Heather “Dooce” Armstrong died Tuesday, May 9th, 2023. Dooce was 47. Her death was a suicide, which will come as no shock to anyone who followed her blog (Dooce.com, of course) over the years.

Dooce was an early voice in the nascent blogging era, a mix of drama, family drama (two daughters, dogs, husband turned ex-husband), meditations on Mormonism and more that somehow just worked.

As her following grew, she began accepting ads and became known as a “mommy blogger” – which means different things to different people.I pretty much stopped reading her then, but I missed her voice.

She was frantic and frenetic; she could do a detailed entry about teaching her dog a new trick and then, in another entry, post about postpartum blues in the clearest and shortest of entries. Those latter entries were written in blood.

As were her entries about her depression in general, her highs and lows, her battles with addiction.

She made the intertubes a better place, even when she didn’t feel the same vibe.

RIP.

When I was reading blogs in the early days, I read quite a few, but as authors have tired or moved on (in the beginning, to Twitter and Instagram) there are fewer and fewer to read.

As far as individual bloggers go, I only read a few:

• Jason Kottke – kottke.org He’s just back from a year-long sabbatical to recharge his batteries. He finds the best stuff online.
• Dave Winer – scripting news. Depending on who you ask, the first or second blogger, still going strong.
• John Gruber – Daringfireball.net. Mostly Mac stuff, but also some commentary on the world we live in.
• Kevin Drum –jabberwocking.com/. Where he set up shop after leaving Mother Jones (magazine and blog). Always a good read; focus p\on economics and politics. Even when I disagree with him he’s compelling

As for me, I’ve been blogging for a dozen years now (May 2001), but my output has been sparser & sparser as the years have gone by.

I write when I have something to say, and I guess I haven’t had much to say as of late.