Tired of losing images that you link to on other peoples' sites?
Step one: Get a DomainName.
I originally went with www.dotster.com but the last two renewals switched to www.godaddy.com -- but then dotster sent me an e-mail offering to match godaddy's rates. (I love competition!) I suggest consultation with the better half when you pick the name as it will be with you for a long time. Whatever name you pick, just register it, don't bother with any extras.
Step two: Get a Host.
I'm using www.jaguarpc.com -- they have the GigaPlan for $6/month on a two year prepay and have proven to be rock solid the past two years I have been with them. (They will also do the name registering for you, but for security reasons I prefer to separate the two functions.) Take the nameserver names they give you back to your Domain Registrar and plug them into the appropiate boxes. In a day or two the system will send the information world wide and people addressing your domain name will be sent to your site.
Step three: Build the Site.
My site, my parts of it, are on my hard drive in the c:\homepage directory.
I am running WindowsXP with my hosted site as one of my network places. I do most of my html editing with the now discontinued acehtml5 software. Once I have what I want on my local computer I simply use windows explorer to copy and paste from local to hosted.
I use Movable Type for my Blog which is where the real fun is.