My Blogging AuguStory
I started blogging in the late 1990s on WordPress. It was a natural extension of a journaling habit I started in the early 1990s. Journaling helped me think. Blogging helped open my thinking for others.
Early on, I was more interested in learning the technical aspects than writing. The thought of writing for others appeals to me. My writing habit began with journaling on paper. Thinking via writing, but I don’t edit my personal journal entries. Blogging forces me to consider sentence structure, readability, grammar, spelling, and style.
I don’t remember the names of my early blogs, because after I figured out the technology, I lost interest. My blogging was inconsistent. After having blogs on WordPress and Ghost, by 2009 my blogging focused on content for my job. Educating clients, exploring new technology. I blogged as part of my job from 2009 to 2025. My last significant work blog post was a 21-part book called The BI Cantos .
My retirement planning began in 2019. I didn’t feel prepared for the less structured world of retirement. This sparked me to search for blogging platforms. I wanted minimalism. A focus on writing. Limiting time spent fiddling with blog design. I don’t recall how I discovered Bear, but the space enchanted me with its simplicity and ethos. Herman’s vision appealed to me. I signed up for a paid account in 2022.
In 2022, I wrote my first Bear blog post, but didn’t blog much during my first three years on Bear. This year I’ve stepped up my blogging. The Bear community is fun. I’m averaging over two posts per week in 2026. I decided to register a domain for my blog, Heurista.net. I enjoy thinking about possible futures and reasoning about what might happen. Thinking about the past and what did happen, and why. Recalling family history.
My daily cadence begins with feeding the cat, grinding coffee beans, and making coffee. Then I open my paper pocket notebook, review the previous day, and handwrite 500 to 1,000 words about anything that comes to mind. Work, projects, family, hiking trips, travel, home projects, anything. My preferred text editor is iAWriter. I enjoy vanilla Markdown. My goal is to do at least one blog post every week.
Later this year I’m going to start a website, blog, and newsletter for a trilogy of books I’m writing on resilience. I want to keep my Bear blog focused on personal thinking, personal history, family, and friends. My other blog will focus on helping people be more resilient. That is what my book trilogy will explore along with the blog/newsletter.
Engagement with other Bear bloggers has been positive. The community is generous, helpful, and interesting. I enjoy reading the blogging challenges that Robert Birming has been releasing. AuguStory is the first time I’ve participated in one. Robert inspires me to try new ideas.