The AmeriNZ Blog is 20

Another day, another anniversary, this one the second in my Ole Timey “Season of Anniversaries”. Today, the AmeriNZ Blog turns 20. I published my first post, “I live in a land downunder. No, the other one…” on September 13, 2006. From the very beginning, I posted an annual average of at least once per day. However, that all ended in 2019 when Nigel died and my entire life was upended, and I’ve never returned to that annual average. This year I may end up having the lowest annual output ever—or maybe not. Ive given up making predictions about what I may or may not do in the future.

I still feel, as I said last year, that “first and second generation blogs like this one are kind of quaint and old-fashioned,” and I said that because even though people now use things like Facebook or Substack in ways that are very similar to the blogs of 20 or more years ago, it’s not the same (arguably Facebook is closest, in my opinion). I’m not (necessarily) saying that this new reality is good, bad, or neither, just that things are definitely different now. However, I definitely miss the community that blogging was 20 years ago.

Be that as it may, I nevertheless continue pretty much as I always have—apart from publishing frequency, of course. One of the biggest reasons I keep doing this, despite not meeting my own standards, is summed up in what I said in last year’s Blogoversary post:

As I’ve said many times before, I began this blog in the first place because Nigel talked me into it—and then he encouraged me to podcast, too. And that’s the other big reason I continue: It’s among the very last things I did when Nigel was alive that I’m still doing, and the fact he encouraged me to do it is probably the rest of the reason I’m still doing this.

It’s also true that I’m nowhere near finished with the work of reimagining my life, so there’s still a lot to talk about. However, I need to make space in my life for blogging and podcasting, and I think that maybe I should try scheduling work on them rather than keep hoping that I’ll suddenly feel motivated, because that’s clearly not working.

Despite all that, and the frustration and even disappointment that I sometimes feel about my current blogging and podcasting, what I said in the last line in my very first blog post is still accurate:

“So pour yourself a cuppa, relax, and let’s see where this leads.”

Previous posts on my blogoversaries:

Anniversay Time (2007)
Blogoversary 2 (2008)
Anniversaries Three and Fourteen (2009)
Fourth blogoversary (2010)
Fifth blogoversary (2011)
Sixth blogoversary (2012)
Seventh Blogoversary (2013)
Ten years of the AmeriNZ Blog (2016)
The AmeriNZ Blog is eleven (2017)
The AmeriNZ Blog is twelve (2018)
The AmeriNZ Blog is thirteen (2019)
The AmeriNZ Blog is fourteen (2020)
The AmeriNZ Blog is fifteen (2021)
The AmeriNZ Blog is sixteen (2022)
Anniversaries 17 and 28 (2023)
The AmeriNZ Blog is 18 (2024)
The AmeriNZ Blog is 19 (2025)