Six years ago today: My first blog post

Six years ago today, on February 2, 2005, I wrote my very first-ever blog post:

Okay, so I’ve been reading about blogs for quite some time now. At first, the idea was quaintly geeky, which of course immediately appealed to me. But aside from generally knowing what they were, and stumbling across a few here and there, I never really realized what a universe unto themselves blogs have become.

So I started really thinking about it. To blog or not to blog? Note the insecurity in each of the questions I pondered: Am I funny enough to blog? (because if I don’t have humour then I don’t really have anything at all.) Does anyone really care what I have to say? What would I talk about? What if nobody reads my blog? What if somebody reads my blog? And the real biggie: do I have the resources to commit to a blog right now? Well, the last one is the only one I can answer right now. Since I’m back at work for the first time in a year, I can at least probably find an hour or so a week (on my lunch hour, bien sûr!) For the record, it took me about 15 alt+ combinations before I could get that û accent right.

If I could just type instead of editing and playing and getting lost in the friggin’ thesaurus I could probably do this in about half the time. If I only had an attention span…

So what would I blog about? Well, my kids of course. What else is there of significance in my universe? So does the world really need another soccer-mom wanna-be sending dispatches from suburbia, trying to strike a voice somewhere between Erma Bombeck, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby, but in the 21st century, not Jewish, not male and not black? And potentially not really funny?

Well, why the hell not?

So here we go. I’m so self-conscious as I type away, wondering if you are rolling your eyes at me or thinking cruel thoughts about my writing skills or (worst of all) have completely lost interest and have not even made it this far. What if I install a hit counter and I have to spend all my free time hitting refresh so it looks like somebody is reading my blog?

So, are you still reading? Should I publish this, or banish it to bad-idea heaven?

Ah, what the hell. Here we go!

I’m both charmed and, truth be told, vaguely disturbed at how little has changed. Still toe-in-the-carpet insecure, still unable to complete a thought without interrupting myself, still chasing that precious laugh.

Fast forward six years, 1,870 posts, 24,701 comments and nearly (eek!) half a million page views. I couldn’t even guess how many words I’ve plowed through, nor how many hours (days? weeks??) I’ve spent here glued to my keyboard instead of doing some *real* work like scrubbing sink grout or alphabetizing my soup cans.

And yet, I will freely admit, the blog is one of the best gifts I’ve ever given myself. If I could fly back through time and tell 2005 me of the crazy ride I was about to launch, never in a million years would I have believed me. And you, my bloggy peeps, are at the heart of it all. You make it all worthwhile!

So, are you still reading? 😉

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Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

17 thoughts on “Six years ago today: My first blog post”

  1. I certainly am!
    I think you are doing a fabulous job!
    I cannot figure out how you find the time, and organize your thoughts so well!
    Love it, glad you’re here.

  4. I missed your first post – funny how it sounds so much like “you”, even as you are today. As you said, so little has changed. It still made me smile – glad you’re you. 🙂

    re: Captcha’s – aren’t they supposed to be real words? ndester dogival??

  8. Wouldn’t miss it…..as in, I read it every day….not saying if you didn’t blog I wouldn’t miss it! That sounds complicated. Keep up the good work.

  9. SO glad you hit publish that day in 2005 🙂

    Now I’m trying to remember when I first found you…hmmmmm

  11. Happy Bloggiversary!
    Funny that I thought Bolo was my first introduction to you, but it turned out I was following you through my IF journal in ’06 *g*

  12. I remember that day! Seriously… we were in the office, and you mentioned that you started a blog and you weren’t sure about it, but you thought you’d try it out for a while. Then I remember going back to my desk and searching for it – and I’ve been reading ever since! You inspired me to blog, and so many others!

    Crazy how fast six years goes by… what a great milestone for you, and what insightful memories you have created for your children to sift through one day!

    Congrats!

  13. You were one of the first Ottawa blogs that I started following, and you were most definitely an inspiration for me to start my blog. Thank you and Happy Blogiversary!!

  14. Thanks all!

    Sara and Finola, I’m honoured that you credit me for inspiring you guys — two blogs I love to read!

    I’m glad you all are having as much fun as I am! Here’s to six more years??? 😉

  16. you know how I feel about you. You were my first “local” blog and still one of my favourites. Even though I don’t always have time to read, or I read but don’t always have time to comment. I still remember my first danigirl sighting at the Loblaws in Barrhaven when I chickened out and didn’t say hi. 🙂 Yes I am still reading and glad you are still posting.

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