I know you need to donate or reach 5,000 posts to get a blog but until you reach that point, you can start a Tumblr page instead.
Tumblr also has loads of customization so you can make it into whatever you like.
I'm using that until I get a blog here, and I've got over 4,080 posts right now so I might not be using Tumblr for that much longer.
So, if you really need a blog, Tumblr is a good alternative.