Humans of New York

Growing up in the city, I always thought I had assimilated some sort of culture or appreciation for people. When I left the city, I forgot about it. I tried to make peace with it and picked up where I left off, but I just couldn't. I found a lot of city people scary, dirty, mean and unhelpful. I lost my vitality and love for things. I lost my appreciation for the arts. People were simply dull and selfish.

I am cynical. I admit that freely. What I fear is that I am approaching bitter. I do not want to be bitter. (Because I'm still young, right?)

Humans of New York (humansofnewyork.com) helps remind me from time to time that people can be interesting and colorful. People are different shades of various colors. People can be almost anything if I am willing to listen and accept. And I am trying.

Reading Blogs - Stuff [Someone] Likes

I've picked up reading blogs again - because my life is so full of life and full of love. Add to that list a lot of Sherlock Holmes stories and that is where I've been the past year.

I came across an interesting blog today. I read one post and was a little taken aback, angry and confused; read another and considered him a troll, but ultimately decided that I like his writing far too much to condemn him. I tell myself it's a satire and maybe it is, but I also find myself trying to analyze his psyche. Behind any satire is at least some truth and I don't have the wits to determine how much of the blog is satire and how much is the heart and soul of a lost and introspective boy.

I like stuff people like. I will raise my own questions when I am not procrastinating, but now I just read passively.

Why I Chose Blogger Over Wordpress

Let me start off by saying that if you are a serious blogger or someone with true blogging ambition, you should use Wordpress. It is the better blogging platform, hands down. (I'm speaking of the Wordpress you host on your own plan, not the free version of Wordpress.) Most articles you find online will tell you that Wordpress is the better choice over Blogger, Typepad, and newer "blogging platforms" such as Tumblr. It's true. Wordpress allows for customization of almost any sort. With all of its plugins, open source extentions and themes, Wordpress is nearly limitless (which is a good thing, unlike that Bradley Cooper movie).

A snapshot of the Wordpress admin panel courtesy of wordpress.org.

That said, I like Blogger. Sometimes it goes through minor crises, but it's stable and reliable 99.9% of the time - which is a lot better than I can say about the usual hosts. I personally have had some Wordpress blogs hosted on DreamHost, Hostgator, Godaddy, etc. I've had troubles with each of those hosts. (And I frugally paid for them.)

I'm not going to go through a spiel about Blogger vs. Wordpress right now (that will be a future post). To sum up my reasons for picking Blogger for this specific blog: Blogger is convenient. As this blog is set up to be nothing more than a giant internal dialogue, I thrive on that convenience. I am a big Google/Gmail user so I am logged into my Google account 24/7. Blogger is a click away. It is completely free, provides unlimited bandwidth, and requires zero setting up or maintenance. I don't have to pay any monthly dues or worry about renewal. If I decide to ditch this blog a few months down the road, I won't have to worry about canceling any hosting plans. There is no guilt knowing that I've purchased something just to waste it. There is no real responsibility here other than the responsibilities of a writer and a decent person.