I'm somewhat frustrated at myself for how long it took me to finish off this post that Remy kindly tagged me in. The last time I participated in something like this was the "My Typical Day" write-up. Reading it now is an interesting stroll down memory lane.

This challenge also reminded me of Manu's wonderful People & Blogs newsletter, which comes out every Friday, and which I had the privilege of being featured in many weeks ago.

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I started blogging as a pre-teen in the early 2000s. At that time, I was at the peak of my confidence, before the weird teenage years hit. I was already building fan websites, but I wanted to create something personal about myself. I wanted a space where I could share everything I was enjoying at the time.

At that age, the things you like become badges of honor - listing your favorite bands and films was a way of defining your personality and making yourself known to your peers. Having a personal website felt like the perfect way to do this. I felt like the coolest person on the planet because hardly anyone my age knew how to create websites back then.

Throughout the years I always had a blog but it wouldn’t always be the same blog. As I grew I would delete and start again. So I’ve maintained a blog for years but stopped when I got my first job in tech. I picked up blogging again about 10 years ago, and haven’t stopped.

What platform are you using to manage your blog, and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?

Currently, I use 11ty because my blog has evolved beyond just a blog - it's become a whole thing. I chose 11ty because I wanted extensive control over the markup, template customization, and being able to add my own features. It's remarkably simple to use and handles everything I throw at it, making it almost fail-proof.

My blogging journey across platforms:

• Hand made HTML for many years.
• Started with Blogspot during university, where I had a surprisingly popular blog in Portuguese documenting my journey through young adulthood, university, and my chaotic love life. It gained thousands of followers through Blogspot's follow feature.
• When I returned to blogging around 2014, I started with self-hosted WordPress as I was feeling burned out and needed an easy way back in.
• Later moved from WordPress to Jekyll.
• Finally settled on 11ty, where I am now.

While any blogging platform is fine to use, I personally crave the control over editing templates and customizing features, which is why 11ty works so well for me.

How do you write your posts?

I typically start in one of two ways:

• Open my editor directly.
• When frustrated, start in a basic document (like Google Docs) for initial word-vomit drafting.

As a non-native English speaker, I spend considerable time reviewing my grammar. I think faster than I type, so I need to ensure my written thoughts are coherent and connected. After editing and reviewing, I copy the content into my editor, usually creating either:

• A markdown file for simple text posts
• An HTML page for posts requiring fancy features

I've tried tools like Grammarly but found them unnecessary for my needs. Most often, it's just basic punctuation that needs fixing, which I've gotten better at handling on my own. And now I probably jinxed myself and anyone reading this will find lots of mistakes.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

My inspiration usually comes from frustration or when I need to process something in my life. While I wish I could say I had a perfect morning routine (5 AM wake-up, cold shower, coffee while gazing out the window after a morning run), the reality is quite different. Nowadays, most of my writing happens in the evening after spending the whole day processing thoughts and feelings about something. I spend the day mentally chewing on a thought, letting it build up, and then finally sit down to write about it in the evening. It's less about serene inspiration and more about processing emotions and experiences.

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

I do both. If it is a technical post, I will post immediately and then crawl back to edit/update it. A personal post I let it sit in the drafts at least overnight and read it the following morning.

What's your favourite post on your blog?

My favourite posts are my worst hits. I think my favourite posts also change every once in a while but right now my favourite posts are:

• My most memorable bad interview
• On onion cutting
• Unsolicited rejection

Ergh, looks like I peaked in 2021.

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

Yes, I’m the worst at daydreaming what I would do to my blog if I didn’t have to work and had all the spare time to work on it.

I want to tidy up the layout and do a big code refactor. There’s still code lingering from an automated conversion tool I used from Wordpress to Jekyll from many years ago.

I keep lying to myself and tell myself that I will only day have a fully IndieWeb powered machine thing going on my blog. One day.

I have so much content to update like my blogroll, my bookmarks, talks section and more.

But, in the end, what’s the point of spicing it all up if it leaves me with no time to actually write on it?

Next?

I’m aware I’m slow but I love these types of chains. Next, I would tag Calum, Suze and Georgie, if they wish to do so.