Thinking About is 20!

20 years ago today I posted my inaugural post, about Thanksgiving and how I hated it growing up but now it’s my favorite holiday. I had some friends who had started blogs and were reading blogs and were talking about blogs, and I decided to join in. I wasn’t sure I had anything much to say, but Ted said that I liked talking about restaurants and meals, so maybe I could write about that. I did, for a bit, but then discovered that I actually had a lot to say. About politics, about books, about recipes, about culture. About parenthood, dogs, tv and movies. About grief and family, friendship and weird products. A whole lot of stupid randomness. There have been years when I posted every day, sometimes twice a day. There have been years when I barely posted.

Early on, I was only posting for myself and a small group of IRL friends. Then I made blog friends, and started to understand the medium a bit more. We got to know each other in a way that I hadn’t really known existed. I began to care about these people, their lives, their families. I wanted to know what they were doing, what they were eating, what their successes and failures looked like. I belonged to several book groups, and we did reading challenges, earned badges and awards. I was a ‘Top 100 Mom Blogger’ in 2007, though I never considered myself a mommy blogger.

I’ve mentioned before that my mom had a blog. She loved reading blogs, and was a part of that community, but didn’t have one of her own. We enjoyed talking about it, and I told her I would set her up with one if she wanted. So we did. She had her blog for about 2 years before she died, and OMG did she love that blog, that community, being able to tell her story. I loved it as well, because blogging is different than writing a letter, different than a phone call, different than a book. It is its own thing, and I really felt like I got to know her better in so many ways through that connection. Her blog is still out there. Occasionally I pop by and see her IRL and blog friend coming by to say hello and how much they miss here.

I’ve met a few bloggers IRL. First was Tracy, who was blogging from Los Angeles, about her acting career, her family, her burgeoning romance with her eSuitor. My friend Cherry and I went to her bridal shower, since Tracy has family in the Bay Area. Since then, I have met Gina, Nance, Simon, Kyria, Birchie, San, and Engie.

As time went by, my IRL friends quit blogging, and I kept on. Then, as more time went by, my blog friends quit blogging. It got to the point where I had 2 regular readers, Nance and Ally Bean. I still wrote, but not often. Engie started coming by, though due to blogger/ipad issues, I sometimes had trouble commenting on her blog. Then, in 2022, thanks to Engie, I found San and her NaBloPoMo community. This group has reinvigorated my love for this hobby. Learning about all of you, and telling you about myself, had been such a joy.

It’s weird, because 20 years is a long time, and it feels like a long time. But 10 years doesn’t feel like half of that time, it feels like much less. Like the distance between 20 and 10 feels like maybe 15 years, and the distance between 10 and now feels like 5. Maybe because my daily life 20 years ago looked a lot different than it does now, whereas 10 years ago it was more similar. 20 years ago, I lived in this house, with Ted and Maya (who was 9) and our dog Genevieve (who was 7). But Maya was in elementary school and involved in after school activities, and I worked in an office. My parents were both still alive, as were my Grandma and my Great Aunt. 10 years ago we had just gotten our dog Mulder (as a matter of fact, I introduced him 10 years ago today!), my mom had been gone for 7 years, and I had been working from home for 9 years. Maya was in college and working part time. The structure of my days was mostly my own, as it is now, so it feels a lot more similar to how I live now vs. 20 years ago.

I had thoughts about this post, about ways to commemorate this blogaversary. I considered finding my favorite post from each year, and linking to those. You know what? That’s a lot of work. I would have to read every post for each year, which would take a shit ton of time. (Some years more than others, obviously.) I could have asked guest bloggers to stop by, like Engie did to celebrate her 20th year of blogging last year, but I didn’t get around to that either. I could have done a clever list of 20 things, just quick so you wouldn’t have to click over and read other posts or anything. But I couldn’t think of a 20 thing list. So instead, let me just say, I’m glad you’re here, and that I think most of you know what I mean when I say what blogging has meant to me all these years. The picture at the top? Has nothing to do with anything. I just like it.