To be a measurable success you might consider focusing on a narrower subject in the style of a magazine, rather than writing a self indulgent diary style site that amounts to a mega facebook page. Some people create multiple blogs to segregate their interests, so visitors and search engines know for examples they will be finding cat photos and stories on a site.
Google's blogger.com is popular, with some 1.4 Billion pages, there are no paid upgrades like most 'free' hosts. It is a traditional 'old school' style blog platform, where your not a part of a community like some of the newer social sites.
To get a sense for the style of them and theme options, try this Google search:
site:blogspot.com intitle:cats
I want to start a personal blog where I talk about fashion, books, my cats, and basically anything that I love and want to share with others. I am pretty stuck on a name at the moment. I know some bloggers incorporate their name, which in my case is Stephanie or Steph for short. I don't need to have my name in it anywhere, just thought I'd throw it out there as a possibility. Any ideas would be appreciated!
