Blogging: Weekly Summary (January 12-18, 2026)

It’s a funny week to sit back and read a handful of personal blogs. The posts here feel like people leaning over the kitchen table and whispering what they’re working on, what worries them, and what’s been useful lately. I would describe them as small campfires—some bright, some smoky—but all worth gathering around for a minute. To me, it feels like a mix of folks sorting through how they want to write, what tools they’ll use, and what blogging itself means now. I’ll try to pick out the threads that keep showing up and the little disagreements that make the whole thing lively.

Habit, discipline, and the strange comfort of routine

A few posts this week put the spotlight on habit. There’s talk about daily posts, about trying to keep a regular rhythm. Elliot Morris admits the craft can get exhausting. He wrote about doing daily posts and how the quality waxes and wanes. He lays out this tension that I’d say a lot of bloggers know: the more you write, the more mistakes and raw bits you put out, and the more you worry about the fallout. He mentions fears about professional repercussions — that uneasy little thought that something honest might bite you later. That struck me because it’s not dramatic. It’s just real. It’s like balancing a stack of plates while walking through a living room full of cats.

Then there’s Josh Anderson, who is shifting focus. He’s been doing movie reviews. Now he wants to move into information architecture and content strategy. He talks about writing as a tool for growth, both personal and professional. The aim is to keep writing regularly in 2026 and explore new subjects. That’s the same beat as Elliot, but on a calmer tempo. Changing topics and trying to keep a habit. Same problem, different playlist.

And Manu (writing about Yancey Strickler’s journey) circles the habit issue too, but from the angle of environment and practice. There’s an idea there that where you write, how you write, and the tiny daily rituals matter. It’s almost like cooking. The same recipe will taste different depending on whether you’re in a noisy dorm or a quiet kitchen with an old radio playing. The rituals shape the output.

This thread—habit, practice, the bravery to publish imperfect work—pops up more than once. It’s not the sexy part of blogging, but it’s the part that keeps the blog alive. You’ll find echoes of it if you click through.

The look and feel: featured images, titles, and visual friction

A different set of posts fusses about how posts appear. Chuck Grimmett has a neat, blunt line: featured images are friction. He’s thinking about how templates and the expectation of a picture or a headline can actually slow down writing. It’s funny because featured images were supposed to make things cleaner, prettier, easier to share. But for Chuck they become hoops to jump through. He’s experimenting with dropping the obligation and seeing what happens.

That connects in a friendly way to CogDogBlog, who is defending human creativity in blogging. There’s a bit of a shrug there—yes, tech helps, but don’t let it dictate what a blog becomes. Together these posts feel like someone deciding they don’t want to keep dressing up for a party that only half-interests them. They want to wear sweatpants sometimes. The comparison is simple, but it fits: photos and polished titles can be like a fancy fork—useful sometimes, but unnecessary for a bowl of soup.

And then Kev Quirk throws in a spicy little fight about uppercase letters. He’s exasperated with the trend of posts that are all lowercase. He argues that ignoring capital letters makes reading harder and less pleasant. It’s a small thing, but it’s loud. It boils down to a debate about care in presentation. Are we allowed to be messy on purpose? Is that a style or just slipshod? Kev’s tone is a mix of irritation and nostalgia. He misses small, clear cues in text—like capital letters—and he’s not shy about saying so.

These pieces make me think that the visual side of blogging—templates, images, typography—is where practical decisions become values. People are choosing how much polish they want. Some want the polish gone. Some want it firmly back.

Authenticity vs. caution: what to say and how much to show

Elliot’s piece about daily writing also turns into a larger question: how honest can you be? He writes about grammar, clarity, and being careful about consequences. There’s a rhythm here with Josh Anderson again, but Josh’s angle leans more toward using writing as a professional tool while being mindful of AI’s influence. Both pieces carry this cautious note—write often, experiment, but don’t get reckless.

I’d say there’s this common anxiety: the internet is big and people do not always forgive quickly. One post is more open to roughness. Another wants every comma in place. The two approaches rub together like sandpaper. It’s interesting to watch where people land. Some decide to accept the roughness as authentic and move on. Others tighten up because their livelihood or their reputation feels fragile.

It’s almost like driving on a road with potholes. Some people slow down and obsess over tire pressure. Others learn how to swerve and keep going. Both approaches are valid. It just depends on what you’ve got under the hood and how much risk you’re willing to take.

Tools, formats, and the small economies of attention

Several posts were quietly practical. Dom Corriveau lays out the ways to follow his content—blog posts, daily journals, a combined feed, and links to Mastodon and YouTube. That post reads like a low-key guide to presence. It’s the sort of thing that says, here’s how I organize my output and how you can join if you care.

N umeric Citizen Space hops into tech commentary—macOS Tahoe design, automation workflows, backup myths, and the odd new social networks. It’s less about blogging as craft and more about the ecosystem that bloggers live in. There’s a practical bent here. It’s the weather report for people who run blogs: what’s changing in tools and platforms, and what that might mean for how you publish.

Clayton Errington rambles—in the best way—through 3D printing, Lego parts, Linux on Thinkpads, and boot troubleshooting. There’s an energy to it that feels like a maker’s notebook. Again, not a how-to but a look at the toolkit. That curiosity about hardware and software sneaks into blogging indirectly. It affects what you can create, how fast you can post, and how you debug the little things that otherwise silently derail a day.

This cluster of posts reminds me of a toolbox in a shed. Different people have different tools. Some like neat bins and labels. Others pile things on a bench and still build great stuff. The blog is the bench. The feeds and formats are the bins.

Projects, games, and niche communities

Not every blog post this week is about form. Vladar's Blog is full of tabletop gaming updates—playtests, campaign milestones, and series progress. It reads like a nerdy postcard. For those deep into gaming, these updates are gold. For casual readers, they’re a peek into long-running commitment to a hobby.

Manu and the post on Yancey Strickler offer a different kind of project story. There’s a look at the evolution of a blog over time, plus thoughts on monetization and audience. It’s the long view: how a person’s writing life changes with time, attention, and outside pressures. That kind of post is like finding someone’s old photo album and seeing how tastes changed.

And Clayton Errington again with the 3D printing experimentation and Lego. It reads as if he’s making a list of potential weekend projects and slowly crossing items off. There’s a comfort in that. It’s hobbyist blogging at its best—curiosity, trial and error, and small joys.

These project posts remind me of community centers and local clubs. If you love those niches, you’ll stick around. If you don’t, you’ll at least get a sense of how stubbornly joyful people can be about their hobbies.

Curators, ephemeral stuff, and the small thrill of discovery

There’s a short, charming note from Numeric Citizen Space about being part of the Secret Internet Curators and launching a new site. That kind of post leans into the ephemeral nature of the web—things pop up, things move, and people notice small details like the new Apple Store layout or macOS design changes. It’s the digital equivalent of a neighbor telling you about a new bakery down the street.

This week’s posts carry a curator’s eye in places. Folks who collect links, observe small shifts, and point out little cultural changes. They aren’t making sweeping claims. They’re saying: notice this. That approach feels useful. You read it and you might actually go look. Curators nudge you toward other places. They’re the friends who whisper, hey, check this out. Don’t take their word for it, but look.

AI, writing tools, and the future on the horizon

It’s not a heavy theme this week, but it’s there. Josh Anderson mentions AI in the context of what it means for writing. He’s thoughtful about it—wondering how to keep writing meaningful and how AI will change the landscape. It’s the soft question on a lot of people’s minds: will tools make things easier, or will they thin the craft?

You can feel a mild divide. Some posts treat technology as helpful background. Others treat it like a possible challenge to authenticity. There’s no panic. Mostly a steady awareness. It’s like hearing a distant thunderstorm while you’re still drying the laundry. You notice, you consider moving the sheets, but you don’t pack everything away yet.

Small editorial arguments and style fights

A couple of posts argue about tiny editorial choices. Kev’s rant about uppercase letters, which I mentioned earlier, sits next to Chuck’s complaint about featured images. These are not earth-shattering fights. They are the kitchen-sink quarrels of people who spend time with words.

It’s oddly comforting to see these little battles. They show people care about the reading experience. They disagree on whether to remove polish or to insist on traditional cues like capitalization. That disagreement tells you as much about the writers as any manifesto ever could.

Where the posts agree, and where they don’t

A common agreement: writing matters. People want to keep writing. They want to shape their output. They’re thinking about audience and tools. Whether they are playing with images, obsessing over capitals, or fiddling with feeds, the shared beat is a desire to keep the blog alive. That’s the baseline.

Where they disagree is on pace and polish. Some want daily rough drafts. Some want cleaner, slower pieces. Some want to strip templates and images. Some want clarity and traditional rules. Those differences are small on the surface. But they change the texture of a blog a lot. It’s the difference between a home-cooked meal and a staged restaurant photo of the same meal. Both feed you. Both are valid. But you’ll experience them differently.

Little things that stuck with me

• The image-as-friction idea felt fresh. It’s simple, but it flips an expectation most of us take for granted. Chuck’s question—what if we didn’t need a featured image—keeps nagging in a useful way.
• Elliot’s openness about fear and the cost of daily writing was quietly brave. There’s a human cost to publishing, and he names it plainly.
• Kev’s small grammar fight is grumpy and oddly moving. It’s a reminder that tiny typographic choices are still meaningful to readers.
• Dom’s feed options are practical and calm. He points toward an easy life for followers, which is nice.
• The maker notes from Clayton feel like a pocket notebook. They’re not polished. They don’t have to be. That makes them fun.

If you want to dive deeper, click the names. Each post has its own flavor. Josh Anderson is moving topics, thinking about AI and practice. Elliot Morris is marking a milestone and thinking about risk. Chuck Grimmett wants to trim the visual fat. CogDogBlog is defending original play. Clayton Errington is in workshop mode. Manu is reflecting on creative process and money. Vladar's Blog reports from the gaming table. Dom Corriveau maps feeds and places to follow. Kev Quirk shouts about capitals. Numeric Citizen Space curates tech and oddities.

There’s a whole lane here about small choices adding up. Choices about rhythm, images, fonts, and honesty. These are tiny decisions. They pile up into a blog that feels like home or like a showroom. I’d say the most interesting thing is that everyone is making those choices in public. That willingness to tinker, to argue with habits, and to keep posting in spite of the doubts—that, more than any single technical tip—feels like the real subject this week.

Go read a couple. Dip into the ones that catch your eye. It’s like sampling at a farmer’s market: take a little, decide what you like, and maybe come back for the loaf.