Ocean’s 18

I started blogging on this day, 18 years ago.

I’m not even sure what made me recall that date, although it cannot be a coincidence that just yesterday, the fifth of my Five Things was about writing here. The anniversary just came to me like an epiphany as I headed out the door, arms preoccupied with my bag, keys, recycling, and samples to ship—and sure enough, I wrote my first post on July 25, 2008. (I published a second one mere moments later, a short feature titled “Bag of the Week”, no doubt unable to contain my excitement.) It had been at least a year, maybe more, in the making—but I was young, needed my parents’ permission, and quite frankly, was nervous to begin. But I was earnest in my pursuits: The first iteration of this website was on Blogspot, where I wrote feverishly under a pseudonym, La Couturier. I was tiny but felt mighty, proud when I started gaining momentum and POP magazine asked me to join as one of their contributing bloggers. I did this in secret between dance team rehearsals and homework, and even snuck my laptop open to draft articles at 1 a.m. while the rest of the house was asleep. My parents had no idea; I was too afraid they’d say no for fear of Internet safety, and that this would turn into a distraction while I was still in school. I kept it a secret from friends too, convinced that I’d be judged in my small-ish, suburban town. La Couturier was my little secret—until it became pivotal in shaping my career.

Since then, both my blog and I have gone through a few transformations. From Blogspot to WordPress, then to a site I built after teaching myself basic coding, before migrating back to WordPress again. As La Couturier, before the name and veil of anonymity no longer suited my vocational aspirations, and I rebranded as myself under A Bit Coquettish—wanting to seem, and feel, more grown. It’s funny how I used to chastise myself for being so fickle online instead of sticking to one entity (considering how resolute I am in everything else IRL), but now, looking back: I was a teenager when I started. And is that not the beauty of the Internet—having the freedom to start over, tabula rasa, when the urge rises?

Time flies. I can barely fathom how I’ve been doing this for nearly two decades. Sometimes with dogged consistency, lately with more intermittently—but nevertheless, a Blogger™ for 18 years. To the readers who’ve been around for any amount of time, thank you.

I’m eternally grateful.

.   .  .

xx