What is a Blog?

Okay. If you are reading this, you may think I'm mad, because, obviously, this is a blog.

But, it recently came to my attention that not everyone really understands what a blog is. Since I am about to release a blog series, I thought it would be a good idea to just spell it all out.

The word "blog" is a truncation of the term "weblog".

It emerged with the internet, and predates social media (Facebook, etc.) All of a sudden, anyone could write just about anything and just throw it up on the web. There was no need to seek a publisher, or a magazine or anything. You could just go for it.

I think of my blog entries as short articles, like I am a contributing editor in my own, personal magazine. In contrast to social media posts, my blog entries are often  slightly longer and more in depth, always with links to outside sources, to facilitate readers' research if they become curious.

Typically, blogs are arranged in reverse chronological order, newest going down to oldest. It is as if you collected a daily newspaper, and stacked them all up on the floor: the newest would be on top. The oldest at the bottom.

A few more details:

On the side bar, there are ways to find specific entries or subjects under "categories" and "archives". There is even a search bar, where you can do a mini-google-type search on the blog.

There is also a way to make comments on my blog, just below each entry. The comment gets kicked over to my email box, where I can decide whether I want my readers to see the comment or not. If I do want that, I "publish" it, and it will be seen just below.

A bit of history...

I started my blog at blogspot.com in 2008, even before I had a website. In May, 2022, I switched away from Blogspot to  to this blog, which is hosted by Weebly, the company that hosts my website.

This means that I essentially have two blogs. I was able to switch some of my entries from the old blog to the new, but the original Blogspot version has many, many more entries, and  if  you ever become obsessed and want to know about my artistic history, that is where you'd go. But all new posts will be hosted right here.