I guess it depends on if I wanted my own domain (www.myblog.com) or if I was OK with a subdomain (myblog.domain.com).

If it's the former, I'd go with one of these CMSes: Movable Type, Wordpress or Textpattern.

If it's the latter, it seems like Wordpress.com has the edge over Blogger (blogspot.com), and is roughly equal to TypePad (hosted Movable Type). Though if you want privacy, Vox or LiveJournal are probably the best options.

Oh, and there's also Tumblr.

And to answer your question, I'd probably go with either Wordpress or Tumblr if I were to start a blog today, though I like Textpattern an awful lot, too.

I dunno. I have used WordPress and Blogger, and decided that there's really nothing much wrong with Blogger. Everything else is a little techier than I want to get. But if you're fine with more parts and pieces you might not care. Also, you can link to your own domain name with Blogger - it doesn't say MySite.Blogger.Com, it just says MySite.com.

If I was starting a new domain, I'd go with Wordpress. Mainly because I've not really used it, and I'm getting so fed up with the increasingly technical and confusing Movable Type.

If I didn't even want to go through with setting someting up on my own server, I'd go with Vox, or even Tumblr. I like the quickness of Tumblr, not feeling like I have to write something long and eloquent before I can post it.

Among the domain names I registered forthehellofit are IGMOB.com (I Got My Own Blog) and IGMOFB.com (I Got My Own Fucking Blog). I was - and still am - halfway seriously considering offering free blogspace to fellow MeFites and MeChans as YOURNAME.IGMOB.COM on my cheap-but-not-always-reliable Dreamhost account, using WordPress (or WordPress MultiUser, which I could use to be the Lord and Master of IGMOB blogs, bwahahahaha).

Anyway, I generally recommend WordPress, partly for the bunch of cool-looking themes available that you don't need to know much to use (but when you start customizing them yourself, look out... I'm currently in self-imposed Redesign Hell).

And if Speck or anybody else wants an IGMOB or IGMOFB address, feel free to email me at WEBSTER (it's short for webmaster... get it? short?) AT(@) IGMOB.COM

After all this time I still prefer Textpattern. However, I think Wordpress, Movable Type and even Blogger (this is just not nearly as extendable or customizable - if you only need time/date/post/maybe comments it'll get the job done, though) are all going to be much easier for a beginner to deal with.

Keep in mind that my goal this year was to update my website once a month this year. So far I have managed exactly two updates. (Seriously, how the hell did I EVER manage to update that shit sometimes multiple times a day?) I should really put the archive back up since there's stuff dating back to 1999-2000 but I'm missing large portions of 2005-2007 and it just annoys me to have a bunch of stuff missing. There's a weird disconnect in my head about what needs to happen vs. what I actually do with the thing. (It's always been like that. There just happened to be a period of a couple years where I was pretty good about the thing.)

I'd blog from home where I could do it in my underwear.

in the bathroom, with the door locked.

If you were to shoot yourself in the face, where would you do it? The the nose the best?

Wordpress.com has crappy customer service. Try to suggest a new feature, or back up someone else's suggestion, and they yell at you for "not being thankful that it is a free service" and even smear your name on other people's blogs.