The Nuts and Bolts of Blogging

Buck has a post from last Friday asking how one blogs. Since I haven't been blogging period, I figured this would be as good a reason as any to get started again. First off, let me give excuses for my absence. The week before last was finals week. 'Nuff said. This previous week meant the start of the summer landscaping job. All well and good, but in a five day week I worked 57 hours, including one 14 hour day. A typical day is get up around 0630, do 11-12 hours at work, come home at 1830ish to change into BDU trousers and combat boots to go work out for an hour (getting ready for FT), then eat dinner, at which point it is already usually past 2000, possibly pushing 2100. Bed sounds awful nice an hour or two after dinner. Not much time in there for blogging.

Anyway, my blogging habit is something along these lines...

1. Sit down to computer and open up RSS Feedreader. Check all the blogs I have on there - somewhere between 20 and 25 different feeds that are regularly updated and that I regularly read. All the usual MilBlogs, some libertarian/classical liberal themed ones, and a few pol-mil strategy blogs. Check 10-15 other blogs that don't have feeds.

2. Create the massive tabbed Firefox window of doom. I'm notorious among my friends for leaving having a Firefox window open with 20+ tabs. I rarely turn off my computer, but I often only am able to sit down for 10-15 minutes at a time. If something strikes my eye while I'm perusing my feeds and/or another blog, I'll open it in a new tab. Unfortunately, if I get pulled away, which often happens, the tab can sit there for an extremely long period of time, to be superseded by other tabs, especially when the interesting piece is of considerable length. Anyway, step two is put your junk in the box create the massive tabbed Firefox window of doom.

3. If I come across something quick, like a humorous video or joke or snark, something that doesn't require much explanation or a large post, I'll dash something off right quick while I'm still perusing.

4. Once I'm done doing my reading, I usually have 2-3 large topics that I've seen that I'd like to write on that day. I should clarify at this point, I do have two blogs, so libertarian/classical liberal themed stuff usually goes over at The Liberty Papers, while everything else goes here. The process remains the same, however. So I have the 2-3 large topics. I'll get started writing on one of these, usually in the blogger window (broadband wireless is my friend). When step 4 actually happens is when I get up a good long post on pol-mil strategy or the future of the USAF or something of that nature.

5. Unfortunately, step 4 happens rarely. What usually happens is I'm reading Chap or Lex or the CDR and think, "Wow, I could really expand upon X. I should do that." Then I get distracted doing something else and completely forget about/otherwise don't do the post on X for a couple of days, at which point I've moved on to something else. I guess you could call it blogger ADD. That's my one biggest weakness. I rarely take the time to fully develop long thought out posts. Unfortunately, that's the kind of post I prefer. You see the inherent problem here.

Anyway, there's another kind of blogging that I'll be doing this summer...Field Training blogging! Here's a taste...

FT Blogging:
- 0425ish: *dreaming* ...girlfriend, COIN strategy, funny YouTube videos, plane pr0n...
-0430: REVEILLE!!!!!
-0430:10: HUURRRRRRYUP--HUUURRRRRRRRRRYUP--CADET WHY AREN'T YOU MOVING AT THE SPEED OF EXCELLENCE?!?
-0430:15: #$&%#!@ FT...$*#&@*!@#^!!!

Oh, it's gonna be a great time.