Thursday, April 8, 2010

Why did you start blogging?

I'm really curious - why did YOU start blogging?

I started blogging about five years ago at the insistance of Lovely Daughter. She had kept an on-line journal over at Diaryland for a number of years and made a lot of nice on-line friends. She would talk about this one and that one that she had become acquainted with and I began to feel as though I actually knew some of these folks. She encouraged me to start writing and even agreed to set up a page for me. I don't know what it's like now, but back then you almost had to be able to write HTML in order to have a page on Diaryland that didn't look like everyone else's page. I called it Lutefisk & Lefse. Being the ScandihOOvian that I am I thought that was appropriate.

Over time Diaryland developed a lot of technical problems that were due to growth, I think. Anyway, at that time a lot of the folks that I had become acquainted with bailed and moved elsewhere - some to Blogger and some to Wordpress. I made the jump and named my new digs The Adventures of Ole and Lena - a Stud and a Hot Dish!

Over time I made a lot of great friends through those two journals, some of whom I'm still in touch with, and some of whom I've actually met in person. We've followed each other's up and downs, vented our anger, been there with a shoulder to cry on when necessary, celebrated when the occasion has been appropriate - just all those wonderful things that friends do for each other. Just great, great people.

Then there's always the 'other' kind of people - those who just aren't so nice and are always looking to stir the pot. And as things can sometimes go - things can turn sour. When I was writing under The Adventures of Ole and Lena that's what happened. I became so disillusioned that I quit writing for a period of time, but I found I missed it terribly and I missed the truly GOOD folks that I had become acquainted with.

So several months later I decided to open up a new blog under the name of Tales from Frostbite Falls because I was hoping that the folks who had turned me so sour on blogging wouldn't find me and continue the harrassment. But the title Tales from Frostbite Falls has just never felt RIGHT, if you know what I mean. I just wasn't Rocky the Squirrel or Bullwinkle the Moose - the only connection Frostbite Falls had for me was that it was cold there, and I live in a cold country.

So without changing the link I've decided to change the title of my blog back to The Adventures of Ole and Lena - A Stud and a Hot Dish - ( because that's what I am - and Ole's still kind of a stud too - at least in MY eyes!) Just don't tell him I said that or he might get a big head, okay?

So there you have it, Folks - I've made the circle and I'm back to being a true ScandihOOvian again. Now I feel I can again write about all things Norwegian and Swedish like lutefisk and lefse.

Love you all,

Lena

5 comments:

harrietv said...

Some eight years ago, shortly after I began at D'land, I wrote a post called Diaries Then and Now.
http://l-empress.liscious.net/older/005532.html
I too found the difficulties at D'land more than I wanted to deal with and, with the help of several experts (including my daughter), I moved l'Empress to its own site.
I still say that anyone who doesn't like it is free to close the page and not open it again; they have no right to attack your writing.

Marge said...

I started blogging exactly four years ago, in the spring of 2006, right before we retired, sold our house, gave away our belongings, and hit the road for travel. We planned to live on the road for ten years, but my mom became ill and we had to give up our traveling after only twenty months and come home to help care for her. So my blog that is titled Roadsage was to be my wisdom from the road, and was to contain thoughts and pictures of our travels. I haven't changed the title, but because we're not on the road full time anymore, it is kind of a misnomer. But I still do a lot of pictures, and each time we travel I try to post regularly. I have made some wonderful friends, and have met some of them, and would love to meet many more!

So there you have it. Love your Norwegian references! And I also love your new (old) title!

Carolyn said...

I started my blog in early February 2007. I had never heard of online diaries until a few months before.

As I was doing research for my (then) job trying to develop a Montana Lewis & Clark tour, I came across an online diary of a young woman who had recently married. It caught my interest immediately. I spent hours reading her. I went back to the very first day and worked my way forward.

Eventually, I found DL and decided to start my own diary. At first, I thought I would share it with family, as a way to keep in touch.
Once I really got into it though, I decided not to share it with family.

That little white box on Diaryland had become (an still is) my safe place to write the things I didn't always have the courage to say.

Although I've come up against a hater here and there, I've been very lucky as I've made dozens of lovely friends, especially you!
Take care.

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

Would you believe, there was a time when I did not use the Internet much at all. We retired almost 11 years ago and moved to Florida. Moved back to Wisconsin for 2 years...too cold...and then moved back to Florida in 2006. It must have been in 2007 when I started, who knows how now, finding a few blogs to read. I soon realized they were written on all sorts of subjects. I corresponded with Britt-Arnhild in Norway because I so enjoyed her blog. She encouraged me and told me how to start and the rest is history. We travel a lot so I knew I would find something to write about other than day to day stuff. Little did I know that our cooking together would be of interest to others and so I started added food into the blogs. I have met more friends, in person and through blogging. I can fortunately say I have never heard a discouraging word, but I am very, very careful about what to not write about. Susan

Memaw's memories said...

I began blogging in June 2006. My daughter had been blogging for a while, and she got me to following her blog and those of a few of her friends. They seemed to have a lot of fun posting fun pictures and stories of their chidren. I decided this would be a good way to remember things my grandchildren were doing. Soon, I was posting lots of things other than just the chidren. I post a lot about my sewing projects, some about cooking, and here lately, a lot about the weather.

I have never had anyone be unkind to me and I would be crushed if someone was. Not too many of my close friends even know that I blog, which may be the reason. I have made many friends online through this medium, and hope to someday meet them.

I missed you while you were silent, and I'm glad you are back.