You Whippersnappers and Your Blogs and Your Soda Pop

...Or, "Why Can't I Figure This Thing Out?" "Why Do Kids Wear Those Terrible Baggy Pants," and "How Can You Call That Racket Music?"

(Hopefully this will be the last post that makes references to my experiences creating the blog itself, because, really, how boring is that? And don't try to make it sound cool by describing it as "meta.")

I'm struggling to figure out how best to compose (in Word, then cut-and-paste? directly in the posting box online? I'm making a mockery of continuity with this fontage) and edit and blah.

But I feel compelled to mention that there has been a significant span between my last experiences learning internet skills and today's initial assault on your sensibilities.

During college I enjoyed an internship at a local BBS (which was becoming a BBS/ISP during my time there), an opportunity that came my way mostly because of my scintillating online chatting skills. (PSA: In my case, children, the anonymous guy in the chat room with me and my friends was the cool business manager of an internet company who offered me a neato job...but 99.9999% of the time he's a pervert weirdo and you should not talk to him.)

During my time there I quickly gained skills that helped me confidently navigate the Web, approximate the duties of a public relations pro, and pull off that "looking busy while contributing nothing to the greater whole" thing that many of you may be familiar with.

I soon had the desire to create my own web presence, despite an utter lack of anything to say (deja what?), but was frustrated with the software of the day. The tech boys (yes, I was the only girl in the office...a condition I was practically designed for) suggested a shareware HTML editor called HotDog. It was supposed to be intuitive and simple to use, and therefore confused the hell out of me. I broke it down and simply wrote HTML code in a text editor. I never created anything more complicated than a table, and I pretty much learned by stealing code and graphics from web pages I liked, but the point is, I eventually figured it out.

And, with Linus Torvalds as my witness, I will eventually figure out this whole dang blogging doodle!

So stick with me here. I'm starting with a generic template and no add-ons whatsoever, but I'll learn as I go and punch up the cool quotient when I can.