Our Readers’ Blogs

“#!/usr/bin/mom”

I’ve always kept a journal, ever since I received my first one as a gift from my uncle when I was 8 years old. I’ve always imagined that someone, somewhere was reading the things I wrote, so when I first heard of blogs (though back then we didn’t know that word), it only seemed natural that I should get one. Also, I’m pretty shy, and it’s much easier for me to communicate through writing than anything else. Sometimes I even write posts just for my husband to explain things that I couldn’t figure out how to say out loud.

The word “blog” was coined in early 1999, and I began my first blog in March 2000. Back then most of the people I knew still called them “online journals” or “diaries.” The funny thing is at that time I thought I was so late to this cool new thing, and these days I rarely meet anyone who was around then. I still have all of my entries since the beginning, but most are password protected.

I started on a website called Diaryland (a sort of precursor to LiveJournal), and then moved to the Journaling Script when I got my own domain. But ever since 2002 I have been blogging on a platform I wrote myself in PHP. I love that because it means I can have every feature I want, and none I don’t care about. And when I change my mind, I change my blog.

Everything. Sometimes I write about my family and daily life. Other times I comment on news and politics, especially pro-life issue, about which I am passionate. When I’ve been busy coding I’ll post snippets of PHP, or if I’ve been playing with GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) I’ll share my digital masterpieces.

Ann Coulter — Weekly column by the conservative pundit.

Damn Interesting — Totally random and totally interesting articles from history, science, and more.

Happiness Project — Gretchen is a writer who has been researching a book on happiness. Her tips and ideas are wonderful.

Jill Stanek — After witnessing a live birth abortion (ie, a baby who was supposed to be aborted but was born alive and then left to die), Stanek fought for the passage of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act and now blogs on pro-life issues.

Real Choice — Christina remembers women who have died due to illegal or legal abortions.

Ladies Against Feminism — Proponents of a return to more modest, lady-like, and Christ-serving lives for women.

Mommy Life — Mom of 12 and author of several books, Barbara lives to blog about it.

My Evil Minion — My husband’s “Everything and Nothing” blog.

Yes, my husband has the highest level of security on my blog, and my friends are all welcome.

I just started using Technorati. I’ve also used StumbleUpon and BlogExplosion.

I used to post on a now long-defunct message board called MissGirl. I liked to hang out in the web development forum, and it seemed like every one there had a blog. I decided to jump on the bandwagon.