BSAG

Let's start from the basics: can you introduce yourself?

Hello! My pseudonym online is bsag, an acronym for 'but she's a girl...' (the name of my blog, but we'll get to the origin of that later). I'm from the UK and grew up in the South East of England. I've been obsessed with animals (and more broadly nature) for as long as I can remember, so it is not a huge surprise that I ended up studying biology. For more years than seems feasible, given that it was surely only a couple of weeks ago that I finished my undergraduate degree (actually more than 30 years ago, surely that can't be right?), I have worked in academia teaching and doing research.

I have more hobbies than I have free time, so I end up doing them (and writing about them) in rotation. I read a lot from a wide variety of genres, enjoy watching films, taking photographs, walking, soldering, making and designing mechanical keyboards, spinning (fleece into yarn, not riding a static bike), riding an actual bike, tinkering with computers, knitting, using fountain pens, sewing, programming... honestly, the list goes on. I'm a person who enjoys learning, solving problems, and is attracted to things and their extremes or opposites. For example, I love 21st Century technology (well, some of it anyway), but also neolithic technology.

What's the story behind your blog?

I have been blogging since 2002. When I started, blogs (or 'weblogs' as they tended to be known then) were starting to become popular, and I was intrigued by them. I'm interested in anything technical, and I like writing, so I decided to set up a blog. One of the motivating factors for me was to provide myself with an outlet to write freely, in my own voice, about my own interests, without the formality and constraints of academic writing. Don't get me wrong, I love the challenge and precision of scientific writing, but I also enjoy writing without those constraints, which comes back to my love of opposites again. While I was keen to connect with other people who might enjoy my writing, it was (and still is) mostly for my own entertainment.

The name came from my own experience of being a woman who is openly interested in technical things. People (mostly male people) would see me explaining or showing interest in something technical, and I would see bafflement flit across their face which — in the privacy of my own head — I would narrate as "but she's a girl...". My pseudonym came from the acronym of that phrase. My one and only regret about that is that I wish I had chosen an acronym that was a bit more pronounceable. I don't regret writing under a pseudonym though. I wanted to keep my work and personal life separate, even though I don't write anything on my blog that I would be embarrassed for work colleagues to read. Over the years, I have written as bsag on social media too, and like having this separate but consistent identity for my online self.

The blog has been through many changes of visual style and has been driven by many different blogging platforms over the years, but I don't think the tone or general content has changed that much. I used to write more often, but publish shorter articles, while my tendency now is to write much longer pieces less often. This is partly because of increasing pressures on my time, but also because social media started to provide a convenient outlet for the shorter pieces.

What does your creative process look like when it comes to blogging?

Do I get inspired? I guess I do occasionally. There have been a few pieces that have rattled around in my head for a while before I just had to write them down and publish them. More often, I decide to write because I get interested in it and find myself thinking about it constantly. That feeling might build quickly, or over a number of weeks. The research (if any is needed) has generally happened as a natural part of me being interested in the thing, so I just need to gather the sources I have been using so that I can cite them. It's funny to think about, but I almost never write a draft, in the sense of writing something, and putting it aside for a while before coming back to it. I generally tend to write all in one go in a rough form, then proof-read, fix errors and tweak wording, then publish. Often that happens over a few hours on a Sunday, when I have time to devote to it. The frequent typos, awkward phrasing and long-winded sentences (not to mention my rambling prose) attest to the fact that I do not get anyone else to proof read. I once asked my husband to read a post I had written about him to check that he was happy for it to be published, but apart from that one instance, it's a solo endeavour. My tools are very simple: a text editor (currently Emacs for prose), a comfortable chair and a nice keyboard.

Do you have an ideal creative environment? Also do you believe the physical space influences your creativity?

In my dreams, I write in a book-lined study in a small cottage in the middle of a beautiful deciduous woodland, with bird song and other natural sounds drifting in through the windows. In reality, I'm in a noisy, suburban environment in which people use petrol-powered hedge trimmers all day, and wannabe racing drivers hurtle up and down the road at reckless speeds. I just have to work with it. Sometimes I will listen to music as I write, but it has to be an instrumental piece otherwise I end up focusing on the lyrics, rather than what I am writing. Usually I write in whatever passes for quiet around here.

A question for the techie readers: can you run us through your tech stack?

As I mentioned above, I have used lots of blogging software stacks over the years, including full CMSs like WordPress. Some years ago now, I got into static blogging tools, and after trying a couple, settled on Hugo. I've been very happy with that for some years now, and love the simplicity of writing in plain text (Markdown) and then pushing the files up to a host. I love not having to bother about a database, and all my writing is automatically backed up, in the sense that all my files are right here on my local drive. I host at Netlify now, which has a great set up for static blogs, and is free for users with modest needs. I keep the files in a Git repository, then when I push the changes to Netlify, it automatically builds the site and then publishes it. It can take a bit of work to get things configured at the start, but from there it is very simple, and works well with my rather slow tempo of publication.

Given your experience, if you were to start a blog today, would you do anything differently?

Other than a pronounceable pseudonym, no I don't think I would do things differently. I've changed platforms a few times, as I mentioned, and that was part of my learning process (as well as an insatiable drive to tinker, if I'm honest). I see the blog as a living thing, so I expect it to go through a few metamorphoses along the way. At its heart, it's still the same animal, because I am still more or less the same inside as I was 23 years ago. Non, je ne regret rien...

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?

It costs very little. My hosting is free, Hugo is free, so all I pay for is the domain name (about $16 a year at Gandi.net). I have in the past used blogging platforms that involved a fee, and even paid for a Linode VM on which to host it (about $14-27 a month if I recall correctly). I regard it as a hobby, so I don't mind paying the costs, and am very lucky that I am financially able to do so. My reason for starting the blog and continuing all these years was to give myself a place to be free, and for me, that includes feeling free of any obligation (real or imagined) that might come with money changing hands. I don't begrudge other people wanting to monetise their blogs at all, but it's just not something I am interested in doing. I am horribly aware that my answer to this sounds like a stereotypical 1960s hippy yelling about not selling out to The Man. Anyway, I am aware of my privilege, but given that privilege, I prefer to just put my stuff out there for people to enjoy or avoid completely, as they see fit.

Time for some recommendations: any blog you think is worth checking out? And also, who do you think I should be interviewing next?

This is a tough choice, because I have a RSS reader full of blogs that I read regularly.

• The Marginalian: I love Maria Popova's writing style and visual sensibility, and the way she pulls together art, literature, nature and science so beautifully.
• KDD & Co: Kate Davies is an independent knitwear designer and publisher, but her blog ranges over the history of textiles, folk traditions in knitwear and weaving patterns, nature, art, disability, colour and more. She also writes beautifully, and like Maria Popova, often pulls together many interesting threads.
• A Very Good Blog by Keenan: This one is a more recent find. I love their open, personal voice, the humour and honesty. Fair warning — in case you are not into that kind of thing — it contains some swears. (Read Keenan's P&B interview)

Final question: is there anything you want to share with us?

Current readers of my blog will be aware of my current obsession with switching to Linux as my 'daily driver' (as the kids say), so I have been reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of YouTube videos on the subject. Veronica is brilliant at explaining technical things in a clear but completely non-patronising way on her blog and YouTube channel, Veronica Explains. I also love the fact that she is into re-purposing old technology.

I have read Susanna Clarke's book 'Piranesi' twice already and am currently strongly tempted by a third expedition into her startlingly vivid, unsettling world. If you ever need a perfect example of the way that books can insert a complete and yet completely unfamiliar world into your brain, this is it.