If you’ve wondered why I haven’t been posting much, it’s because I’ve been working on a geek project of mine.  It will probably look somewhat familiar to those of you who have followed me for a while.

http://www.mikesturf.net/blog

Yeah, I’m moving my blog again.  I’ve resurrected my old website.  I missed having it, and it gives me something geeky to work on.  I have some big plans for it, although it has a long way to go.

Look it over, and let me know what you think.

If you follow me already, and would like to stay tuned, drop this into your RSS reader:  http://www.mikesturf.net/blog/rss.xml

Y’all are making me look bad.

I love writing, and have been doing it since I was a little kid.  Just ask my mom if you require proof.  She has stashed away folders and folders of my “works” from when I was young.  My writing is certainly nothing spectacular, but that’s okay with me.  I do it because I enjoy it.

The problem with blogging is that sometimes, you feel the need to be entertaining.  After all, that’s why people come to your blog.  They want to read something that will make them laugh, cry, think, or relax.  Since my life has consisted primarily of work lately, I’ve had little to write about.  Unless you all enjoy reading about the SNMP configurations of various Linux platforms, or the principles of TCP/IP networking, my day-to-day routine is probably of little interest to you.

I read one of Terri’s latest posts, though, and I remember that blogging isn’t nearly as much fun when you feel like you’re under pressure.  You enjoy it more (and usually write better) when you write for yourself, and don’t worry so much about what others think.  I remember back when I started blogging.  It was back when MySpace was cool, and you got a blog to go along with your profile.  All of your friends got updates whenever you wrote something, and they could go in and comment on it.  I thought it was really cool.  MySpace long ago went to the wayside, though, so I graduated to a “big boy” blog.  It’s taken several forms over the years, but it’s always been me rambling about the various thoughts and experiences I have.

I’ve kinda seen myself “grow up” while reading my blogs.  Though many of my old posts are no longer visible on the Internet, I still have a lot of stuff I’ve written stashed away on my computer.  I looked through some of it one day, and it was entertaining to see how much things have changed over the years.  I read posts from back when I was living alone and going to college.  I read posts from when I lived with Jonny and my friends, and we partied/drank every single weekend.  There are posts about moving from apartment to apartment… about meeting Julia… about getting married… the list goes on and on.  It’s kinda cool how you inadvertently write your own autobiography as you go.

Well, I’m not gonna be left out anymore, dammit!  Everyone else has been posting consistently since the beginning of the new year.  I’m going to as well.  Terri’s last blog linked to a website that gives ideas for when you can’t think of anything to write.  I may have to give that a try.

No more of this one-post-a-week crap.  This blog’s gonna grow… I’ve decided.

Lately, I’ve been falling behind in my “loyal reader” duties.  I’ve spent my downtime over the past couple of days catching up on all of the unread posts stacked up in my Google Reader.  One of them in particular, though, caught my attention.  It was a post from Nancy’s F8HASIT blog called “Obscurity Bliss.” I ended up reading it twice.

My blog has evolved over the past several years.  I started out blogging on my MySpace page (back when MySpace was cool and everyone had one).  I’ve always loved writing, and realistically, if I was any good at it and capable of producing quality content on a consistent basis (and make any money in the process), I would do it as a profession and be perfectly content.  I then moved my blog to my website, which I maintained in various forms over the past few years.  Finally, I lost interest in maintaining a website and moved my blog here so I could just focus on the part I really enjoyed.

Looking back over my posts over the years, there are a lot of memories there.  I can see how I met my best friends… started dating my now-fiancee… moved… taken on new jobs… laughed… cried… bitched… and everything in between.  Over the years, though, you can see a change in my blogging style as well.  I don’t really have a lot of readers.  I greatly appreciate those who do take the time to read my stuff, but you’re never going to see this little blog of mine in a magazine or anything.  And I’m cool with that.

I did start to develop some readers, though.  And as I did so, I started to wonder “what is my audience going to think about this?”  When I first started, I just said pretty much whatever I wanted to say.  Later on, though, I began to “censor” myself a little.

In her blog, Nancy describes the same type of thing.  Putting down thoughts, then editing them in order to avoid pissing anyone off or losing readers.

Now, it’s natural that things would change some.  I mean, we all change as time goes one.  We grow up a little every year, learn new things, etc.  And when you put something out on the Internet, you need to remember that anyone in the world has the ability to find it and read it.  Your parents… your boss… your friends.  That’s why I’m kind of glad I have such a small following.  As Nancy so nicely puts it:

If you’re huge, with a gazillion followers, your social network could possibly generate revenue. But if you’re small, you’re just chatting with pals.

Obscurity can be beneficial.

Because you’re not talking at people, but with people.

That’s not just cool, that’s awesome.

I love that more.

It’s nice to be somewhat obscure, hiding in the shadows so as to not be judged. But known enough in certain circles that your thoughts don’t fall on deaf ears. It’s a big world out there. Overwhelming in scope.

But it’s you guys…my BlogBuds; it’s the banter, the comments, the camaraderie, the connection with those that I’d not had if not for this blog…

That’s what makes all this (gesturing at the web site) worthwhile.

I used to manage my own website… back when I had nothing else to do.  I used to post all of my pictures, videos, blog posts, etc. on there.  Lately, I’ve had little interest in maintaining my own website when I’ve had to maintain everyone else’s.  For that reason, I decided to keep the only part of my website I was really still interested in – the blog.

So why the new format?  A.) It’s easier for me to maintain and B.) easier for others to remember.

I’m a simple kind of dude, remember?