Anonymous asked: If Samuel Pepys were around today would he use Tumblr?
I think he would blog, definitely, although not necessarily with Tumblr. Tumblr is perhaps too geared towards making it easy to post all forms of media, whereas Pepys seemed to thoroughly enjoy the written word.
Blogging, in general, is a form of writing a diary, is it not? I certainly treat it that way, and quite enjoy going back to look at what I was doing seven years ago, when I first started blogging.
There’s much more chance nowadays that the writing will survive, and get an audience. Previously, we relied more on luck for diaries to survive, whereas everything is cached pretty much instantaneously online. For better or worse, you could say, but it’s important to document what’s happening in the world, no?
In terms of Pepy’s writing on London life, I can highly recommend Diamond Geezer as a modern-day equivalent. His writing is brilliant, and he somehow seems to do an incredible amount every week.
Geocities finally closes its doors.
Or has its doors closed by Yahoo, whichever.
I made my first ever websites on Geocities, at the tail end of the 90s, teaching myself HTML and the value of free hosting. Even then my distaste of advertising was evident, because I figured out the CSS and Javascript which ran the ads in the top corner, and managed to prevent it from displaying.
It was a sad little teenage boy’s website, full of nonsense and whatnot, but I’m still pretty proud of the eventual design I settled on. It looked pretty cool, and even had a neat little sliding clam-shell interface for navigation.
I maintained that website for a few years, probably until I was about 16-17, and then did a couple of websites for my school’s Sixth Form. One of those almost got me expelled, but that’s a story for another time.
I then discovered Blogger.com, where I kept a blog for a couple of years during my university times, and then almost two years ago I ended up on Tumblr, where I’m more than happy.
So RIP Geocities, you were my (and many others’) introduction to the world of publishing myself online.
6 months ago, shortly after the introduction of the Tumblr Crushes box on the Following page, I posted my then top nine. I figured it was about time I posted an update, seeing as the Liking feature has become such an integral part of my Tumblr experience.
jss: I’m pretty sure that all of these likes are from the last two months, after jss returned from a Tumblr hiatus. She’s one of the funniest people on here, and I especially loved the series of posts she did leading up to her first anniversary.
topherchris: What more needs to be said about topher? Although maybe now he’s part of the establishment…
malty: Shares my twin loves of drinking and looking forward to the next drink. If only she didn’t pretty much exactly on the other side of the northern hemisphere, I’m sure we’d paint the town red.
pterodactyls: It’s the sheer love of the odd, the silly, the whimsical, and the downright Wikipedia that makes me like pterodactyls so much. Looking forward to September already.
emmas: The only person on this list that I’ve met in real life, and the only Brit too! I love her tales of domestic life, of the funny things her kids say and do, and get jealous of the way she sees so much of glorious, glorious Britain.
boredintheburbs: The third person to be on both lists, although he’s been dropping down recently. Hopefully now the hassle of moving home from Paris is over, the posting frequency will pick up once more.
caryrandolph: The first New Yorker, which is a little surprising given the amount of them I follow. A fun-loving girl, always seems to be having a wicked time, which suits me just fine.
noraleah: One of the very first people I followed, and she still posts great material. Whether it be highlighting some political news, or just some pictures of her life in general, she’s always got something entertaining to post.
sabine: The lady across the water on the continent. Genuinely hilarious, very insightful, and makes me want to move back to Germany.
I think there’s a couple of others right on the cusp of the top nine, even having 21 likes each and alternating down the bottom, so I’ve also got to give a shout out to kapi, peterwknox, lfarm, brilliantology, and marfamonstar.
Thanks to the above people and everyone else for brightening up my day, every day.
BBC News | US judge bans 'Rye' book sequel
Phew!
The Catcher In The Rye is one of my favourite books. I remember reading it for the first time and falling in love with Holden because of his sheer apathy towards everything.
I also liked the lack of a back story, and the lack of a solid conclusion. It’s just a snapshot of a life, as it happens. And I still enjoy those kinds of books/films nowadays. I don’t need a completely self-contained story, all nicely wrapped up; I just want an insight into a life.
Which is maybe why I enjoy blogging and reading personal blogs so much. We don’t give our back stories in every post, but over time an image is built up.
