What is My Filing Cabinet?

My Filing Cabinet is my personal blog and learning project. A place where I store all sorts of seemingly useless information and learn to create digital content.

A friend once commented that I seem to know a lot of things, like an encyclopedia. I do seem to remember useless stuff I should not. However, I don’t know if I necessarily agree with her description because an encyclopedia is supposed to be an authoritative source of information. My brain is more like a filing cabinet storing all sorts of seemingly useless information. Quietly waiting in its recesses.

Waiting for what?

Waiting for anyone looking for seemingly useless information. 🤣

This reminds me of the memory warehouse in Stephen King’s Dreamcatchers. If you have not read it, I heartily recommend it. Oh, do note that it is sort of an alien horror novel.

In the novel, there is a scene depicting how Jonesy, bodily possessed by an alien, locked himself in his memory warehouse. This warehouse represents the mind of Jonesy. He is trying to keep the alien out of his memories. Jonesy’s memory warehouse looks like a dilapidated library with a spiral ramp lined by shelves of books.

I was tickled by this analogy. Is my mind also like the memory warehouse? Jonesy’s memory warehouse is a little too rundown and disorganized for me. 😜 I am more inclined to see my mind as a traditional library catalogue.

Rows and rows of wooden cabinets with brass handles and rods holding index cards bearing bibliographic information that points to the source of the information. 😉

Why a WordPress Blog?

I wanted to extend this filing function to the blogosphere. Hopefully, the search function of a blog is more dependable than moments of chit-chat and gossip to remember useful information.

A blog is also a great tool to “file” multimedia information like songs and videos that matter to me. I want to store music that touches my soul and videos that make me laugh.

Yes, the Internet is an ephemeral medium but for as long as I can keep them, I shall be contented. Moreover, I still have my brain. It is still working and filing even without this blog.

I started this digital and online filing cabinet with blogspot.com in 2008 and then moved to wordpress.com.

I am cuurently hosting it on my own using wordpress.org. A big step into the unknown for me. However, self-hosting offers a lot more control than free blogging services. It was a natural step forward as my knowledge of the Internet, blogging, and social media tools grow.

Contextual Learning

I am a firm believer in contextual learning. I learnt more about the Internet, blogging and social media with this blogging project then if I have only read it up in theory. It takes a lot of time but I think it is worth it and more fun.

So much have changed in the blogosphere since I started. I liked some of the new features of WordPress.org. For example, the block-by-block text editor. I still remember having to write up the code for a table by hand. Now, with a click of the button, everything is done.

Embedding videos and links have gotten easier too.

Finally, this blog displays some advertising banners and affiliate links. It makes me modest money to keep the blog going. I am an affiliate with Amazon, LoveCrafts, Shopee and Lazada. I also display advertising via Ezoic.

To end,

An influential librarian Mr Ranganathan once said,

“every book its user”

ranganathan

In the same way, my wish for My Filing Cabinet is that all those seemingly useless information that I “file” away will one day find their users. If my wish has come true, do let me know. 😊

Feel free to rummage through the drawers in my filing cabinet:

• Compilations
• Knitting
• Librarianship
• Made in Singapore
• Miscellaneous
• My Quiet Time
• Options Trading Journal
• Recipe Drawer
• Worship Songs and Lyrics

I would like to leave you with this picture I really like.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Love, Phoebe