30 nov 07
It’s finally the end of NaBlaPlaMoFo, and I am relieved. This year was hard, nay, painful. During 2007 I’ve strived to write quality posts — of course, this is by my own definition of quality — and it’s hard to do that daily, which, I guess, is the point.
I’ve mentioned this in passing, but I have a new design, which is really more of a code redesign, here on my computer that I’ve been dragging my feet on finishing. It wasn’t until very recently that I figured out the trouble, and that is I am possibly done with “personal” blogging. Although I’m not terribly personal (I have no desire to write, nor read, “This is what I did today…”), it’s getting hard to keep going without any focus whatsoever. The thing is, I do have very specific interests I want to write about, these being cooking, living in Atlanta (or wherever I may go someday), running, some pop culture like movies or music and most importantly, web development and Django. So, there are a couple of questions here. First is, can I write about all of these things on one blog? The second is, is notmyself.com the place for some (or any) of this? I’m not excited about the idea of maintaining two blogs (both will suffer) but a separate blog for web development is definitely on the table.
I feel horribly self-indulgent asking this, but I’m not sure what to do. What do you think?
cristina / 30 nov 2007 / 10:27 p.m.
A blog is what you make of it. Don’t let it be defined by one thing.
tamara / 30 nov 2007 / 10:47 p.m.
People are going to respond to your blog no matter what. If the post is interesting or warrants a response, there are those who will do so. All I know is that it’s more difficult to maintain more than one space and to make sure you’re paying attention to all things all the time. It’s slightly like comparing Wal-Mart to Dunkin Donuts. Both make doughnuts, but Dunkin Donuts spends all its time making good doughnuts. Wal-Mart makes a few average doughnuts, but it makes a thousand other things.
I know that’s a long explanation, but it’s up to you.
C / 30 nov 2007 / 11:49 p.m.
I’ve been reading you for what seems like forever and it’s obvious that there’s been a shift, but the shift I think is what makes your blog so great. That the things you write about change, that your interests change, that you change.
Sometimes I think it’s good too, to pack it in and start new. This domain is so you, but a new place could become you.
All I know is that I’m going to keep reading.
Mark Nichols / 01 dec 2007 / 12:02 p.m.
Why not create sub-domains of notmyself.com? django.notmyself.com, cooking.notmyself.com, et cetera. Then tie your tags or categories to display only on the appropriate sub-domain. One site, multiple focuses.
gravesit / 01 dec 2007 / 12:28 p.m.
Maybe just make 2 sections, personal and code. That way you can focus on development posts and the other section could be a melting pot of things that interest you. Personally I like both aspects of you writing, but it might be easier to manage with sections.
jason horne / 05 dec 2007 / 6:28 a.m.
as a long-time reader of your blog. i think you should just keep what you have and maybe do a separate blog for your code stuff. i don’t see what’s wrong with what you have, to be honest. i think you’re over thinking this.
Chris / 05 dec 2007 / 6:41 p.m.
Hey Maura, Long time no talk. I know exactly how you feel. When I stopped blogging Rottweiler9.com, I was burned out on the whole “I did this fairly boring thing today” type posts. Recently, I have been toying with relaunching R9 as well as a separate site related to Search Marketing. I too worry about them both lacking, but I guess it just depends on how dedicated you get to it. Here is a pretty decent blog about blogging that I like. North x East
Joshua Blount / 30 nov 2007 / 10:18 p.m.
I’m feeling a bit stalkery (possibly because I don’t have the memory to go back and confirm response to previous comments) by commenting again, but I enjoy the following topics you write about: Django, Development, Running, “Local Flavor”, Cooking, and Pop Culture
So if you could continue, I would like that. I think this shared interest, combination of things are what makes notmyself.com interesting, and more to the point, I think these shared topics make it a “personal” blog, because the subject matter is unified only in your personality.
I accept that I might be wrong, but “we are what we like”