Kati on duckygirl
I've had this blog for 7.5 years now.
First of all, I'm curious who still reads it. I think my long hiatus during the campaign may have sent the message this was dead. That's exactly what I was afraid of!
Also, I want to start a more "professional" blog that's less about my personal life and more commentary on our culture. It might be an asset to me professionally. I'm interested in doing more with writing, and a blog, while not necessarily providing the most compelling writing samples, is nevertheless a way to self-publish and get yourself out there. I don't have a lot in the way of writing samples right now; there are some entries here I could use, as well as a commentary I had published in The DePauw, but that's about it. (If I hadn't gotten mono my senior year and had to step down as a reporter before I even started, I'd have more, but that's life.) Right now I'm thinking of applying for a job position in a university's admissions office that requires "experience with writing for the web/blogging." Could I show them anything from here, or is this blog just too much of a mix of political commentary, silly quizzes and surveys, personal updates, musings on culture, and stories from my childhood to ever show to a potential employer? Is there anything too scandalous/personal/questionable that's viewable to the public? I might like to write commentary pieces for a newspaper someday, too, and while that's a whole other story, I think a blog would be a good place to start.
Am I decent enough at writing that I should pursue this somewhat? What are people's thoughts about putting a blog out there that you might even show to potential employers, or at least would show up if someone Googled your name? It's a tricky road.
So I'm curious to hear any thoughts people have about that. If I start a new blog, what should I do with this? Should I double-post from my new blog? Should I still update this one with more personal entries? Would this blog make me look bad or unprofessional in any way, if someone were to read it? The thing is, the earliest entries here were written when I was 14. I'm 22 now. When you grow up, what does your blog do?
Also, it seems like Blogger is the new place to be for blogs that aren't just about one's personal life. Am I right? Are there others? Should I even consider Livejournal? (Is that sacreligious to say here? Rest assured, I am quite loyal to LJ.)
While I'm talking about this blog, I wonder if anyone cares about how I came up with the moniker "duckygirl". It's pretty simple; when I was in 9th grade, I brought a rubber duck to art class to draw. It was hard at first, and I asked a lot of my friends in the class to draw one so I could see how they did it. Somewhere in all that, one of the guys started calling me "Ducky Girl". I liked it, and I realized I liked rubber ducks (like a lot of girls my age at that time), and I started collecting all things rubber ducky. I got this blog the summer after 9th grade and the name seemed perfect.
I don't collect rubber ducks anymore (although I still have my collection, and it's pretty cute.) I think "duckygirl" is kiddy, but it's cute, and it reflects my general optimistic outlook. I would choose a different moniker for my new blog- or probably just a title. A lot of bloggers don't go by a moniker; they just have a title. I have a few ideas but nothing very good.
Well, that's all. Please leave your thoughts!
Kati