Blog Evolution

This blog is my latest manifestation on the Web but there's been a long succession all the way back to 2001 when I became aware of blogs. Before that I still had the urge to post things, but had to do it the old fashioned way: Having a website hosted somewhere and updating it with WS_FTP.

The first was a now-defunct christian site called Followers.org that I began in 1997. It didn't come to much though, and I somewhat inadvertently let that domain lapse. After that came a few other sites and then numerous blogs, which I first learned about reading an article in the also-now-defunct Brill's Content while waiting for an eye examination in April 2001. Fiddling with HTML and Cascading Style Sheets is fun (really!), but actually I just wanted a way to put stuff on the Internet. Blogging's fantastic push-button world of the future made that a lot easier. And I can still fiddle.

My latest blog before this one was a daily journal called Candid Spirit which after 2 1/2 years I decided to delete, but the one before that, called Dysphemistic, is still around in hibernation. I was originally going to renovate and restart Dysphemistic, but as I read back through its 54 posts I ultimately decided to start yet another blog. It just became obvious that my outlook on life had changed and I wanted a fresh start.

In particular, I wanted a blog that wasn't as gimmicky as most of my other ones. This one is just what it says: A few paragraphs. In fact I was kind of surprised to find nobody had taken that title; almost all the other ones I've thought of lately have been. AFP (as I like to call it) was so obvious.

I also wanted a blog that breaks the cardinal rule for blog success, i.e., focus on your niche. The truth is, I'm interested in everything, so that's what this blog will be about, from world events to what my cat's doing. My cat has her own blog by the way, featuring important updates.

This is my electronic Commonplace Book, the place where I store whatever strikes me. Come look over my shoulder if you wish.