When I started 2024, I was managing four websites:
BrandonWrites/Brandon’s-Journal
My main blog where I just write about stuff.
Middle-Aged Fat Kids
A pop-culture website
Brandon’s Horror
A horror review site
A Message Board
A small forum that deals with men’s mental health
I felt like I was spread too thin, and the older blogs were no longer bringing me joy. In fact, almost all of the content that was being published on them had been pre-written over a year ago. I was just coasting on my drafts. But the more I thought about it, I realized it was time to make some changes.
First, I deleted Brandon’s Horror. I wrote out my thoughts in this blog post, and then came to the decision to give it the axe, in a true horror fashion.
Then I moved the message board off of WordPress and onto a free Flarum account. That eliminated pretty much all responsibility for me. No more installing SSL certificates or worrying about updates. I just configured the board, password protected everything, and went about my evening.
Then finally, I hit publish on a dozen or so drafts I had sitting on Middle-Aged Fat Kids, let it sit for a week and then deleted the site. I snagged a handful of posts to share on here, and I may re-write one particular post that got a massive amount of attention online unexpectedly (It was about Chocolate Solider and Brownie drinks, who knew people cared?). So, over the course of a month, I went from managing four sites to just two and the two that I manage now are no longer self-hosted and require very little for me other than content generation.
I’ll admit, giving up control has been difficult. It goes against so much that I believe in when it comes to online data management, but I trust Vincent and Scribbles, and Flarum has shown to be pretty decent over the years. So, I rest easy at night.
This morning, I was browsing Lou’s Micro.blog and I couldn’t help but become interested in starting another one up myself. Then I remembered how much work I’ve put into trying to simplify my online life and I had to remind myself that what I have right now is enough. And well… this mini trip documenting how I got here helps me remember what my true goal was: a single, quiet place to just come and write.
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