Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Renewal

 According to my Google Blogger profile, I have been on Blogger since 2005.  That's a long time.  

My original blog was happilyhome.blogspot.com.  I spent over a decade on that blog, and a long the way I met some pretty amazing people, and we shared some pretty amazing stories. 

I guess, that's what social media should be about, isn't it? 

Instead of the rapid-fire, opinion-laced, dehumanizing experience we all end up having on FB, we used to have this, Blogger, where we shared our stories and our lives and supported each other.  It was a different world.

A year or so ago, I deleted my old blog, but Blogger refused to erase my footprint.  I guess I'm thankful for that, because my old blog list is still there.  

I took the opportunity, today, to go down the list and see who's still around.  Most of the folks I knew back in those days are no longer blogging and haven't been for five or more years.  Sad.  But I get it.  

We were part of a movement of people who desired a self-sufficient lifestyle, outside of the norm, on those proverbial fringes, and we didn't find much community or support for what we were doing locally, but many of us found camaraderie here.  Then, Facebook happened, and a lot of people left blogger to go to FB.  It took me five years to jump on the bandwagon. 

I have, indeed, lived to regret that move.  

What's interesting is that FB has become less than what we wanted, and none of what we thought we needed, and many folks are coming back here.

If you're back on blogger, and we knew each other back in the day, please leave me a comment and let me know what you're up to these days.

I would also love for you to share some of your favorite new blogs.  I'm rebuilding my reading list, and I'm looking to make some new connections. 


4 comments:

  1. I know we've had this discussion many a time and you know I feel the same way about this. It seems like the wheel has turned back enough - I'd like to see blogging become a "thing" again. I have noticed that the blogs I see from people's IG pages are not the same as what we had back in the day. Perhaps it's more of an afterthought to have the blog, vs the IG page springing from/marketing for the blog and that feeling comes through in what they are writing.

    I enjoy Heather Bruggeman's North Ridge Farm (which I'm pretty sure you read, as it replaced her original blog Beauty That Moves).

    I read Daisy Luther's The Organic Prepper and enjoy her new Frugalite one as well.

    I really enjoy Brandi/The Prudent Homemaker's site, especially the weekly savings posts - in part for her post, but in large part due to the community that has sprung up in the comments there. For the same reason, I read JWR's SurvivalBlog on Saturdays, because the weekly preparedness post and comments there are enjoyable as well.

    I kind of fell off reading most other blogs the past year, but was really glad when you started blogging here. Each day I check here and Heather's blog for new posts. I visit Brandi's and Jim's on the days that I know they normally post the weekly savings/preparedness posts. I check Patrice's periodically too, normally on the weekend as well, when I actually remember to log into Blogger and check the feed list.

    My blog is now a page of my site (www.meloniek.com/blog ) - I want to get back to posting there more frequently again. Kind of a goal for 2021, I'm thinking of shooting for at least once a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I've read a few of these over the years. I've added them all to my reading list. :)

      Delete
  2. Hey hey! I sure was glad to see you come back around and say hi.

    I never could motivate myself to get on FB, but I probably spend more time on Twitter than I should (I call these the "Immediate Web"). I see them both as more ephemeral—for "here today, gone tomorrow" posts that you don't plan to keep around, and blogs for semi-permanent posts (that you can edit if needed!). Losing RSS options, in my opinion, has hurt blogging more than the Immediate Web. Safari used to have RSS built into the browser, and I kept all my blogs in a folder on the bookmarks bar. Google Reader was much-loved, and I still don't know why they axed it. Without an RSS reader in my face, I started forgetting to check blogs and drifted away. The posting part is because Google has screwed stuff up so I can't log into Blogger from Safari, and now they've screwed up Firefox as well, so I have to drag out Chrome to write a comment.

    Anyway, I hope you've managed to dodge the ro so far. People in this area are better about masking up in public than you might think, but certain restaurants get packed. I think it's people coming up from the burbs to shop and eat out, they get each other sick and take it home with them. :eyeroll:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have no idea how happy I was to see that you were still actively blogging. Yours was one of my favorite blogs!

      Yes, we're all healthy, so far! We didn't eat out a lot anyway, but I haven't eaten IN a restaurant since February. With restaurants here requiring not only masks, but temperature checks, too, I think I'll take a really hard pass! TYVM!! I'm a better cook anyway. Tonight's menu was meatloaf with locally sourced beef, mashed potatoes, and sprout salad (from sprouts grown in my kitchen). Life is good!

      Can't wait to have a bit of time to catch up on what you've been doing all of this time. The grandbaby must be ... in kindergarten or better now?? ;)

      Thanks for stopping by. So, wonderful to hear from you! I hope you and yours are well!

      Delete