This is the 103rd edition of People and Blogs, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Loren Stephens and his blog, ldstephens.net
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Let's start from the basics: can you introduce yourself?
I'm Loren Stephens, and I recently turned 80. I'm originally from California, but now I live in central New Jersey with my partner, Lisa, our dog, Trix, and a flock of chickens (yes, they all have names) on our 10-acre property. We also have an abundance of wildlife roaming through.
I retired in 2009, so it's been a while since I've had to get up and go to work every day. Before retiring, I spent 25 years in the automotive industry, 12 years in finance, and 8 years in advertising and media.
These days, I spend my time with Lisa and our animals, looking after our land (which is certified by New Jersey as a wildlife habitat). My routine is pretty consistent, I get my daily exercise, tinker with tech like Jack Baty, read a lot, and handle whatever needs doing around the property. Probably sounds boring, but it works for me.
What's the story behind your blog?
I've had several blogs over the years. The first one I remember was on Blogger, sometime after Google bought it in 2003. Honestly, I have no idea what I was writing about back then.
ldstephens.net started on WordPress.com in 2016, around the time I was switching from PC and Android to Apple. I was excited to learn how to use my new iPhone and Mac--and to figure out what apps I should be using. That's when I discovered Mac Power Users. I listened to every episode from the start, and I'm still listening today.
I was learning so much that I wanted to share what I found. I started blogging in the hope that someone else might stumble across my posts and discover something helpful or interesting about using Apple gear. That's still a lot of what I write about today. But I also write for myself to think through ideas and document what I'm learning.
Last year, I started experimenting with the static site generator 11ty and found a WordPress importer. I migrated my blog, and now it's built with 11ty and hosted on Netlify.
What does your creative process look like when it comes to blogging?
It's pretty straightforward. I write all my posts in Markdown with front matter, using Drafts on my Mac. Once the post feels ready, I save it to my Desktop and name the file with the post slug.
From there, I drag the file into a Dropzone action that moves it into the right folder in my local 11ty project. If needed, I'll open the project in VS Code to make any final edits. Then I use GitHub Desktop to commit and push the changes. Netlify takes care of publishing the site.
I like to keep the whole process simple and flexible.
Do you have an ideal creative environment? Also do you believe the physical space influences your creativity?
Not really. Being retired, I write when I feel like it, with no schedule, and because I enjoy it. I usually write on my Mac, sitting somewhere quiet in the house. I try to keep things simple and low pressure.
A question for the techie readers: can you run us through your tech stack?
My blog is a static site built with 11ty, using HTML and CSS, and deployed on Netlify. It automatically deploys whenever I push changes to the public GitHub repo.
For writing posts, tweaking the design, or adding features, I work in VS Code. I draft posts in Markdown using Drafts, then add them to the site in VS Code. I do it all on my M4 MacBook Pro.
Given your experience, if you were to start a blog today, would you do anything differently?
Yes. If I were starting a blog today, knowing what I know now, I'd use a static site generator from the start. I've learned enough HTML and CSS to build and maintain a simple static site, and I like the control it gives me.
For someone who doesn't have the time or interest to mess with static site generators, I'd suggest starting with something simple like Pika or maybe Bear if you want a little more flexibility. I'd recommend staying away from WordPress, it's too much overhead for a personal blog.
Financial question since the Web is obsessed with money: how much does it cost to run your blog? Is it just a cost, or does it generate some revenue? And what's your position on people monetising personal blogs?
My blog is free to run. 11ty, GitHub, and Netlify are all free to use, and I don’t track analytics. The only cost is $20 a year for the domain. As for making money from it, I’m not interested. It’s free and always will be for anyone to read.
I’m fine with donation buttons like Ko-Fi or Buy Me a Coffee on other people’s blogs. But if an indie blogger starts putting some or all of their content behind a paywall, I’m done. The real question is whether the income from these efforts actually makes a difference financially. I bet in 99.9% of cases, it doesn’t. By switching to a paywalled model, they probably annoy a lot of their loyal readers. So why bother?
Time for some recommendations: any blog you think is worth checking out? And also, who do you think I should be interviewing next?
Here are a few indie bloggers I enjoy reading, and I don't think they've been interviewed on People and Blogs yet:
Final question: is there anything you want to share with us?
I don’t have much going on in the way of side projects right now; the blog is my main creative outlet. I still enjoy listening to Mac Power Users, which got me started down this path, and I keep up with a few other Apple-focused podcasts and indie blogs through RSS.
When it comes to websites I enjoy, I like simple personal blogs where people write about what interests them. I appreciate clean, distraction-free sites with thoughtful writing.
I just enjoy learning new things and writing about them.
PS: I don’t do social media, so the only place you’ll find me is on my blog.
This was the 103rd edition of People and Blogs. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Loren. Make sure to follow his blog (RSS) and get in touch with him if you have any questions.
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