A little something about Wordpress
Wordpress is a PHP-based blogging software that can be used on your own server or can be hosted at wordpress with a url like:
But a dedicated hosting will get you a good amount of flexibility and credibility. You can show ads the way you want to (provided you have a decent knowledge in PHP and CSS programming) and whats more, you're visitors will have a unique url to remember.
The process of getting your dedicated hosting blog is not for the uninitiated. You have to download a zip file, and then upload it to your server and obtain a connection with your MySQL database. I'm willing to bet that it would be worth while. Anyway keeping my fingers crossed and looking for a good, affordable web hosting solutions provider.