Mike's Meanderings

Get To Know My Blog

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The Questions

Why did you start blogging in the first place

This was back in 2015. I started reviewing different businesses in La Crosse, WI. The name of the site was Living La Crosse. I think I started it in the hope that if I reviewed enough, and it became popular enough, I would get free meals or something. Within it, I discussed bars, restaurants, and other businesses in the area. I also wrote about events and other things happening in the area. I had a lot of fun with it. I eventually stopped because I moved away from the area. It's an interesting time capsule of my life at that point. It was fun to go back and read. Eventually I started a handful of other blogs around my thoughts and adventures in teaching myself information security and cybersecurity.

As time passes on, I realized that I cared less and less about monetizing anything, and just wanted to create for the sake of creating.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?

For my current site, 11ty was my choice. As my computer and coding skills evolved, I became intrigued by static sites. I built much of this. I learned CSS, I learned about CI/CD, and I learned Javascript.

I wanted something that I could control and easily move around. And that did it!

Currently I write a post, push it to GitHub, and then Digital Ocean presents and "hosts" the site. What's cool about that? It's free. It only costs time and my domain name.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Wordpress and Ghost. Wordpress was fine, but clunky and it has SO MANY SECURITY CONCERNS. It requires plugins to do much of the heavy lifting for the platform, and I don't like that. Ghost was nice, but I wanted something nerdier.

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that's part of your blog?

I typically write post in Obsidian, check out the formatting in Visual Studio. From their I git push it to GitHub, and Digital Ocean renders and serves the website.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

Usually when I'm feeling strong emotions. Or I have have an idea stuck in my head.

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

I usually let it simmer. Mostly because I never finish writing in one go.

What's your favorite post on your blog?

Of my current site, My Brother, Tim is the favorite post. I'm proud of what I wrote, and I hope that it's something he would enjoy.

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

Lots. As I learn more about 11ty, I keep tweaking and rebuilding. I also want this to be THE hub for me. As I move away from web 2.0 social media, I want this site to do for me what Facebook and Instagram used to do.