In terms of getting a blog together, you can easily just grab a domain and host, install a basic CMS (Wordpress comes to mind), and then rely on numerous templates/skins for the site. The nice thing about most CMSes is that they have WYSIWYG posting options, so even if you don't have a strong understanding of HTML/CSS, you can get content up.

A lot of CMSes also have thriving communities with numerous free plugins, themes, and support. I'm partial to Wordpress for blogging, mostly because it's simple enough that the vast majority of my clients can understand and use it (Concrete5 is my fallback for not-so-savvy clients, but it's a bitch to set up in the first place). It also has a huge userbase, which means that people frequently write detailed articles and tutorials, or are willing to provide aid to people.