I know how you feel. I really liked doing websites, but keeping regular content that I created myself was difficult. I know there are sites where you can get content (for free, even), but I don't want to post the same stuff everybody else is.

I got into it because I loved how websites looked; it seemed "artsy." I wanted to do that. I didn't actually learn much in the way of art (but I'm getting back to trying to learn to draw and paint realistically--the painting has to wait, since I don't have the space, but if I could learn digital art, that would be awesome!), but I messed around with graphics here and there. I learned how to make a seamless background tile. I'm not perfect at it, but I can do enough for what I want to do. HTML was so easy to learn, and it was fun, so I was very motivated to keep up with it. I learned from Sams' Publishing Teach Yourself HTML in a Week or 24 hours, or whatever it was called, LOL!

I actually like the domain naming. I like thinking up a good name (obviously, the one-word domains are out, since I can't pay hundreds, let alone thousands, of dollars for a domain), although it can get frustrating finding one not taken. I love the satisfaction of clicking to register and securing it.

I did it mostly for me, but I did start a website with some friends that did pretty well, and evolved. It used to be a horror website, for women by women (but men worked on it, too), and after I essentially left it (just because I never got back around to it, doing other things), it became a not-just-focused-on-women horror and sci-fi site, and that evolved into yet another site, which I just checked, and is now closed (PlanetFury.com). I don't know why it's closed, but I'm sure I could find out just by emailing my friend.

Money is and was an issue for me, too, as you know since I can't buy a major domain name, but I really want my original domain back, and I'm willing to spend a little more to get it. Wish me luck! I didn't make money from my websites, although I'd intended to; I didn't have anything to sell. Which is why I'm also looking to get into writing. I've said that for years, but I still intend to. *Sigh!*