My Blog is a Dinosaur About to Become Extinct
(Or at least get a face lift.)
When my local webhost server told me he could no longer afford to host Loose Leaf and was planning to shut down his operation, I seriously thought about not blogging anymore. Being on an out-of-date Moveable Type publishing platform with a blog the size of Texas, I knew my options were limited.
I played out the death. Four ½ years of work down the tubes. Like a sand castle washed away. I could almost envision not blogging – even though my blog has become like an extension of myself and it suits who I am and what I do. But I couldn’t envision losing the record, the hours of research, the stories I’ve written about others: artists, musicians, actors, poets, farmers, ceremonalists, and more. Some websites, like Tour de Floyd and Floyd’s Blue Mountain School link to stories I’ve written about them here, (which would vanish with the tug of a plug).
For more than four years I’ve been documenting my Asheville potter son Josh’s career as an artist, everything from his wild clay excavation of a tobacco farmer’s field and salvaging an old house on his property in Marshall Country – to his Building Community hand made brick art installations, the construction of The 3 tiered Community Temple, and the Carolina Kiln Build 3 week immersion workshop he recently hosted.
The history of Floyd’s monthly Spoken Word is all here. So is my photo journal of Floydfest through the years, my collages, travelogues, political commentaries, posts about my baby grandson Bryce, and Scrabble playing antics at the Café del Sol. If you google “Good Food for Good People,” the story I wrote about Tenley Weaver and Dennis Dove comes up. Tenley and Dennis are some of the front runners in Floyd’s local food movement. They run Green’s Garage, work a Community Supported Agriculture farm, and a retail/wholesale distribution center for mostly organic seasonal food – all with little presence on the web.
My writings on losing a loved one still touch others. I regularly get heartfelt comments from grief stricken people who find their way to my posts by way of search engines. My 2005 posts on Paragon Park, the amusement park in the town I grew up in that was torn down in the 80’s, continue to draw readers who are trying to track down what happened to the old roller coaster or are just wanting to share some sweet nostalgia.
Carrying Loose Leaf around and carrying on with it is going to cost me money. After giving my writing away or writing for below cost for many years, the last thing I want is to pay for blogging. But it will cost to have it moved, to keep it intact, to do what I don’t have a clue how to. I’ll probably have to try hosting ads. I’ll probably be closed down for a couple of days. And if that happens, just remember what the Terminator said … I’ll be back.
September 8th, 2009 10:25 am
I can help you move and set up your blog elsewhere. If you need to hire someone, please keep me in mind (my rates are reasonable).
Best wishes to you and one of my favorite blogs!
Thomas 🙂
September 8th, 2009 10:38 am
Blogger is free for me, but someday I will also be too large and have to pay something, or find a new venue, or delete all and start over again.
I have thought of sorting some of my various posts via subject and printing them out…the ones that mean the most to me, such as posts about my grandchildren. I did close down my blog on my housebuilding experience but not before I printed it out and have it in a three ring binder. This does mean that any links in the text are not useful.
Whatever happens I am addicted to blogging, the comments and insights from others, and will find a way.
September 8th, 2009 10:51 am
Good luck with moving! I can’t bear the thought of you leaving the blogsphere! I like Tabor’s ideas for preserving past posts.
September 8th, 2009 11:04 am
I do print out my posts and keep them by year in airtight plastic bags. But having my writing printed out or on a CD in the back of a drawer also feels like a death to me. It’s not that same as having it online where it has a life of its own and where it still reaches people, even the old posts. A blog record is like a library micro chip that those who are looking for a particular subject should be able to find. Each archived category is like a blog in itself.
September 8th, 2009 4:16 pm
Oh dear, this is one of my fears about blogging. You get a good taste of it and then, boom. All it takes is one unpaid bill.
I am glad you are printing out your work. I copy mine over into a file on a CD from time to time, but I don’t have much of it printed out. Thank goodness for external hard drives and back ups, but I’m with you. Once it is out there, and that is the format you wrote it for, it is difficult to move it elsewhere. And CDs and computer backups are impersonal and hard to deal with sometimes.
Good luck on your move; I suspect many of us will be watching to see how it all goes. Fingers crossed for you.
September 8th, 2009 6:50 pm
Oh don’t go Colleen. Surely someone qualified that is a friend can help you find a decent home to move too. I still need to print my book of my posts to save. I found Blurb a company that does it. I know it will cost me an arm and a leg but I would like to keep those records. I don’t want to lose the stories of the first years of my marraige, time spent with the kids, or the days from Lilly or Golden onto Earl and Eudora now. I will be like CD above and keep my fingers crossed it works out well for you. What is the saying about if one door closes?
September 8th, 2009 8:57 pm
Don’t go, my friend. Please. Back this baby up or turn it into a book and then come to Blogger or the like and keep on. Google is turning a profit–a big one–so Blogger will be around….Please stay!
September 9th, 2009 1:07 pm
Please continue your blog! I love to read about things happening around Floyd! It gives me a small connection that I sooooo miss since I moved to the Chattanooga, TN area!
September 9th, 2009 3:21 pm
You seem like a WordPress kind of gal to me. I haven’t a clue how to move a blog’s content – or even save it all to upload again elsewhere. That’s one of my projects for this winter so I’m prepared if I ever want to make a move – or are forced to do so like you. Keep at it – glad to hear you’ll be back!
September 10th, 2009 7:20 am
Everyone doesn’t want you to leave Colleen. I suggest you try free blog hosts like blogger. I’m just not sure if you can transfer everything from your original blog to your new blog.
September 11th, 2009 11:31 pm
no no don’t go
October 2nd, 2009 10:29 am
Wish I had seen this sooner, you’re probably all settled. I find http://www.thosegeeks.com very reasonable and helpful for hosting. And they are located in Abingdon, which means that if anything every goes wrong I know where they live!
October 3rd, 2009 8:40 am
So are you transferring to wordpress.com? free hosting
http://www.joefission.com/2008/03/how-to-port-your-blog-from-typepad-to-wordpress-part-2/