First words

Welcome, dear reader, to a digital journal of backpacking fables, off-topic diatribes and platitudes bad enough to make the soul retch. This bud of a first post will hopefully blossom into a blog chronicling the exploits of an over-educated, under-skilled, generation Y layabout on a ludicrous escape from a cold hard reality requiring actual work for economic survival. After all, when facing adversity, surely (yes, I’m calling you Shirley) the best thing to do is to pack your shit together and fly somewhere +25 centigrade is considered “brisk” and a Mai Tai costs less than what you would bother to pick up off the subway floor at home. Now who says escapology died with Houdini?

First off, I have a confession to make: My writing history so far proves me to be something of an unreliable sack of shit when it comes to blogging. Sadly, I must admit that I have previously started as many as three such endeavours in my life, none of which have made it past the first week.

1. The first was a group effort with three friends, each of whom proved just as dismal at consistent writing as I did. Despite the intriguing topic of backpacking across China, I think everyone managed just one goddamn post from home. After this the actual trip started, and our MTV-conditioned attention-spans jumped onward to colourful lights and loud noises or whatever the hell it was that distracted us so effectively for the entire time. 

2. The second attempt was a personal project to keep friends up-to-date on my exchange semester in Australia. So far, this was the worst blogging disaster I have ever been associated with. Seriously, it was a bloodbath. I think I got as far as the title of the first post before losing interest. A few weeks before returning home, I remembered the project again, but by then the whole idea seemed pretty pointless. This experience, however, taught me a valuable lesson: Never tell anyone about a blog until you actually get some substance on it. Way less embarrassing when you can’t be arsed to write anything. 

3. The third blog actually had the most legitimate raison d’être of all three, for it was supposed to act as a research diary for my master’s thesis. My goal was to post a little something every day, so that later on I could reassess the choices I had made, and maybe spin a yarn about them for the Discussion-section. I think I wrote two posts in all. In retrospect, this project might have actually turned into a valuable tool for the years of psychiatric debriefing I’m going to need after that train-wreck of a thesis. When I now read the optimistic drivel from the first post, I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy living those carefree times. Poor bastard has no idea what he’s in for.

Well, I think that was an adequate confessional of my digital sins to begin this heap of literary garbage with. Now, with my head held low, I head forth to new disappointments. Look for a new post here within a few days, and assume the worst should it fail to materialize.

P. S. Listen to this, it is guaranteed to put you in a great mood!

DISCLAIMER: If you are already cheery, this tune might put you in the “annoyingly chipper”-zone, making friends and co-workers want to kick your teeth in.

Yael Naim: New Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgEfYGzojcA