10 Questions with Phelan of A Homesteading Neophyte

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas with a slight fetish for Little House on the Prairie. After years of personal demons and struggles, I finally made a home in rural Kansas with my husband and three boys. My blog is about our life, and chronicles our hardships and triumphs as we try our hands at self-sufficiency.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
An Introduction

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
I am not sure. But from what others have told me it is that my blog is like reading a personal letter, written to only them. I am honest, sometimes brutally. But I do live a somewhat harsh life.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
I started blogging four years ago on Livejournal. My friends got tired of hearing about my chickens, so I signed up with Blogger to write about them. I discovered blogging from friends in a forum - bookcrossing.com.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
My biggest pet peeve would be slowness. But of course I do have dial-up. The uncalled for drama is another thing that really gets my goat. People are a little too thin skinned at times.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
I can live without all them. I do use so many different ones, but none of them stand out.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
If I need to keep with the theme of my blog, I would love to have Carla Emery, the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. She died a few years back, but her book is an inspiration to everyone that wants to homestead. She has helped me out of many tough spots around here. At times my stupidity will come shining through, she has saved my sanity.

If I can choose someone that isn’t with the theme of my blog, it would be Edgar Allen Poe, because deep down inside I am a sicko.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
Honesty. I have been more honest with my mistakes since I began blogging. I could care less about how much it may embarrass me, and have discovered that many others have made those same mistakes. It also helps others to learn what not to do.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Honesty and spell check. And a little grammar check might not be a bad idea. If you are not coherent, then readers will not stay with you. Humor is also important. You cannot talk about dressing out a rooster for the first time and keep people coming back to read if you don’t make it humorous.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it
unique?
Only one? That will be hard to do. I have met so many wonderful bloggers, everything from politics to homesteading, Christians to pagans. So many extremes and in-between, and all of them have something that adds to my life. But if you are twisting my arm, I might just yelp out Relationalisms. The Fool and I have been chatting for a while now. He is a thinker and pushes our ideals. When the mood strikes me, and I feel like playing the intellectual, I do try and fake it there. Though his readers don’t have to fake it, they all
enjoy the word play and forced thoughts.

Categories: Personal, Ten Questions