Normally, I don’t blog on Mondays, other than write my portion of the review for the upcoming week, and whatever other posts I want to compose ahead of time. Today, however, I’m making an exception because today marks another year for Daily Duranie.
On this day eleven years ago, I wrote and published the first post. As Amanda mentioned in her own post commemorating the anniversary, the original idea behind this crazy brainchild belongs mostly to my husband. Obviously, he had no idea we’d follow through, nor did he have any idea of how long we’d keep going. Neither did we, really.
Things have changed a lot over the eleven years we’ve written. We’ve moved the blog from one “engine” to another, we began to host the site ourselves, and we’ve added an amazing intern-who-really-isn’t-an-intern to our staff. Time flies when you’re having fun, or so they say.
Funny thing about having fun—sometimes, you just don’t know when it’s time to stop. I think that’s where I’m at. Truth be told, I still love writing this blog. I don’t love maintaining the site, or a lot of what goes on with social media, but I do love writing. That is truly what keeps me going. Different things matter to me at this point in my life and fandom.
Back when I first started blogging, I think being accepted and embraced by the community really mattered. The idea of other fans reading the blog and having something resonate was a type of goal I didn’t think was even possible. I figured I would stay as a nobody in the community, but at least I’d have a place to get the words out. I wanted a home for my thoughts, and sure, if any of it somehow made it’s way back to the band, that was great.
Listen, I know it isn’t necessarily cool to say I wanted attention from the band. I’ve seen other blogs and fanzines call out or even discount other fan sites for daring to admit that attention is part of the fun and the lure. It’s funny how we join fandoms, but somehow we’re supposed to at least pretend to be cool and aloof when it comes to wanting the band to notice us out in the crowd. I mean, isn’t it time we all just get over ourselves a little? Am I really supposed to say that I wouldn’t be thrilled if the band noticed me?
Yeah, okay. I’ve played that game for the last twenty years.
It really doesn’t matter. I am still not that cool, and I still think it is pretty outstanding when the band notices and remembers fans – and I’ll admit it, I’m particularly thrilled when that fan is me! I’m a failure at this whole “cool and aloof” thing, and well, that’s life. While attention from the band has never been my primary motivation for writing, I would be lying to everyone if I said that I didn’t enjoy whatever little attention Amanda and I get from the stage or elsewhere when we go to shows together. It’s nice to know someone recognizes us and that we don’t just fade into the wallpaper. As someone counseled me just a few weeks back, artists create because they want acknowledgment. It isn’t a crime to seek reaction for your work. I will try to remember that.
There are a lot of topics I wish I were ready to talk about when it comes to explaining how or why things have changed for me. What I am comfortable writing though, is that fandom used to be light and fun for me. It was my escape from reality, and it just isn’t like that these days. I don’t feel like there’s any escape, and the fun is fleeting. A lot of that has to do with Covid, not being able to go to shows – and I’m definitely bummed out by missing this weeks gigs. I could have gone, but the idea of getting all the way over there, having to test even though I’m fully vaccinated and possibly missing the show(s) was just enough to keep me here out of caution. I would be that one person to come in contact with someone on the plane and end up testing positive. No thank you. Heck, the band is supposed to be coming to Texas (of all the places on the damn planet) and I’m even missing those shows. It’s frustrating and I know I am not alone. It’s hard to have fun with that going on, and there’s no end in sight.
The important thing is that I still love the band, and I still love this site. I am incredibly proud of what Amanda and I have created. We built this site and everything we’ve done along the way together. Amanda has always been the one most willing to change the purpose and function of the blog and site as we’ve needed over the years. She is excellent at brainstorming, and tackling problems from different angles, generally thinking out of the box. Without her, this site would have folded at least five years ago, and I don’t mind saying that openly. Above all else, our continued respect for one another, along with willingness to do whatever we needed in order to keep the blog working, and a great, undying love for this band, has kept us going for the past eleven years. These days, we might not be first with news or reviews, and we might not cover every single thing the band or people within have done. However, there is heart, soul, and honesty in our work that you’re not going to find anywhere else.
We are unapologetically Daily Duranie. I hope we never change.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read over the years. We appreciate you. I particularly appreciate you for making me feel like it isn’t “just me”. Thank you to the people who don’t immediately laugh when I explain that I manage a site dedicated to being Duran Duran fans. I have gotten a lot better about being able to say that when people ask me what I “do”. I start with explaining Daily Duranie, and if that goes well, then I tell them I am the house slave, too!
Thanks to those of you who work with the band, or you’re in their inner circle (listen, we all know who you are. Let’s just call a spade a spade) and still manage to wave and smile when you see Amanda and I. It still shocks me when someone on the crew (much less the band) calls out and says hello or waves to us at shows. To us, you are the people we look up to, admire, and respect. Thank you for not assuming we’re crazy.
Lastly, enormous thanks and gratitude go to Roger, Simon, John, Nick, Dom, Anna, and Simon W. (am I forgetting someone???) You are the people who inspire us each and every day. I hope we do you, along with the art you produce, some justice. You are very loved and respected. Please come see us in a place that we can travel. SOON. You’re missed.
Amanda was right when she said that writing Daily Duranie has made her feel like she is a part of the community. The same holds true for me. I don’t have any concept of what it means to be important, much less needed, but for me, Daily Duranie is what I do. My own family wouldn’t realize I was gone until they had gone without dinner for a few days. My dog would notice before anyone else! Daily Duranie has made me feel like I have an actual purpose beyond being the cook and housekeeper. Some may laugh or even scoff at this little blog, but it’s been my lifeline. I know it isn’t much (it’s certainly not Rolling Stone!), but to me it’s just about everything.
-R
