Venturing into WordPress lately, there has actually been quite a learning curve. Probably mostly due to everything I'm trying to feature on the blog. Certainly having and maintaining a simple blog would be easy enough. Some plugins I am using (this list is sure to grow):

• Google XML Sitemap Generator - Works well and of course Google loves this stuff to help your rankings.
• Akismet - A highly popular spam blocker for your comments.
• Samsarian PHP Widget - This is very handy, it allows you to easily have and maintain text widgets in your sidebar (well more then the WordPress default).
• Add to Any buttons - This plugin automatically puts social icons at the bottom of your posts, very easy to install.
• WP Database backup - Another popular one, I haven't had to use it yet fortunately.
• All-in-one SEO pack - Another one that is popular and recommended. I'm not sure exactly how the plugin goes about optimizing your site, but am sure it can't hurt.
• Thesis Open-Hook - Only applies to the Thesis theme, but if you are going to use that one, this plugin is a must.

Something you'll have to decide is whether or not you want a self-hosted blog. I chose to go the self-hosted route because I wanted the freedom that offers with the additional big benefit of full web analytics. The last dilemna I sorted through was whether or not to pay for a theme or not. The first few days of getting familiar with WordPress I played with some of the many different themes it has to offer. Ultimately, none of these satisfied me, although I am sure there are a ton of satisified customers out there. Again, due to all the features I wanted my blog to be capable of. I ended up selecting Thesis, a paid theme. The potential it offers is quite amazing. However, I have come across some negatives. Such as the difficulty in getting support. They offer forums, but pretty horific to search through and if you ever do get your question answered, consider yourself lucky. Additionally, they claim it's all very easy, however if you don't know CSS or PHP, then I actually don't recommend it. I'm having a tough go of it with my knowledge of CSS and no-knowledge of PHP. If they just had better support I would feel better about it. They do have at least one competitor that I know of, Revolution, but I don't know much about it.