Since I launched my first blog on BlogSpot, thousands of readers have been kind enough to stop by and give my stuff a read. It’s been almost a year now, give or take, and I’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions from e-mail and comments that I thought I’d share, some far more serious and real than others…

Question: Why did you first start blogging?

Answer: That’s a bit of a story. You can read all about it here.

Question: Okay, once you know you want to blog, how do you get started?

Answer: It depends on what you want to write, how tech savvy you are, and whether you want to host your blog yourself. Here’s how I got started.

Question: What is a “Jagre,” and why do you use an alias?

Answer: “Jagre” does have some personal significance, but it’s one of those things you gotta know me to understand. As for why I use an alias, I’ve found that a certain level of anonymity is freeing in a lot of ways. Since I write a lot about my life and experiences, I can get personal without getting personal, if that makes any sense. For example, I can use a co-worker’s first name and speak honestly about them without any major concerns. They get a kick out of it, and as long as I remain anonymous, so do they. My mild-mannered alter ego is no big secret, and I’m sure many folks that visit the site know me personally. But ya just never know with Internet people, so I cling to whatever bits of privacy I can. It also helps keep me unfiltered, so I can say “shit” and talk about herpes all I want. Pseudonyms give you a bit more freedom.

Question: I used to read your stuff on BlogSpot at The JagWire. Where’s all the old content?

Answer: I still have all the old posts I thought were worth saving stashed away in Word someplace. I’ll eventually get around to re-posting the stuff I like, but it’s a big project because most of it will have to be re-edited for formatting purposes (bold, italics, list items, etc.). I’m sure I’ll do it on rainy day occasions when I don’t have time to crank out something new. Stay tuned.

Question: Where the hell do you get off saying (insert somewhat offensive joke here)?

Answer: Give it a rest, will ya? Please consider three things…

First, a lot of what I write are just jokes, and are thus not intended to be taken at all seriously. Suspend judgment and disbelief long enough to find the humor or at least respect the intention.

Second, part of it is an act. I’m not as dumb as I make myself out to be at times. I’m also not a misogynist; I just pull a lot of material from the male stereotype and differences between the sexes. Stereotypes and labels are things I’m 100% against, so I get a kick out of turning them on their ear to demonstrate how silly they are.

And third, I’m one of the most laid back, easy-going guys you’d ever meet. I’m not out to offend or upset anyone. As a general rule, I tend to like and respect everyone, unless they cut me off in traffic.

Question: Which blogging tool are you using on the new site?

Answer: The JagPot is proudly powered by WordPress. I’ve recently upgraded to version 2.0.5. I tried Movable Type and TypePad before choosing, and while I had no problems with any of them, WordPress suited me best. If you’re just starting out or don’t want to host your blog yourself, I highly recommend BlogSpot.

Question: Do you use any plugins?

Answer: I do, but I’ve kept it pretty simple. Here’s a quick list of the ones I use…

1. The Google Sitemap plugin by Arne Brachhold generates a Google-compliant sitemap for your blog. Pretty handy.
2. WordPress Database Backup, by Scott Merrill, which does what it says it does. Always good to backup your stuff.
3. Akismet is probably the most useful of them all. It’s a web service that checks your incoming comments against its spam filters. Since I installed it a couple months back, it’s stopped nearly 3,000 spam comments. Not a single one has gotten through.
4. Get Recent Comments takes a few of your newest comments and displays them on your sidebar. Highly customizable and easy to use.

I use a couple others, too, but they’ll be covered in the answer to another question. (I’m psychic.)

Question: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Answer: Only as much wood as he would need to whittle himself a wonderful wood cabin he would use to woo woodchicks.

Question: What are your feelings on RSS feeds? Do you have one?

Answer: Lotsa debate over RSS among personal bloggers these days. I think it depends on the goal you have for your blog and the nature of your content. Personally, I’m not out to make a buck and I don’t take my material all that seriously. My goal is to get a lot of readers and hope they giggle enough to come back. That being the case, I do have an RSS feed and I think it’s generally been a positive thing for my blog.

The big concerns are feed stealing (someone plagiarizing your material) and traffic diversion (people reading your feeds without ever visiting your site). On the plagiarism thing, I don’t worry about it. It’s just as easy for someone to come to my site and steal as it is to steal from my feed. Regarding traffic, I don’t really care. I think since my feed only contains my latest stuff, if someone really likes what they see, they’ll come to the site to get more. If not, maybe they’ll keep up with the feed.

I use FeedBurner with Steve Smith’s FeedBurner Feed Replacement plugin, and think it’s great. It seems to be working well with Angsuman Chakraborty’s Feed Copyrighter, though I haven’t taken a closer look yet to see if it’s a redundant combination. As for feed publishing, I have mixed feelings but no real objections.

Question: I like your theme. Did you make it or download it?

Answer: A little of both. My first theme started out as Joni Mueller’s Tech Bytes, which I downloaded from Alex King’s site. I redesigned the masthead, replaced the background, changed the color scheme, and reorganized and added content to the sidebar.

Since then, I’ve tried a lot of themes to get a feel for what I like. So the theme you’re looking at now is a Frankenstein freebie… bits and pieces from a few free themes, a couple ideas from my favorite blogs, and even a touch or two of my own (God forbid). I’m working on a 3-column theme now. It works, but it’s still in the Ugly Phase. Stay tuned.

Question: Are you mental or something?

Answer: I get this question a lot. Frequently, even. Might be why it’s on a list of frequently asked questions. *shrug*

Question: Who are your major influences as a writer?

Answer: My heroes are pretty evenly split between humorists and comedians. In the strictest sense, Dave Barry and P.J. O’Rourke are probably my favorites, with others like Tony Kornheiser, Anka Radakovich, and Patrick McManus well worth a mention. I’ve always been more fascinated by comedians, however. Though they’re not really given enough credit as writers, I feel pretty strongly that comedians are some of the best writers on the planet. My personal favorites are the untouchable best of all time: Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Bill Cosby. Other comedic influences would be Lenny Bruce, Dennis Miller, John Stewart, Eddie Izzard, Andy Griffith, and the combined genius of Monty Python.

Question: Where do your pictures come from?

Answer: All of the pictures on my site come from free image archives on the Web. I hesitate to say which ones because I can’t guarantee that all of their images are as “free” as they say. There’s just way too many for anyone to have checked the ownership of all of them. Suffice it to say that to the absolute best of my knowledge and understanding, the photos I edit and display are free for public use. If you see a picture on my site that infringes upon a copyright, please let me know and I will either take it down or give credit.

All that being said, most of my pictures, including The JagPot header, were personally edited or created using Photoshop CS2.

Question: (copied from an e-mail sent by “Sparkness”) “You write alot about your life but I notice you stop short of saying anything real personal. Why is that?”

Answer: It’s not a privacy thing, though I do think there’s a fine line between public and personal. There’s nothing I’m not willing to discuss on some level, but at some point I think it’s important to remain topical. My love life, for example, is something I touch on from time to time, but never with much detail. So there are certain lines I’m loath to cross. Someone I love today might end up being someone I don’t even like tomorrow, and while that may make for some great blog material, I feel it’s ultimately disrespectful to the person in question. In other words, some things are none of your goddamn business (*grin*).

Question: I got caught reading your blog at work, got fired, then got evicted, and am now living in a dumpster in Jersey. So can I crash at your place?

Answer: Sure! I live at the local Motel 6, Room 212. Be sure to knock twice while singing “I Shot the Sheriff” so I know you’re not a cop.

Question: You’ve got comments turned on, but almost no one’s using them. Is it okay to leave comments about your posts?

Answer: Absolutely. I had infinitely more comments than posts at BlogSpot, but they haven’t really caught on here yet. And this time around, I created a section specifically geared toward comments and discussion (Jag’s Pick 7). I’m not sure why they’re not being used much. Might be because the site is still new; might be because my material lately hasn’t been comment-friendly. Whatever the case, please feel free to comment as you see fit.

Question: (copied from e-mail by “Mitch”) “Long posts, short posts, long posts, short posts. You should try to stick to a format don’t you think?”

Answer: Sticking to the same format every day would require a lot more thought and organization. Shit on that. Sometimes I’ve got a lot to say, and sometimes I don’t. Hell, when I’m really struggling with a thought, there are times when I don’t even finish what

(Jags)