Seth Werkheiser

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

It's all my parents doing, really. They had a Texas Instruments TI-99/4a in the house, and would get computer game magazines and type out the games when I went to bed, so I woke up and had a new game to play in the morning. This got me a bit interested in programming, at least. Or that, just to know I could do something on the computer, and make a thing. And that really changed my world when I bought my first computer... it was a Pacakard Bell I got from Sears with a charge card. It was like $3000 with the monitor, and had a Pentium 100 chip or something like that. Anyways - it was with that machine I started dabbling with "desktop publishing," but then making websites. That was 1995 or so, I think. I learned I could view the source code of something like CNN.com, save it locally and load it up again with the new goofy headlines I made.

But my background is two-fold. I'm a third generation musician, too. Music is my first love. Or rather, I love music and computers pretty much the same. Once I figured out I wasn't going to be a rock star, I started a music blog in 2001 called Buzzgrinder, and that literally changed my life, and is the foundation of where I am today.

What's the story behind your blog?

I wish I had kept a blog going back to those early 2000 years, but really I got back into blogging in 2018. I've found some bits and pieces of blogs and articles I wrote via the Wayback machine, and just copy and pasted them back onto my blog. I've also taken photos I uploaded to Flickr dating back to 2004, and put them along with the captions I wrote on the site, too. So right now the blog spans from 2004 to 2025, over 21 years of writing and photos, which blows my mind.

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

Oh, it's all off the cuff. Shooting from the hip. I might go a few days without writing here and there, but that's mostly because I write a newsletter called Social Media Escape Club, so that's two bigger pieces a week.

But I never really draft anything. I might make a few edits during the writing process, but anything on the site is mostly from me opening a new browser tab, banging something out, and hitting publish. Zero planning, all vibes.

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

The ideal creative environment is being as far away from the computer as possible. I'm an avid trail runner, so most weekdays and every weekend I'm in the woods, climbing hills, and getting into some creeks. It's not like I get a bunch of "content ideas" when I'm out there, like the whole "I get all my best ideas in the shower" thing. I think it's more the focus required, and the tangible danger of snakes or twisting an ankle, and the immense beauty of nature that clears my head and allows some of the magic to sneak into my brain on occasion when I do sit down at the computer and get ready to write.

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

I sometimes capture ideas in the Bear app. I go on a lot of walks throughout the day - again, I just need to get away from the computer a lot - so I'll sometimes type something there, or dictate it. I also use Voice Notes, too, when I'm driving. Not that I usually go back and take the transcription literally and paste it somewhere, and work on it. But I think the physical speaking of the idea is what helps it marinate and stick around.

Domain names are stored at Hover. The blog is built on WordPress. My friend Tom runs I Heart Blank. He does WordPress development and hosting, so he handles all of that for me. We met years decades ago during the time when I played music regularly, and have stayed friends, and now I pay him every year to host the blog.

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

Honestly, no. WordPress and the hosting and such works fine for me. I don't care much about the name, or the theme, or whatever. The blog is 100% for me.

"I write to remember," as the lyrics go in 'One Armed Scissor' by At the Drive In.

I write the stuff I write about just so in two years, or 10, I can go back and see where I was at, that's it. I write about races I ran, or go back sometimes to the COVID days, or to see the little projects I started then stopped doing three months later.

I think the most important thing about writing a blog is the actual writing. There's 1000 different blog platforms, 1000 different themes, unlimited domain name ideas... none of it matters to me, really. I'd rather just have a place where I can write publicly, and people can read it if they want.

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?

I think hosting is like $120 a year? It's not a whole lot. Tom takes good care of me, and I tell all my friends who are thinking about a WordPress site to go to him, so it's a mutually beneficial friendship like that! The site doesn't make any money. I've got a Ko-fi link, but no one clicks it. It's fine. Like I said, the blog is mostly for me! I mean, I know some people read it, but I don't check the stats or the referrals. I don't care. I don't have comments. I get an email once every few months from someone who read something, which is great.

But hey - if people want to monetize their own blog? Do it! These are wild times we're living in right now. If you can pay the phone bill or rent by updating a blog a few times a week, then I support that 100%.

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

Multiple times a day I hit up Daring Fireball. I'm less of a Mac enthusiast these days, but John Gruber has things to say about a lot of things, so I'm always checking it out.

I'm always stoked to see Erica Fustero's colorful and whimsical updates.

There'a always delight and cool things to check out on Swiss Miss.

Seth Godin recently posted his 10,000 post. Hope to stick around long enough to read the next 10,000.

Oh, and you should interview Jasper Tandy next. He's always linking to interesting things and taking gorgeous photographs.

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

I've been writing the Social Media Escape Club newsletter since October of 2021, and having lots of fun with that. It started as a battle cry to delete the apps and put down our phones, but it's turned into a wonderful community of creative people helping one another navigate the world without algorithms and relying less on big platforms. It's been a lot of fun, and through this project I've got to meet so many wonderful people. It reminds me a lot of the early blogging days!