One

Isn’t it funny, a year’s worth of blogging later, I feel stuck. On this day a year ago, I officially launched “The Hot Child in the City” website. With this milestone under my belt, I wanted to write a piece about everything I learned in this past year. And I don’t know how to write it. I don’t know where to start. Maybe it can’t be put into words, my gratitude to the community I’ve built, the artists I’ve connected with, and even just simply being proud of myself.

I tried to write a listicle about how to be a blogger, but that didn’t feel like me. I tried to recount some great experiences I’ve had connecting with bands and other bloggers, but there’s just too many. And it almost feels unfair to cherry pick a few examples because they all were so good and equally rewarding.

I’ve learned many things this past year. Some things that surprised me. There were things in me I didn’t know were there. I never thought I’d be interviewing people. And I absolutely love it. I never thought I’d design my own website or be editing the episodes of my radio show myself. I had an iPhone 6 until pretty recently for crying out loud! So, I’m happy to say I’m a bit more tech savvy now. I always liked the idea of creating my own website but didn't think I could actually do it.

I took the plunge one random weekend last May to create this blog. It wasn’t anything exciting or glamorous. No launch party, no countdown clock. Instead, I was just emerging from my COVID spell, after two weeks of being sick. With that down time, all I could really think about was Coachella, the last big event I had gone to. Specifically, I couldn't stop thinking about Harry Styles’ set while making connections to Paul McCartney’s music. “I’m boring my friends with all this music chatter” I thought to myself…”why don’t I just write about this?”. And then, I did. I had zero experience in website creation, or blogging, and I didn’t feel like waiting until I learned how to do these things. I realized I had to learn by doing. My thought was, if I don’t do this now, I never will. And most importantly, I was excited to write about Harry’s performance and once I wrote it, I then, couldn’t wait to publish “The Hot Child in the City” and make it official!

If I can list that as something I learned…I guess I can say, I learned to just go for it. I still have ways to go especially with the technical side, which still throws me some curveballs now and then. But it’s been wonderful to see how far this blog has come in one year and I’m really excited to see where it will be in the next.

I’ll leave you with this quote by David Bowie, but changed ever the slightest:

“I don't know where [The Hot Child in the City] will go from here, but I promise it won't bore you”

...I hope!