I'm feeling uninspired right now. I don't have a clue what I should write in this post!
Good start, huh?
Deciding what stories from my journey and thoughts in my head should be included in my blog is kinda like deciding what guests to invite to a party...
If you just invite one or two really good friends, no one else will be offended. But what if you want to have a bigger party? I mean, what if you want to invite a few more story-friends to your blog-party? Pretty soon, just to avoid awkwardness and hurt-feelings, you find your guest list extending way beyond what you had intended.
For example, if you invite the story about jamming with the French harmonica-player at Sacre-Couer all evening (and ending up with ten extra euros in change in your guitar case in the process), then you surely have to invite the story about having "American breakfast" (a.k.a. mediocre Pancakes from a mix, bacon, and eggs) with two German students the next morning.
And if you invite that story to the blog-party, then it really would be rude to withhold your invitation from the story about the killer public bathroom in the 7th arrondisment!
And if you invite that story, then you really should include the story about going for a run and falling on your face in front of hundreds of tourists, and then having a bumbling conversation, in French, explaining to a very concerned man that you were not hurt. (That one is always a little shy and awkward at the party, but that's no reason to exclude the story from the fun!)
And sure it's nice to invite all your short, happy little stories to the party for comic relief, but what about your real firends? The ones with some substance and personality.
For example, the description of what it feels like to jog along the Seine on a cold Sunday morning, when the city is at its quietest and, in my opinion, most beautiful, watching teams of rowers sliding along the gleaming sun-stained surface. You definitely can't forget to invite such a peaceful story as that!
Then there is the story about the day that you spent at theHolocaust Memorial, and your thoughts and reflections on that experience.
Oh, but then that will open up a whole new group of intro-spective, reflective, personal, analytical, and didactic friends that should be getting invites as well.
Like the piece you've been meaning to write about cultural misunderstandings and language barriers. It's a tough topic to handle, but certainly brings something dynamic to the party.
And of course, no party is complete without its hipster and slightly pompous self-proclaimed intellectual pontificating with anyone that will listen about the woes of society, so I'm just warning you that your thoughts about gender roles in French culture, your lessons on the history of French/European imperialism in the 19th century, as well as any other probably unjustified epiphanies that you've had about the complex workings of the world, will also expect an invitation. They'll probably feel entitled to a personal delivery of the invite, or at least a phone call.
And to counter-act all these stories of adventure in France, you'll also have to invite some entries about the people that you love and miss from your home, and your thoughts on what it really means to be homesick...
So you see? Who has the time, energy, or party supplies to accomodate such an exponentially swelling and varied blog-guest list? I certainly don't! So instead of telling all the stories that want to come hang out on my blog, I'm just going to call the party off for tonight and get back to living in Paris!
Good start, huh?
Deciding what stories from my journey and thoughts in my head should be included in my blog is kinda like deciding what guests to invite to a party...
If you just invite one or two really good friends, no one else will be offended. But what if you want to have a bigger party? I mean, what if you want to invite a few more story-friends to your blog-party? Pretty soon, just to avoid awkwardness and hurt-feelings, you find your guest list extending way beyond what you had intended.
For example, if you invite the story about jamming with the French harmonica-player at Sacre-Couer all evening (and ending up with ten extra euros in change in your guitar case in the process), then you surely have to invite the story about having "American breakfast" (a.k.a. mediocre Pancakes from a mix, bacon, and eggs) with two German students the next morning.
And if you invite that story to the blog-party, then it really would be rude to withhold your invitation from the story about the killer public bathroom in the 7th arrondisment!
And if you invite that story, then you really should include the story about going for a run and falling on your face in front of hundreds of tourists, and then having a bumbling conversation, in French, explaining to a very concerned man that you were not hurt. (That one is always a little shy and awkward at the party, but that's no reason to exclude the story from the fun!)
And sure it's nice to invite all your short, happy little stories to the party for comic relief, but what about your real firends? The ones with some substance and personality.
For example, the description of what it feels like to jog along the Seine on a cold Sunday morning, when the city is at its quietest and, in my opinion, most beautiful, watching teams of rowers sliding along the gleaming sun-stained surface. You definitely can't forget to invite such a peaceful story as that!
Then there is the story about the day that you spent at theHolocaust Memorial, and your thoughts and reflections on that experience.
Oh, but then that will open up a whole new group of intro-spective, reflective, personal, analytical, and didactic friends that should be getting invites as well.
Like the piece you've been meaning to write about cultural misunderstandings and language barriers. It's a tough topic to handle, but certainly brings something dynamic to the party.
And of course, no party is complete without its hipster and slightly pompous self-proclaimed intellectual pontificating with anyone that will listen about the woes of society, so I'm just warning you that your thoughts about gender roles in French culture, your lessons on the history of French/European imperialism in the 19th century, as well as any other probably unjustified epiphanies that you've had about the complex workings of the world, will also expect an invitation. They'll probably feel entitled to a personal delivery of the invite, or at least a phone call.
And to counter-act all these stories of adventure in France, you'll also have to invite some entries about the people that you love and miss from your home, and your thoughts on what it really means to be homesick...
So you see? Who has the time, energy, or party supplies to accomodate such an exponentially swelling and varied blog-guest list? I certainly don't! So instead of telling all the stories that want to come hang out on my blog, I'm just going to call the party off for tonight and get back to living in Paris!
No comments:
Post a Comment