In late 2009, I started the blog that would become Kentucky Geek Girl. I changed the name, got a domain, and built a brand for over five years. The site came to its natural end in Spring 2016 when I closed the virtual doors. My podcasting partner, Leila, and I moved out of the apartment that we used as our studio, and we ended that as well.
Fast forward to July 2017, when Leila and I reconvened recording our podcast, The Rad Ass Bitches, and the urge struck me to create again. I've given a great deal of thought to what this would look like, mostly because I wasn't sure exactly what my voice was or where I fit in to the blogging world. Screaming into the void on Twitter has been fine, but I have had the desire to write as of late, so I thought, "What the heck?" and decided to purchase a new domain.
Who am I?
I'm 30 years old and live in Lexington, Kentucky. I have a background in history, nonprofit management, and cultural organizations. I'm in my last semester of graduate school and will complete a MA in Arts Administration in May. I work as a Travel Consultant for a company that develops and operates historical tours in the US and Europe. I'm really excited about it! As I said, I've been blogging for coming upon 20 years and I've always had an affinity for writing.
Why Nat20?
It's double-sided. As I get older, I have more people who have been calling me Nat as a nickname as opposed to Tasha, which is how I had been identified for years. My online handle was tashalee for several platforms and I know that for Twitter specifically I've had no less than 4 name changes. I have most recently settled on TheDivine_MissN and that is where I see it staying. I actually made a new blog on Xanga in high school called The Divine Miss N, an obvious play on the Bette Midler moniker, and decided to revive it. So, as I approach my twentieth year of blogging, I thought that using the "20" would work as well.
Nat 20 is also a gaming reference. A natural 20 is when you roll a 20 on a 20-sided dice. I've been role-playing for over a decade now and in almost every system rolling a 20 means a critical success despite any modifiers that you might have on a given stat. This means that whatever you're trying to accomplish by rolling the die, you're going to be successful and it will happen without question. This, of course, is the reverse of rolling a 1 which is a critical failure no matter what your stats are.
So? What does this mean?
I wanted to start a new blog that incorporated various aspects of my life and interests. For a long time I was compartmentalizing. I had KGG which was my geek blog, Tasha Get's Healthy, where I chronicled my weight loss successes, and I would write for a geek website or two. I've decided to combine all of those things under one brand and really control the content that I wanted to publish.
I'm inspired to create a space where I share my experiences as a 30-something woman navigating a variety of worlds. I'm finishing graduate school for one program (and possibly applying to another), working full-time in a job that I love, trying to connect with people in my city, and participate in hobbies that I find fulfilling. Can all of that make for good content? Maybe. We'll see. ;-)
This new space will be a reflection of who I am. Maybe I'll share some travel tips, post about a new event that I think you should attend, showcase my latest purchase for my apartment, or post a recipe for a dish that I really love. There's no particular geeky twist here, just me being my authentic self. So, if that seems geeky, that's fine. If not, that's totally fine to. For me, at least.
Nat20 will be about an appreciation of authenticity and celebrating critical successes. I hope you join me on this journey!
