People and Blogs: Jedda

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

I’m not the best at writing about / introducing myself… but let me give it a try.

Hey there 👋 My name is Jedda, but I also occasionally go by JCProbably, which is a play on my initials. Due to having a unique-ish name, I sometimes prefer to sign my name as such to avoid being easily searchable.

I was born in Manila, Philippines but left very young. I lived in the Middle East (in my namesake city) for 6 years, before moving to the US. I spent most of my life in the East Coast, before moving to California in 2019.

I am a Product Manager by trade, and honestly can’t imagine myself being anything else. Once upon a time, I wanted to be a writer or photographer, but over the years, I’ve come to realize that I enjoy those passions more as hobbies. I guess the thought of turning them into a job just stopped appealing to me at some point. Now I just do them because I want to.

Outside of the above, I also enjoy reading, cycling, snowboarding (and longboarding), and most recently running. I’m still working on the running part though.

What's the story behind your blog?

I started blogging in the early 2000s. I never called it blogging back then though. To me, I was just an angsty teenager sharing my words with the world. I was on a lot of different platforms such as TeenOpenDiary, Diaryland, Xanga, LiveJournal, Tumblr (early days), and then eventually Wordpress.

It was on Wordpress that I bought my first blog domain. I was on and off blogging on there for over a decade before I stopped, and eventually let my domain expire for a few years.

Fast forward to 2023. I wanted to start blogging and creating again. I checked on my old domain, and since it was my name, it was still available. I re-purchased it and resurrected jeddacp.me, now known as august morning. After purchasing it, as excited as I was to create again, I had no idea what I wanted to write about. It had been awhile since I wrote publicly, and didn’t feel like I had anything to say. This was when I opted to turn it into a photo blog. A blog primarily made up of photos of my life in California, and just a little bit of writing. This went on for a year inconsistently, before I decided to make another change.

Notes by JCProbably came to be when I was testing out a new blogging platform. It was supposed to be a place to write down random thoughts I had about non-important, and trivial things. I remember writing about my contemplation regarding my online presence (which was non-existent at the time), and thinking that it didn’t really matter because I was just writing things into the void. It was then that I got my first email from someone who stumbled onto my blog and reassured me that I was indeed NOT shouting into the void. As someone who was not all that familiar with the small web or its community, that email meant more to me than I could ever really express. So Lou, thank you.

What was supposed to just be a side blog, Notes became my primary blog when I opted to use it for a month long blogging challenge in May, WeblogPoMo. That challenge pushed me to just write every day. I wrote a little bit about photography, and a lot about life. Although I’m no longer writing daily, I have tried to stay consistent since then.

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

Writing is my form of therapy. As someone who doesn’t feel comfortable talking with a professional about FEELINGS (yes, in all caps), this is a close second. I write a lot about personal experiences, and how I see the world.

When I write a blog post, I often find myself balancing between sharing too much or too little, but usually lean towards the latter. I think part of it is out of a desire for privacy, and the other part stems from growing up in an environment where talking about feelings was not the norm. When I finish writing, I sometimes have to remind myself that not every post needs to carry a profound lesson, even though most experience may teach something valuable (to me).

I write about my thoughts and feelings, but I’d be lying if I said that I never overthink them. Because I do. All the time. With that said, I don’t think this is limited to blogging. I think I’m just someone who tends to overthink a lot of things.

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

My ideal creative environment would be a house by the beach, where I could always hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Unfortunately, although my house is near a bay, it’s not close enough to the shore, and the waves are nowhere to be found.

So I guess I do believe that in some ways, my environment does influence my creativity. Although I’ve written posts on my phone in the middle of grocery shopping, I much prefer sitting in my own space at home with my laptop. I also love writing when I’m surrounded by books (like in my home office), as if I am absorbing their words and stories to create my own, and tell my own story.

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

I have a pretty simple tech stack.

• I draft/write all my posts on the Bear Notes app.
• A majority of the photos I post are also on Flickr.
• My domains are hosted by Porkbun
• A backup of all my blogs are on Obsidian

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

Although I have reasons to keep my photo blog and Notes blog separate, I probably would’ve tried harder to consolidate them into one blog in the beginning.

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 don’t really have a lot of ongoing expenses for my blogs. I pay between $11-18/yr each for my 2 domains and I paid a one-time Lifetime subscription for Bear blog for $200.

My blog doesn’t directly generate any revenue. I do occasionally write about a camera I use from a company I work with that earns a small commission through an affiliate link.

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

There are so, so many amazing individuals I have had the privilege of crossing paths through the stories they share on their blogs. Not surprisingly, a lot of them have since been featured on People & Blogs like Véronique, Annie, and Ava, to name a few.

Here are a few others worth checking out (and would love to see an interview from!)

• Alexandra Wolfe
• anhvn
• Courtney
• Davey Craney
• Keenan
• Marisabel Munoz
• Richard
• Sebastian Malloy
• Steven
• Sylvia

I also curate a rolling list of posts, blogs, and links that I’ve been enjoying throughout the week. It can be found here on my Postroll, as well as the reasoning behind the project.

Shameless plug: also check out blogroll.club — which has so many awesome independent bloggers listed.

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

The world can feel overwhelming (and at times uncertain) for a lot of people right now. Take some time to check in on your loved ones. Not just a quick “how are you doing?” but with genuine care and intention. Ask, listen, and hold some space for their feelings. Offer a hug, a few kind words, or just a reminder of how much they mean to you. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, and small gestures of love and support can make a world of difference to some people.

Just remember that not everyone expresses their struggles openly. Some may internalize it, mask it behind a smile, or an “I’m fine.” Try to pay attention to the smaller signs that are easily overlooked, be patient, and remind them that you’re there if they ever need it. Sometimes, just hearing that someone actually cares is enough to lighten the weight they’re carrying.