I was tagged by Paolo Amoroso on Mastodon to take the Blog Question Challenge. It sounds like fun, so here we go!

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

Writing down my thoughts has always helped me keep them organized, and reason through things. Writing a blog feels like keeping a journal or diary – I write for myself but I’m humbled and appreciative of people wanting to read my thoughts.

What platform are you using to manage your blog, and why do you use it?

I’m using write.as, which is a hosted version of the WriteFreely project.

The minimalist nature of it appeals to me. I used to write talks and posts in iA Writer, which was also excellent for distraction free writing.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

I started my first blog on LiveJournal sometime around 1999 or 2000. I wrote on that for a few years, until a breakup led to some legal issues. There’s a whole story here, but I’m not terribly comfortable sharing online due to the litigious nature of the other party involved.

I did use WordPress for several years, and had a surprisingly widespread and featured post about ADHD and other issues I faced growing up.

The recent issues with the CEO of WordPress guaranteed I wanted nothing to do with that platform anymore.

How do you write your posts?

Just using the standard Markdown editor on write.as. It’s not the flashiest UI, but it’s completely sufficient.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

It comes and goes. My posts are primarily focused on technology, mainly about programming and retro computing.

Lately I’ve been working on learning COBOL and RPG, and it seems novel enough to share with others.

I haven’t posted in a while but I’m definitely due for an update, my COBOL web framework is making progress!

Do you normally publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit?

Oh I have to write and save as a draft and proofread several times. Whenever I do publish immediately, I find several errors and end up making rushed edits.

If you want to see my thoughts immediately as they happen, that’s what my Mastodon feed is for. 😀

What’s your favorite post on your blog?

Probably an older post about working on a power supply for a ZX Spectrum. It was on my WordPress blog, I should import it here!

Any future plans for the blog?

Not directly. I expect to continue sharing things about retrocomputing and programming and systems. Maybe I’ll start throwing in baking, one of my other passions.

Who's next?

I’m going to nominate Erick Hill aka AmigaLove.