Dear Reader,
Something amazing happened for me today but more importantly over the past 365 days — it’s my blog’s birthday (kind of)! Since CuriousWordsBlog.com’s inception, I have published 365 posts in 365 consecutive days. I started blogging with one goal — to blog. Then, somewhere along the way, I decided to make the commitment to one whole year.
Much has changed since the very beginning. I began blogging when I was traveling last summer and found that I wanted to start documenting my adventures. I typed up my first post in Reykjavík, Iceland and made my blog about my time traveling. After a few weeks of fun, reality set in again and I was back in Boston working several part-time jobs. My blog posts became more about day-to-day life and whatever thoughts were currently on my mind. Then, the pandemic lockdowns hit the U.S. in March 2020 and my blog shifted yet again. I gave my blog a makeover and the black background with gold lettering was replaced with this new lighter look. Additionally, I started writing more about my hobbies and added the “In the Kitchen” section to discuss my baking escapades and a “Reader’s Corner” to share thoughts about the oh-so-many books I have read during this journey (112 in total… 110/ 112 were audiobooks 🙂 ).
Through 365 posts, I have learned a lot about the world and myself. While many of my lessons are deeply personal, I wanted to share one curious thing that this blog has taught me in the last few days.
My blog’s “birthday” (one-year anniversary) and the 365th blog post don’t line up!
While CuriousWordsBlog.com’s day of “birth” is August 21, 2019, the 365th consecutive blog post falls on today, August 19th, 2020 — why is this? The over-simplified answer is that blog birthdays and the human birthdays do not work the same way.
If you were born on January 1st, 2019, you are not 1 day old on January 1st but zero days old. So, this means that on December 31st, 2019 you would have experienced 364 days of life and would turn 1-year old on January 1st, 2020 — aka the anniversary of your birth or, more colloquially, your birthday. 365 days of blog posts work differently.
If a blog baby is born into this world with its first post on January 1st, 2019, then it is one-blog-post old on January 1st, 2019 (so, “1 day” older than the human baby). This means that on December 31st, 2019, the blog baby turns 365-blog-posts old (or one-year old) on December 31st, 2019 — aka one day before the anniversary of its birth.
Failing to consider the start date when counting is a classic example of an “off-by-one error.” Simply put, off-by-one errors are mistakes made when counting items from zero or in a loop. While this error is commonly found in coding, it is also a practical mistake to make. My blog’s birthday is a little trickier as the date is off by two (Day 1 being August 21, 2019 and Day 365 being August 19, 2020). Can you guess why??
While one day can be explained by the inclusion of day zero (i.e. the day of “birth” is day 1), the second day is simply explained by the fact that 2020 is a leap year! So, this means if your birthday seems a little further away this year — you’re right, it is! If you were born on March 1st or after, your birthday is 366 days away from your 2019 birthday (perhaps, this means that you deserve a 48-hour celebration??).
All jokes, aside, I want to thank you, Dear Reader, for joining me on my blogging journey from Day 1 (more here) and enduring and indulging me on my #365DayBloggingChallenge. I will continue to blog, but with less frequency. To be honest, I am kind of tired, but as always, this blog is a burden of love.
Until next time.
Love,
Raven
Curious Words Blog 
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