Why write?
Because it is an activity I am comfortable doing. Because I have a long history of putting ideas into words, both in very short and medium-length form. Be it sports analysis, reports from film festivals, or even trying my hand at snappy, pithy social media posts for a podcast (one’s mileage as to the pithiness of what I did varies, naturally), I have long enjoyed, nay, loved putting my ideas into written words.
There is a permanence in the act of publishing. Granted, one can always click the “edit post” button and retract a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire idea. Alternatively, the same elements can be added, just as grammar and spelling errors can be corrected afterwards. Nonetheless, the “permanence” I refer to is the notion that, once published, the text is at the ready for anyone to read, however slowly or quickly they desire, or however many times. Perhaps “performance” lacks accuracy. The published word exists in a frame of longevity that few other media possess.
There will be no platitudes in this introductory article about “how I hope readers will enjoy my work.” Without any inclination toward being impolite or insolent, I can’t say I especially care what the readers think. Should they enjoy something I publish, all the better. Encouragement is a satisfyingly potent tool to march onward in one’s endeavour. Just the same – and at the risk of donning a guise of self-importance – I’ve been around the block when it comes to writing online. I’ve received the praise and have been told how much of a fool I am. Both are entirely fair game.
Musings, reviews, what I dare describe as “analysis,” there will be a little bit of everything here. A diary, of sorts. But a diary written by an adult in their 40s who has lived, travelled, and read enough to have a decent idea of what they are prattling on about, all the while fully admitting they know almost nothing at all.
Don’t enjoy sports? Then don’t read about my thoughts on the NBA. Don’t care for opera? Then skip the post about Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. No interest whatsoever in the latest from the Swatch Group? Fair enough. Come back next time. It doesn’t matter.
All I know is that I will enjoy putting in the time and effort into writing articles. After all, when one enjoys what one does, it rarely feels like work.
Edgar Chaps 