Where I’m blogging from
That’s it. 2002 is over, or at least it will be, in a few hours. I got up this morning, sat in front of the computer and read what other people had to say on their blog about this past year. This has now become a routine in my life, a daily ritual I miss on the days when I am traveling away from an Internet connection. Some people will call this ritual a form of dependency, a lack of attachment to the ‘ »real world ». They will conclude that bloggers tend to have communication problems and that they have to hide behind machines to finally be able to share what they have to say.
Maybe. I do know a fair share of bloggers or, most generally, « Web people », who are not the best at face to face communication. I have had some warm e-mail exchanges with people, people I thought would become good friends I could hang out with, only to feel disappointed later when I finally met them or talked to them on the phone and realized that the magic didn’t transfer to the « real world ». I am also surprised to observe that a lot of people I have regular contact with, coworkers, friends and even some family members, have no interest in what I do on the Web and don’t feel curious enough to read my blog, not even once in a while. For a lot of people, the two worlds still don’t mix.
But not for me. The real world is what’s real, online and off. In 2002, I have spent many hours at the desk you see on the picture above, in front of the screen, sharing experiences with bloggers and readers, communicating via e-mail and sometimes meeting people offline, in varied face to face situations. On the wall next to my desk is the painting I recently bought from Rachel (click the above picture to enlarge it), a talented artist whose work I’ve discovered through her blog. I saw this painting on the Web, wrote her an e-mail, and a few weeks later, the painting was up on my wall. I love to look at it while I blog. I love the way it has become a tangible expression of that meeting of the two worlds.
So to all of you whose blog I read on a regular basis, and to all of you who come to visit me once in a while and sometimes take the time to comment, THANK YOU. It’s been a good year, on and off. ;-)
MERCI donc à vous tous, lecteurs et/ou cybercarnetiers, qui prenez le temps de partager vos humeurs et vos trouvailles sur le Web. Mon année 2002 a été bien remplie grâce à vous.
As A frog in the Valley says in a great post he wrote today, which talks about identity, an issue close to the hearts of bloggers:
Je sais qui je suis et je trépigne d’avance à vous connaitre.
Note: I would love to see where you are blogging from. If you are a blogger and you care to share, send me a small photo of your desk or favorite place to blog from, or point me to the URL where I can find it. If I get enough photos, I might gather them all in one space and do a kind of « blogging spot » project. I’ll make this my New Year’s Resolution!
I love this time of the year, not because I’m a big fan of Christmas, but because this is typically when I get to spend the most time reading. I mostly read fiction, which is easier to read in short bursts when I’m on the metro or while I wait for my dinner to cook. Fiction is also the only thing I can handle in the few minutes I set aside for reading in bed every night, when I fight sleep and reread the same paragraph 20 times before I decide to turn the light off.
