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a year in my life
By heather | July 7, 2008
If you are my friend, you know that I am terrible about remembering birthdays. And anniversaries. Sometimes I’m off by a day or so, more often I don’t even get the month right.
Thus it’s fitting that I forgot my own blog-iversary. On July 5, 2007 I posted my first entry. It was a tentative toe dip into blogging, my only aspiration being to entertain myself at work while creating an online scrapbook of sorts.
I felt so guilty having a perfect, delightful baby who never got to see his grandparents because both sets lived over 7 hours away. I hated working and missing out on what he was doing all day. I started the blog as a way to document our lives and bring me closer to Alex during the workday.
I thought I could share every detail and thought and milestone. That was a bad idea.
Within my first 5 entries, someone in the extended family took offense to something I wrote. One or two words that were part of a larger description and weren’t intended as any kind of affront.
My first lesson - written words are not interpreted the same way as a spoken word.
I was so hurt that I nuked the original site and changed the web address. I kept writing, but with a different intent and audience.
A few months later I accidentally nuked the database, mucking around where I shouldn’t have been. I didn’t have that many entries, so I just cut and pasted and rebuilt.
My second lesson - don’t touch the database.
I decided a few months later that I wanted to change the name of the web address again. I settled on findingatman.com, and started trying to migrate the site over. I accidentally nuked the database AGAIN.
My third lesson - don’t touch the database.
Like a storm victim who won’t give up the waterfront property, I rebuilt. Painfully, by cutting and pasting entries.
Today, in honor of one year (and two days) of blogging I finally finished moving the original entries. It took 6 months. I swear I’ll never touch the database again, and I am terrified to do anything but write.
Even though those early entries aren’t exactly Pulitzer caliber (not that the later entries are either), I love remembering what I was thinking and doing back then. Why have I never had a diary before?
My fourth lesson - the rebuilding process was worth it, and I still shouldn’t touch the database.
Topics: bloggity blog |
July 7th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Happy Anniversary!!
We’re on the computer so much as it is. It’s an easy extension to write a little bit more on it. To get pen and paper and put both together takes some sort of miracle I haven’t experienced yet.
Vicki’s last blog post..Bloggy Desert Wasteland
July 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Happy blogoversary!! I love your blog and I cant wait to read about your new addition in the many many many more entries to come!!
Miss’s last blog post..Cluster*bleep*
July 8th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Congratulations on a year of blogging! And on learning those lessons. (I had a painful lesson in my early days of blogging, too, where I offended someone near and dear to me.)
I’m glad you’ve got your old posts all reassembled, too. (Might I also suggest backing up your blog posts/archives, if you haven’t done so lately. Which reminds me. I haven’t done so lately.)
And keep at the writing!
alejna’s last blog post..weekend productivity
July 8th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Wow, time flies fast.
I love your pregnant picture with Alex.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Happy Blogoversary! Keep up the good work! And don’t touch the database.
skiplovey’s last blog post..What the hell is a 187 anyway?*
July 9th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Happy bloggyversary, Heather! I’m glad that you didn’t totally hose your blog. I enjoy reading you!
rimarama’s last blog post..One Day, I Shall Tell My Grandchildren