My friend James tagged me in a blog question challenge, so let’s go!

Why Did You Start Blogging in the First Place?

I started several blogs for affiliate marketing reasons, meaning I’d write about a product, include a link, and hope that people would click on the link and buy the product so I’d get a few dollars (or cents). In fact, my first blog post on this blog is for a review of my first, and new, camera.

With my first digital camera in hand (it was 2005), I started taking pictures of my two golden retrievers (Winger and Surf) and my grey tabby cat (Zeus), and taking photos of my adventures, and I had to post them online to share!

I had several blogs for awhile, some just to peddle products, and ForestTalk.com that shared Canadian Forestry News for years, but now I just use this one. It’s changed URLs several times, but with the gift of the lisa.blog domain name from my employer, I hope to stay at this URL forever!

What Platform Are You Using to Manage Your Blog, and Why Do You Use It?

My blog uses WordPress and is hosted at Pressable.

WordPress makes it incredibly easy to customize your blog to suit your needs and personality. And you can use it for free (get started at https://WordPress.com) but it is even better when you upgrade to have your own domain name.

Have You Blogged on Other Platforms Before?

I use WordPress now for my blog but it started on a blogging platform called b2evolution. Both b2evolution and WordPress were forks of an earlier blogging platform, b2/cafelog. I considered both, but found I didn’t like the default font in WordPress so I used b2evolution. Quickly, WordPress grew faster, and introduced new features I wanted to use, like plugins and themes, (and the ability to easily change the font!), so I migrated my data to WordPress and never looked back.

In fact, the love I developed for WordPress and blogging led me to my next career! I applied for a job to do technical support for customers of WordPress.com, and later this year I’ll mark 12 years working for Automattic (home of WordPress.com) and have transitioned my role at the company several times (I’m now a Code Wrangler, or software engineer). Thanks WordPress!

How Do You Write Your Posts?

I write my posts on my computer while I’m sitting at my desk. Occasionally I’ll use the Jetpack app to write my posts from my iPad or iPhone.

When Do You Feel Most Inspired to Write?

Usually when I have just had an adventure or I have a bunch of photos I’m eager to share.

Do You Normally Publish Immediately After Writing, or Do You Let It Simmer?

Immediately, as soon as I’m done. My posts aren’t meant to be polished, or even that profound. They are meant more as public journal entries.

What’s Your Favorite Post on Your Blog?

There is no way I could choose just one! Here are some of my favourites:

When the p key on my old keyboard stopped working and I wrote a whole post without a p:

My Adventures in Thunder Bay, Winni*eg, Ajax !

And that time there was an ermine in the basement:

There is a weasel in my house

I was much funnier when I wrote quick bits without posting a million pictures (as my dad tells me regularly). Like this one:

Death Becomes You.

And this one:

Why is there a leg beside the sink?

This one was fun too:

Thanks to the salamander, we now have a new sink!

The blogosphere has different favourites though. My most popular post for the last 3 years has been the post I wrote about finding a Red River Cereal replacement and then learning that Red River Cereal was being produced again! That post was linked to from The Guardian online newspaper even! (here).

Before that, for years, a quick ranty post I wrote in 2011 about Nova Scotia being an expensive place to live was so popular I had to turn off the comments. I stand behind the intent of that post, but if I knew how many thousands of people would read it, I could have been much more compelling and interesting.

Any Future Plans for the Blog?

I will never stop blogging. This blog has brought distant family members closer to me, had strangers drive all the way up here to find me to meet, had tourists stop me to ask a question and realize they’ve read blog posts of mine, found new friends when they supported me through cancer treatment, and had friends and neighbours surprise me by telling me they read every post (but never comment!).

My style has morphed as I age. I’m less whimsical and funny. But I don’t complain about silly things like I used to.

Who Will Participate Next?

I think Beth at https://wanderingdawgs.com/ is always up for a blog challenge!