If it weren't for Lucy Begg, I would not be here right now, chilled by the Zuid Amsterdam October night sneaking in through the picture window from where I sit, diving into the blogosphere. I never thought I'd be the blogging type -- in fact, quite the opposite, because all truth be told, I rarely read blogs (exceptions: Eatdrinkonewomannyc.com, cheesebyhand.com, gamersmob.blogspot.com) and it seems inequitable to write a blog for others to read if I myself am not much of a blog-reader. So there's my disclaimer.
But one evening not too long ago, Lucy -- and if you don't know her already, you want to: her brain, heart and sense of humor are all so big you wonder how they might all exist in the same person -- over drinks at the San Jose Hotel in Austin (and if you haven't been there you should: pitch perfect texas-gone-elegant, though others will disagree I would recommend _against_ the Michelada) -- convinced me that blogs are great for projects and traveling and keeping in touch with one's private public: all the friends, family, collaborators to whom we want to stay connected, and the new ones we meet along the way. "It'll save you time in talking with friends over the phone and emails," she explained, "and if everyone can keep up with you on a blog and know what you've been up to, then you can immediately get to the good stuff." Not a bad sell.
So here we are Lucy -- and everyone else -- the up-to-date, ordinary and sometimes extra-ordinary from the Netherlands and beyond. I hope that
1. as with all my paper journals, I don't fall irreversibly behind
and
2. it's at all interesting to anyone who's not me.
Thanks for tuning in.
