Mari Musings

Hello, everyone! I'm FINALLY blogging again... so crazy. I've wanted to change my blogging system for some time now, and I've experimented with a few different things. Previously I used Zonelets for blogging, which is great for beginner web developers, especially those who don't have access to server side languages and databases like PHP and MySQL. However, I found Zonelets to be tedious to update alongside my RSS feed which was also manual at the time. While never going live, I ported all of my posts to a fork of Zonelets called Zonelots which has a few more features than Zonelets. However, I ran into the same issue – it's so damn tedious to update a static site blog like that.

Of course, that isn't the only barrier I've had to blogging, but my hope is that my shiny new bloggin CMS will encourage me to use it more. I looked at forks of WordPress such as ClassicPress, but I ultimately decided that it's a little more involved than I'd like. This is just a simple blog, and I want to be casual with it. I played around with the idea of building my own rudimentary frontend, too. After doing some research, I think that is a bit too far above my skill level for now. I have only just started flirting with PHP and server side shenanigans.

I looked through my friends' and peers' sites for inspiration. I love Mala's diary, and she has seemingly upgraded it recently. I'm not sure if she built her own framework or not, but I love how it's set up. My favorite part about her entries is how she documents her real life adventures. For some reason, reading her entries gives me a certain sense of melancholy I can't put my finger on.

I like Lapin's simple approach. I think both her microblog and diary are just one page each, where she adds a new div for each entry. Of course, her web design is fantastic and I love reading her entries. I'm also a nerdy, OC-obsessed, ""boring"" office lady living with my not-husband. I find her really entries relatable.

I finally found one what I was looking for after rereading Krish's blog posts. I love how thought-out and deeply, existentially personal Krish's blog entries are. They are also one of the most resourceful people I know on the small web. If I ever need something, Krish always has just the answer. Their blog is how I found Chyrp Lite, my current CMS.

My only complaint about Chyrp Lite so far is that it's difficult to customize. Thankfully, it comes with several nice default themes, but making my own has been a challenge. My current theme as of writing this is really just a re-skin of the Blossom theme. I've managed to change the colors and borders; however, after hours of trying yesterday, I wasn't able to add any other images or links to my sidebar... yet. The draw of hosting a website and building/editing code and systems on my own is learning something new. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and confidence in myself that's valuable in all areas of my life. It may take me some time, but I can and will learn how Chyrp works – just like how I figured out Zonelets three years ago.

Regarding the future of my blog, I'm inspired by the way darling Aid runs her microblog. For awhile, she was posting little snippets of what was going on in her life. They weren't grand essays with citations and worldly implications... (most of the time). The beauty of Aid's blog is that it's so casual and personal, showing her interests and fleeting, unfinished projects. I simply love reading it! I also love that she uses it as a 'feed' of sorts for her new art. I always felt like putting my new drawings in my gallery was a bit unceremonious. I miss the days of deviantArt where it was expected to have a lot to say about my art, and a blog is the perfect place for it. I had never considered or even seen anyone use it like that before. Cheers to Aid! (And Sylvie and Rock Grandpa ♥).

I want to figure out how to have different 'types' of images in this blog, like different CSS classes. So far, all my images are aligned in the center which is what I want most of the time... But I like to use 'emoji' images as well, which is to say small images that do not break the line. If anyone has any advice on how to do this in Chyrp flavored markdown/the CSS, I am all ears.

Time to go eat some ham, it's Thanksgiving here in the states. ♥

Currently

Mood: Calm

Listening to: My boyfriend play Arc Raiders

Reading: What Lies Beyond the Veil - Harper L. Woods

Watching: the gronch (2000)

Playing: Skyrim (2011)