The blog in year review 2024

maipenquynh on 11. January 2025

One might think I'm a bit late for doing a year review. It's all strategy! I was able to read other bloggers' review and gather ideas on what I'd like to do for my year review. Years on the blogs have passed by without any year review, but end of 2024, it was the first time that I thought about doing one. And I've seen many ideas! For my 2024 year review on the blog, I've clicked back to each previous blog month and created a compilation.

JANUARY

I started the year with a photo from the series/format nur ein bild (only one picture), back then still called Fotokiosk, showing an an inviting corner in the public library. With the review for December 2023, the series of personal reviews on the blog came to an end. It was fun writing these monthly reviews for the blog. But I have to admit: they were even more fun and more rewarding for myself when I changed and wrote the monthly reviews only for myself and didn't publish them.

As part of a series on darning, I've explained some technical aspects about darning. To set a good example, I showed one of my repairs: the patterned blouse and the almost-chameleon. 1 of 3 items of clothing which were repaired before the big holiday in 2023 (to be continued).

FEBRUARY

I wrote about botanical gardens, their educational and pleasurable mission and the one time I learnt something (gingko). The blog got two new plugins and I realised that darning is my hobby – and that therefore, the focus is primarily on me and not on the sustainability aspect. This post was important to me because I realised that I had found myself in a narrative that didn't quite match what I was feeling.

MARCH

I arranged a repair date with myself and remembered January days in Sicily .

APRIL

One of my favourite posts in 2024: A library tour through Dresden on two wheels. Not only was the tour itself a lot of fun. But also writing this post was a pleasure. I consciously remembered what I did on this tour, what thoughts I had and how I felt. I particularly love the part about listening to CDs with my friend because that was a lovely memory from my teenage years that I hadn't expected.

MAY

After the colder months when I could only long for warm days through my photos, the time had finally come in May: spring arrived and peeled. I philosophised about what the calendar motto "The journey is the reward" means and what I can take away from it. Another post that means a lot to me is the post on the road at home. This was the official start to motivate myself to go out at home and discover and enjoy known and unknown corners. Coriander was on the blog twice, the first time in May: Coriander. May was also the month in which I found a lot of new blogs, especially photoblogs. I realised that I wasn't posting up-to-date photos and asked myself if I wanted to. My repair date took place and I reported on my 3.66 repaired parts. And I ended the month with a photo fail. Just don't celebrate your success for too long 😆 3.66 repaired items. And I ended the month with a photo fail. Just don't celebrate the success for too long 😆
Offline life meets online life I.: Miss Booleana and I have met in Frankfurt where she was on spot to visit the japanese film festival. It was super cool to meet her in person after all these years of reading 🤗 (this paragraph is a post edit - that's the consequence of not having monthly blog reviews anymore xD)

JUNE

Coriander II.: I seeded coriander and watched it growing. It was healing and amazing. In June, I started the first issue of Internet findings . The picture of the Hydrangea is the starting point of the photo series "filling the film". In fact, it's also the only photo from this series which was posted in 2024.

JULY

In July, I was once again struggling with the question what kind of blog I want to run and which topics I want to write about on my blog accordingly. And in the end, everything remains the same – it's still a personal blog with a mix of photography, things I've thought out loud and my own personal surprise bag.

AUGUST

I came back to my library content from April and was delighted with my renewed library card at the public library. My photo series about my trip to Madeira (and Lisbon) started and 7 of 12 posts went online in August. In between there was some variety - it was quite a change - and showed quite a few repaired socks 😁

SEPTEMBER

Madeira went on and finally ended in September. I wasn't optimistic, but cautiously hopeful when I launched a new review format: My first blogger's life was written and published. This format is intended to give a few impressions of my life as a blogger. I ended the month with a photo post for a link party - the first (and so far last) time participating a link party! - and it's a reflection. What also happened in September: I requested to be added to blog lists and have followed a posting plan.

OCTOBER

At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, I looked back on the summer in the Rheingau and Rheinhessen, my close surroundings, and the wine life, that goes with it. It was my blog's birthday and it turned sweety 4. I also reported on my approach to the light meter, as part of my journey to learn exposure in photography.

NOVEMBER

I wrote about my two-part ‘experiment’ of running Instagram in parallel to this blog for this blog: Part 1 and Part 2 with the result: disillusioning, but not the end. There were also insights into how I came up with the photo title ‘The Clapping Poppy’ and why the poppy is really got its german name. The month was rounded off with my statement that libraries should be celebrated. Otherwise, my offline life met my online life (II.) and I was gifted a pair of home-knitted socks - the trigger was a blog post on my blog.

DECEMBER

The only December-like post is the one in which I explored the question of how people in this country manage to bake so many types of Plätzchen (Christmas cookies) . At the end of the year, I went back to January and closed the circle by showing the remaining two repaired items of clothing.

Goals for my blog year 2024 achieved?

I had indeed set a few goals but only in private:

  • Achieved: the outstanding log posts on darning // the post about being at on the road at home // my question as to whether I'm actually doing the right thing with setting cookies // keeping the blog network alive (reading and reacting) and growing it (finding new blogs).
  • Not achieved: the series about darning in my life // blogging about my travel to Japan in 2023.
  • Not planned, has developed throughout the year and I love it: several formats have established (just one picture; blogger's life; internet findings) // talking about libraries // plugins were installed.

And 2025?

Although 2024 cover all areas quite well, at the beginning of 2025, I have the feeling that many topics came up short, nonetheless. Escpecially photography. There's a lot to tell and to show. The goals which I didn't achieve in 2024 remain: series about darning in my life and travel to Japan 2023 (I hope there's still interest in this apart from me? LOL). Otherwise, I want to take dedicated timeto finish thoughts and posts calmly. The emphasis is on "calmly": certain things take time and, above all, I don't want to be under pressure to finish them at the earliest opportunity. And the things that has been achieved and were good should stay - but that's clear as day, isn't it?
And the things that has been achieved and were good should stay - but that's clear as day, isn't it? Although I am curious to see how I will move around the blogosphere. My feed reader has grown quite a bit in the meantime and I want to read and react in an appropriate way.

As I'm envious of those bloggers who had figures and statistics, I'm also trying to do the same for 2025/26. That means I need to prepare things accordingly now, e.g. setting up tools to collect figures.

These are all wishes and I want to get on them in a relaxed manner. The most important thing is that I continue to enjoy blogging 🙂

What else I want to say

Oh, it was so good to do this year end review! Last year (2023/24) I didn't even try it. But this year I thought I'd get into the year end review game. And indeed: it's not just work, it's also a lot of fun!

In the beginning, I thought that the content would be the same as in the birthday post. It does, but at the same time it doesn't. It was nice to go through the year chronologically and remember what was posted when. As with analogue photos, I can remember certain things about the creation of a blog post. How easily a post came together or how often I revised it until it took the form we see on the blog. I also linked a few posts with each other after all and questioned my own thoughts from months ago or continued thinking. So here you go, a few ideas for more posts!

Throughout the year, I have written texts that were important for me personally. The blog has grown in many ways, including as a hobby. It was one of my most consistent hobbies last year and a lot of time and energy went into this hobby - I enjoyed it.

I'm repeating myself, but: 2024 was a wonderful year of blogging! And as much as my blog lives primarily from the fact that I feel the need to write on the internet - it's all the nicer to see from the comments and emoji reactions that it's not just me being here. That was also one of the reasons why I was so excited about my blog birthday. I did have a rough idea of who sees me, my blog and my posts at the time and a birthday is often an opportunity to actually leave a reaction and I was curious to know, whether and what would come. Accordingly, I was very happy to see who walked by and I was quite amazed 🙀 Being mentioned in link lists and also the assumption that I've made it into a few people's feed readers make me like this: 🥹

The fact that the year felt so good is largely down to you, my dears! So thank you very much! And here's to another year together 🤸‍♀️

Now it shall be: the end! It's been long enough 👻

3 years of maipenquynh

maipenquynh on 14. October 2023

So my blog has reached kindergarten age – it’s turning 3!

3 years. Somehow not much, but somehow also something. By the way, I missed the 2nd birthday 😀

In the last two years I have published 38 posts, 16 of them in the second year and 22 in the third year. In comparison: In the first year alone there were 33 posts.

My topics

Not quite half of the posts in year 3 went for the monthly reviews. I have changed the structure of this category back and forth more than once. Sometimes including a review of my topics (photography, handcraft), sometimes excluding them.

On the one hand, these monthly reviews were a very good anchor for me to write, especially to write on a regular base. Besides, it’s a lot of fun to review the month at the end of the month. On the other hand, I miss writing stand-alone posts that revolve around a specific topic.

If it’s not a monthly review, then it’s usually about Something with photography or my photos that I want to present. Is the focus of the blog going towards photography slowly? I don’t know. I don’t plan to but if it’s the topic I want to write about the most, then that would be it. But honestly, I’m still hoping that other topics will also (re)emerge ^^

Time will tell.

My life as a blogger

I still don’t have a flow/routine in my daily life to create blogposts. Do I need one? No. But it would make things easier. There are steps I like and others I do not. And then I move the those I don’t like to a later timepoint but this also means that the go-live of the post has to wait until then. And then I huddle. Coordinating the different steps in a sensible way certainly makes it easier to create, that’s my opinion at least.

But I have a little bit of flow – I have a digital tool that helps me collecting notes and thoughts. In the meantime, I have changed my tool. It was Evernote before and currently I work mainly in OneNote. OneNote feels more intuitive and I really like working with it for the blog. In between, Notion was also a topic but I didn’t pursue that any further.

And every now and then the question arises again …

Why and for what purpose do I have a blog?

It still is a mix of self-expression, thinking out loud and being proud in public, and the desire for sharing is caring. A blog post helps me work things out. It helps me to take time to think about things in peace and quiet or to deal with the subject matter or to prepare things. Writing a blog also means creating at leisure.

Getting around in the blogosphere

This year I asked myself how I can network with others. How do I get to know other blogging people? How do I find them? The problem I have is actually time. The lack of time to browse and click through. And then to become active.

Vice versa, I also don’t know how many people read my blog. I do have a statistics plugin but it is very rudimentary (I can read the number of clicks and the pages clicked on, there is no info on the visitor). I’ve recently been thinking about lookng for a low-threshold „like“ tool because I know that writing comments is exhausting and sometimes you don’t have anything to say.

We’ll see what the new year has in store for me and for us!

At the end of this post, there is one small, fine and also very important thing I have to say: I am very happy that you are here and that you visit and read me. So a big and heartfelt thank you to you! 🙂

Here’s to another year of blogging!

Wish to network

maipenquynh on 26. March 2023

Seit einiger Zeit denke ich übers Thema netzwerk(en) nach. Netzwerken als Bloggerin, netzwerken als Fotografie-Interessierte und Fotografin. Wenn ich übers netzwerk(en) spreche, meine ich eine Gemeinschaft zu haben, um sich auszutauschen und mit- und voneinander zu lernen. Weniger denke ich daran, möglichst viele Leute zu erreichen. Zu einem bestimmten Grad geht es um Sichtbarkeit: Wen gibt es noch in dieser Sphäre und was machen sie? Wer kennt wen und wo möchte ich genauer hinschauen? Und am Ende und idealerweise auch: Mit wem kann ich connecten und wo sind Synergien möglich?

Bisher hatte ich noch keine Gemeinschaft; vor einiger Zeit keimte der Wunsch in mir auf nicht mehr ganz so eigenbrötlerisch zu sein. Und frage mich nun, wie ich das organisch aufbauen und entwickeln kann?

FOTOGRAFIE

Status Quo. Seitdem ich fotografiere, mache ich das eigentlich alleine. In meinem sozialen Kreis gibt es niemanden, mit der/dem ich mich austausche: Über Ideen, Miss-/Erfolge, Fortschritte und Erkenntnisse und alles, was irgendwie mit Fotografie zutun hat. Ich höre Podcasts, lese Blogs und Bücher, folge einigen Insta-Accounts, bin da aber sehr passiv, sprich ich drücke den Like-Button, aber in den Dialog (via Kommentare o. ä.) trete ich nicht. Ich bin oder war in Online Foto-Netzwerken angemeldet (Netzwerk-Plattformen oder Foren), aber das wurde mir meistens zu viel und ich war überfordert.

BLOG

Beim Blog ist der Status Quo wie folgt: Bloggen ist als Hobby nicht ganz so häufig anzutreffen wie die Fotografie. Ich erinnere mich an Tage, wo Blogger:innen insofern in einem Netzwerk/Gemeinschaft waren, da sie sich gegenseitig lasen, unterstützten, auf Blogevents gingen und mit- und im positiven Sinne übereinander schrieben. Die Blogosphäre hat sich seit diesen Erinnerungen sehr verändert, aber Menschen, die Bloggen als Hobby betreiben, gibt es weiterhin. Es ist also nicht so, dass es dort keine Möglichkeit gibt, sich persönlich kennenzulernen (im Sinne der Wiedererkennung/man hat schon mehrmals voneinander gelesen). Dennoch, in diesem Sinne kenne ich genau eine Person.

Ursache und Lösung

Wie beim Fotografie Status Quo angerissen, sehe ich insgesamt meine Passivität als (mit)verantwortlich. Bei der Fotografie kenne ich in meinem sozialen Kreis einige Menschen, die die analoge Fotografie gelebt haben, aber ich bin nie auf sie zugegangen, um darüber zu reden. Bei der Blogosphäre weiß ich nicht, inwiefern mein Blog-Themenspektrum ein Hindernis darstellt. Dennoch bin ich der Meinung, dass auch hier mein passives Konsumieren (ich lese, aber kommentiere selten) mitreinspielt. Das Ziel wäre Menschen so weit kennenzulernen, dass ich Gelegenheiten, mit diesen Menschen einen Tee zu trinken, vorfreudig wahrnehmen würde.

Ich habe keine realistische ad hoc Lösung. Letzten Endes geht es darum auf andere zuzugehen, in welcher Form auch immer. Das fällt mir bisher schwer: Es war bisher keine Priorität und es hat mir ausgereicht, mit mir selbst zu sein; ich habe keine Energie und Zeit in Beziehungsarbeit gesteckt (und Beziehungsarbeit ist immer noch eine Form von Arbeit); auch Unwissen wie ich Menschen in der gleichen Sphäre überhaupt finde heutzutage und Unsicherheit darüber, wie ich sie auf eine authentische Art und Weise kennenlerne.

Darüber zu schreiben und entsprechend mir die Zeit zu nehmen, mich diesem Thema anzunähern, hat schon sehr geholfen. Ich sehe Möglichkeiten und weiß, was ich als nächstes machen werde. Ich fühle mich nun weniger lost.

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