nearly 3 million views — a little hello from me to you

 nearly 3 million views — a little hello from me to you

2,984,882 and counting!

Just over 15,000 views to go before this little corner of the internet reaches 3 MILLION!

At the rate things are going, we might get there in the next day or so.

And wouldn't you know it? I'm also getting close to my 4,000th published post. I haven't quite reached that one yet, but it's coming!

I've been thinking about this journey.

I believe I started experimenting with blogging around 2004. I had a few attempts, started a few blogs, deleted some, tried different things and gradually figured out what I wanted to do.

By 2008, this blog became the one that survived. The baby, as I've called it.

And here we are.

Through all the trials and tribulations, the adventures, the artwork, photography, politics, people, places and things, the good days and the not-so-good days, I've kept writing.

I've documented bits and pieces of my life, my community, my travels, the world around me and the things that make me stop and think.

I've made mistakes, learned a few things, changed direction more than once and probably driven a few people around the bend with all my questions!

But I've kept going.

Nearly 3 million views.

Almost 4,000 posts.

No advertising. No paid promotion. No monetizing my little newspaper.

Just a person, a keyboard, a camera, a paintbrush, a curious mind and a desire to share a few things along the way.

And to you, whoever you may be, wherever you are in this big old world, I send greetings of peace, love and light.

May joy find you wherever you are.

May you find something here that makes you smile, something that makes you think, something that teaches you something new, or perhaps a little wisdom that helps you along your own journey.

That's really all I could ever hope for.

That somewhere along the way, something I've written, photographed, painted or shared has helped you a little.

Thank you for stopping by.

Whether you've been here since the beginning or just stumbled across my blog today, you're welcome.

Have a wonderful day.

With love,

Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Blogger, Artist, Photographer, Web Designer, Storyteller

People, places and things. Always something to talk about.

1. Who controls the historical record? When ordinary people document their lives, communities and experiences, who decides which stories survive and which disappear?

2. What happened to journalism? Have we moved from informing the public to competing for attention, clicks, advertising revenue and outrage?

3. Who watches the media? When media corporations, technology companies and social platforms have enormous influence over what we see, who holds them accountable?

4. Is popularity being mistaken for credibility? When a story receives millions of views, does that make it important, truthful or even accurate?

5.What happens to independent voices? Can an independent blogger genuinely compete with corporate media when algorithms determine who gets seen and who gets buried?

6. Who owns our memories? If we spend years creating photographs, videos, artwork and writing on platforms owned by other companies, what rights do we really have over our own creative history?

7. Whose history have we been taught? What stories about Indigenous peoples, migration, colonization, working people and ordinary families have been excluded, distorted or forgotten?

8. What has changed between generations? What would my great-great-grandmother, born in Songhees territory in 1832, my great-great-grandfather from the Azores, my mother born in 1930 and I, born in 1962, recognize about the world today? What would they find unrecognizable?

9.Are we documenting history or watching it disappear? With misinformation, disappearing websites, deleted accounts, AI-generated content and changing search results, how much of today's history will future generations actually be able to verify?

10. What responsibility comes with having an audience? If nearly three million visits have brought people to one independent person's collection of observations, stories, artwork and opinions, what responsibility do we have to tell the truth, acknowledge what we don't know and leave something useful behind?

If you could leave one message for someone born in 2126, what would you want them to know about the world we lived in, the things we got wrong, the things we fought for and the things we should never have allowed ourselves to forget?

#Nearly3MillionViews

#IndependentBlogger

#CitizenJournalism

#MediaLiteracy

#FreedomOfExpression

#DigitalHistory

#MediaAccountability