So, like yesterday, I'm yet again in the mood for doing historical research. Today I thought I'd access bookmarks, long left to gather dust, of assorted blogs that may or, most likely, may not be updated anymore. Why did I bookmark these? Various reasons. Sometimes the content spoke to my tastes, sometimes it was just one post that caught my eye and inspired me to bookmark the blog to see how it progressed.
TBH, in the last few years, I don't really follow blogs like I used to. A couple reasons for that...
I don't actually "follow" blogs, like link them in a social media network to mine since I'm not looking to advertise my blog, especially since I have no financial gain since I don't include any monetization schemes like Adsense on this blog. (I did that for a while with the Cherry Brook blog since I was hoping to jumpstart a career in art)
Another reason I don't follow blogs anymore is it's simply out of fashion. Not that I'm always a trend follower, in fact I would consider myself to be exactly opposite...I march to my own drum beat, thank you very much, but in the old days there was a sense of community and that seems to be lacking now. YouTube and vlogging has supplanted written blogs for me and the rest of the world it seems, and even that medium has seen better haydays.
Of course there's also the loss of the "next blog" feature on Blogger where you could be thrust to another blog of someone you don't know so you might enjoy the serendipity of some random strangers life anytime you wanted. Finding new blogs that have no large footprint is near impossible these days.
Here's some of the oldies in my "Network" and "Legacy Network" bookmark folders...
An artist blogger I used to follow, I really like their stuff. Seems like the blog went belly up about 8 years ago. Here's the last piece posted:
Here's one of the blogs I started following as a result of clicking the now dead "next blog" feature. This one, like many I landed on when using that tool, is based in Malaysia. There or Singapore, I'd always find my way to that region of the world whenever I clicked "next blog." Why? Dunno. But this one is at least a little more pertinent since he's a gay blogger. Aside from his content being interesting, he provided a unique peek into gay life in a strict Muslim country that criminalizes homosexuality. It seems he teetered in his regular posting back in 2011 and though there are scattered posts thereafter proclaiming he'd come back to regular postings, his last one was March 2017.
This one was just an average everyday housewife in Canada talking about her daily boring life. But it was interesting enough in that she posted very consistently and, like many blogs back then, it felt like keeping in touch with a good friend on a daily basis. Her blog, ironically named "I'd Rather Be Blogging" stopped in late 2013, so for the past seven years, I guess she found something else she'd rather be doing.
Another I don't remember bookmarking but, guess what, it looks like...IT'S ALIVE! Last post was mid March of this year but those last few posts were giving detail about the trials and tribulations of her dealing with the cabin fever of the Covid-19 quarantine. But that was mid March and, as she says, it was only Day 3! She probably plum gone loco now explaining the lack of more recent posts. Hopefully my jubilation of this blog's still beating heart isn't premature. She has some witty content. I'll visit more often, hopefully that will cheer her up. (Like she'd know.)
Where's My Jetpack? asks this blogger since he's been waiting since promised that in his future during childhood. Oh, and apparently he fights fires with gasoline. Yes, this blog is all about tongue-in-cheek points of contention with the world as it is and his visions of how it could, or should, be. Perhaps he finally designed his own personal hovering device and has been flitting around in the great blue yonder since 2016 'cause he's not posting to his blog anymore.
So here's more funky proof of Blogger's weirdness. This blog, seemingly deleted, I specifically remember was written and maintained by a real-estate broker/art dealer (I know, right?) in Los Angeles. I followed him in the days I used to watch Ross Mathews old NBC-sponsored Talky Blogs back around, I'd guess 2008 or so. The site now has tags applied by Blogger in Indonesian. But I think those tags change to the language of a viewer's location, so I think Blogger thinks I'm a blogger in that region? IDK and I don't care. Just as long as they never shut down and never try to charge us for this service. They are Google. They can afford to keep small potato guys like me happy with my vision of a blog that will live on eternally long after our deaths.
I'm just only halfway through my bookmarks so I think I'll break this one into a two-parter. See you soon...
You know I'm not putting away my keyboard anytime soon...this blog will go on 'till the day I die.
BTW, in case you're wondering if this SCRAPBOOK post sounds familiar, yep, I did a mini blog excavation of sorts back in 2009.