posts are infrequent. Basically, it’s just a simple way for me to keep things like my resumes, clips, bio information, etc. online. I also have a segment of that site dedicated to my fledgling calligraphy business.

Another group blog I’m a part of is [Your Agenda Here], but we haven’t been keeping up with that one much either. Maybe as election season comes upon us, we’ll get back to it?

Whew! I think that’s it.

How would you characterize your blog?
Creative
Political
Informational
Community-oriented
Or something else?

Oh, I’m firmly in the “something else” category. I think they call it “kitchen sink” blogging.

To paraphrase Oprah, what is “one thing you know for sure” about blogging?

I know that I need to keep my blogging under control; otherwise, it can kind of take over my life!

Is it important to you to get feedback in terms of comments or pings? Why or why not?

I think, to some extent, we all like the validation that blogging brings us. We create these little communities where we listen to and support each other. I love hearing from people, even if it’s just to say “Right on!” or “I enjoyed reading this.”

There is a negative side to feedback, of course…the ever-fearsome troll. I can’t stand it when people are nasty just for the sake of being nasty. A mean or needlessly negative comment can ruin my day.

What 3 blogs would you recommend to our readers and why?

Hmmm…my afore-mentioned friend Eden at So Anyway…

Eden is hilarious, and her blog never fails to entertain. She’s also a fantastic writer.

Pesky Apostrophe

Mac is smart, funny, insightful, and a lot of fun to read.

Debbie’s Blatherings

Debbie is a Toronto-based freelance writer and illustrator, and also a good friend. Her posts are always chock-full of good stuff, including her cartoons and fabulous photographs.