My 7 year blogging anniversary! Reintroducing TheRollerCodester (est. 2018)
Salutations! This is a much needed re-introduction to my blog.
I’ve been writing this blog for seven years now? SEVEN WHOLE YEARS. My original blogger’s introduction was short and sweet, seeing as it was my first post. I had to present it to a class full of peers and I was embarrassed to put myself out there, so I only wrote maybe a single paragraph and 5 things you’d need in order to summon me…
This is still availabe on my site, if you just scroll down to the way way wayyyy bottom! hehe
Red lipstick
a pair of vans
Twin Peaks on DVD
a phone with just instagram on it
And a large iced mocha (no whip).
I’d say its still what would summon me today… if you exchanged instagram for tiktok, and made my large iced mocha into a cold brew with oat milk? So yes, basically, writing my first introduction like I was my ripping off a band-aid. I wrote something really quick and just hit publish, because I had to get myself out there. On the anniversary of my first post, I considered what I’d say now, and decided, well… LETS SAY IT. Meaning, let’s do a reintroduction of myself!
Happy 7 year blog-iversary to TheRollerCodester blog, and now please, allow me to RE-INTRODUCE MYSELF.
What To Expect
3 key moments that pushed me toward blogging and THEN 3 reasons YOU should write a blog, too!
I have three stories to tell…
One about how I realized I’m a writer (silly I know), the moment I realized bloggers are just regular joes like you and I, AND realizing everyone has their stories to tell and we are all the main character of our own lives!
THEN, I give 3 reasons YOU should start a blog! BLOG PARTY. LETS ALL BLOG TOGETHER!!
Later, a little about me in 2025, and my writing/blogging ethos
About me but in 2025
My writing inspiration and blog ethos
upcoming blog stuff?
3 key moments that inspired me to start a blog
Before I even considering making a blog, I had all these excuses for not starting, like “I need 500 IG followers before I start!” or “I need a fancy website I designed myself!” And then one by one I started having these blogging epiphanies? They all happened right around the time my frontal lobe kicked in. I took each epiphany as major signs to start, and to kick the excuses to the curb! These were my big 3 key moments that led me to blogging.
It’s okay to call yourself the darn thing!!
My professor sat at his desk, reading my essay while occasionally flicking on the page with a red pen on grammatical errors. We were doing a week in English 2 learning to write Feature pieces or Op Ed essays. I could tell he was sussing my writing out, and it made me nervous.
Looking up at me, he said, “I have to ask… Are you a writer?” A little embarrassed by the question, I answered, “I mean, I guess I’m an… aspiring writer?” He put his hand up and pointed at my paper and said, “No such thing as aspiring writers. You’re either a writer or you’re not a writer. I read this, and I think you’re a writer.” Confused, but pleased with his reaction, I said “Then… I guess I’m a writer?”
It was jarring to have someone advocate so hard for me, even more than I advocated for myself, but I left that meeting with unfettered creativity and the bravery to proclaim this deep secret I’d never said aloud. I liked writing, and yes, I’m a writer!
Travel bloggers and fashion bloggers are normal people. Anyone can become one!
It was 2015 or 2016, probably while I was taking that english class… I watched a lot of travel Youtubers. They all had these grandiose vacations with incredible instagram photos, and I thought, “How does one attain such a beautiful life?” I wasn’t snide or bitter about their lifestyles, but instead, I found it aspirational.
One youtube channel in particular inspired me above all the rest, by entrepreneur Mimi Ikonn. She often spoke about vision boards, law of attraction, and going for your dreams. All her travels were so beautifully shot, and if you’d caught up on all her videos, she had a blog to accompany her youtube channel as well.
This definitely led to me seeking more fashion and travel bloggers. I’d try reading blogs here and there, and I always thought things like, “I love this post, but I wish they had gone more in depth about this thing.” And I daydreamed about what I would write if I wrote it myself, then BAM– A lightning bolt (figuratively) struck my brain… Blogs are just made by normal people– like you, and me. Anyone can have a blog. And I could make the blog posts I wanted to see, instead of wishing for more in depth bloggers, I could become one. So I decided I would start a blog, and, eventually, I did.
The universe pushed me toward blogging, because I had the authority of someone who already had one?
Half a year before I created this blog, I flew into New York City to visit my friends who just moved there. We went to a coffeeshop in the East Village I found on Instagram. In their tagged photos there was this fancy drink (black mocha: made with activated charcoal? which…don't consume if you take medication FYI, we didn’t know how activated charcoal worked at the time lol). We asked for the coffee I saw on their Instagram profile, and they told us it was actually a secret menu item, invented only a week ago.
The barista quickly texted a coworker for the recipe and then made all our drinks. A friend of hers walked in with a dog, saw the drinks, and her jaw hit the floor. She asked her friend to make her one, too! As we aligned our coffees for a photo, the barista said, “Is this for instagram? Let me turn off the light so you get more natural light!” and then their friend said, “Wait, can I put my dog in the photo? You can tag him, he has his own instagram!”
So there we were with a dog on a chair, focusing our cameras, doing a mini photo shoot in this coffee shop the size of a broom closet, with a dog who had his own instagram? My friends were like, “this is the most Cody moment I've ever witnessed.” Which was a great compliment at the time. Like, okay, main character energy, I guess!
I was getting too powerful with my photos, and this was just proof that my life was naturally fun and interesting… I thought “Jeez! I really need to start a blog to jot this all down.” I just felt a strong desire to tell my own charming stories, sharing my own charming photos. It was a catepillar into a butterfly moment for sure. I felt as though my creativity got a major refresh, thanks to the streets of New York City. That was the year I created this blog.
reasons you should start a blog!
(especially if you’re on the fence about it)
You read a blog, a substack, or watch a youtube channel where you love the content but you wish they went more in depth on certain points. That means there is a hole in the culture, or a niche or pocket that isn’t being filled. It could be you who talks more in depth on the little details.
You have a story worth telling, and I promise– you DEFINITELY have a story worth telling. Everyone has a story, and yours could be one of inspiration or relatability. I only read blogs for two reasons: either for inspiration or for information! which leads to #3.
You want to talk shop on something you know a TON about… like if you know everything about legos? We need your lego blog. If you travel a ton? We need your travel blog. If you are a thrifting goddess? We need your sustainable fashion blog! Everyone geeks out about atleast one thing, and if you can talk about it for hours, then you should write a blog about it and share with the class!
About me 2025 AND my writing/blogging ethos
This is fairly straight forward! If you’re new here, this is a little more about me. If you’re seasoned, you’ll remember most of this stuff, because I talk a lot. You know, it is MY blog, and I love to yap about MY life!
Who is TheRollerCodester 2025?
So I’m still Native American, and located in Minneapolis. Nothing new to report on those fronts LOL.
My boyfriend Eric is now my fiancé (very wild to say, still, even after a year of being engaged!). We live together with our little tuxedo cat, Bruce. As of recent, we’ve been planning our wedding! It feels surreal. We’re just in the early stages, just getting the major things locked in.
When it comes to hobbies, I’ve sort of done it all, and especially excelled at things on paper. Nowadays, I tend to focus on learning new mediums and hand skills. Most recently, I’ve learned stained glass and printmaking, which I am now completely obsessed with. I literally can’t stop making linocut prints!
Isn’t it obvious what my main medium for expression is? You’re reading it. I write mainly creative non-fiction focused on travel adventures, pop culture, slice of life, and my very personal (hopefully relatable) experiences. I think the highest compliment is someone saying they cried reading something I wrote… but money comes in a close second! I just want to understand the human condition and the world around me, and I’m glad this is a place I can share my experiences I’ve gathered over time.
My writing/ blogging style and my creative ethos (I hate AI, obviously)
I’m a romantic, but not exclusively romantic in a dating way, but in a little bit of a philosophical way, and it has a heavy impact on how and what I choose to write. Obviously, I was very emo growing up, and still as a grown adult, I feel a lot. I love to wallow in things like my own melancholy, lingering sadness, flowery poetics, frisson, and that good old collective effervescence. Life is just so crazy and unbelievable, I always find myself accidentally romanticizing it. I just want to write things that come from the heart, or things that are inspirational, funny, or insightful.
This is obvious as a writer (god, I HOPE it’s obvious to all writers), but I’m completely against AI/Chat GPT. I find it to be corny/tacky. Everyone deserves to reach the point of creativity where they’re hitting the real flow, but using AI sells the human mind short, and denies people the pleasure of creating their best possible work. Plus– this one is personal– but I’ll never forgive ChatGPT for stealing the Em Dash (–) from real human writers! (Em Dash forever! – – – –I was rocking with the em dash in 2020 on this very blog, and I always will!) Basically… if you want to be a writer, just write! It’s okay if not everything you write is perfect, but people can definitely tell if a robot wrote it.
Example of AI writing that my feeble human brain just came up with:
“It’s not just a blog– its a home. A home is a heart, we all beat this heart together. In this home, we get lost in the folds of a page of a book. Here at (INSERT YOUR WEBSITE HERE), we cherish the third spaces– the places made for the wanderers, the offbeat. we breathe for the little things.”
Like WE CAN TELL, you know that, right? Every time I see it, I feel a little disappointed. ANYWAY, AI for writers makes me so sooo very sad… Just know, here on my seven year old blog that pre-dates AI, I’ve always strived to have a strong and consistent voice. My friends reading the blog have told me they hear my actual voice speaking in their head while they read my work, which is a big compliment, honestly.
Blogs are meant to be fun and casual in a way! you should be reading something that sounds like someone is talking with you. I hope that I can keep talking to all of you in the form of words, because I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon! This blog isn’t a blog– it’s a secret hideout… OH CRAP, THE AI…. IT GOT ME… we here at TheRollerCodester are in it for the flowers we pick on a morning walk… HELPPPP ME…. The first sip of a coffee on a rainy day…. I’M BEING SUCKED INTO A COMPUTER HELPPPP AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! At TheRollerCodester, happiness is a sentence that runs on foreEVER and EVER AND EVER AND EVERRRRR.
hahaaaaa, Final thanks and last minute updates!
OKAY, haha, thanks for reading the new introductions! I just wanted to give the blog it’s flowers! Happy happy birthday to TheRollerCodester!!!! My 7 year old child. If you guys liked this, I have a lot of little things planned this month between the tastings and the consultations and the “should we do ivory or cream linens?” and all that! Please stay tuned because I am literally bringing my computer to lunch, and I will be writing while eating a good soup.
Kind regards,
Cody and TheRollerCodester (established 2018!!!)
