Blog Returns
He lives! Now that I have a cute little son and am back to wandering the globe (after a few salubrious years parked in the Midwest), my life may again be interesting enough for documentation. Blogging is back.
New Blog Same as the Old Blog
You may have noticed the address change and the discontinuous timeline. My previous blog (at Truespies.org) was killed without warning to me. It is gone except for a few posts I was able to salvage from Archive.org. It is too bad because I was much happier with the writing of that blog than this one. During my Indian summer, 2007, I used Blogger. During my Ethiopian summer, 2008, I tried to use Blogger, but the site was fully blocked in Ethiopia. The authoritarian government didn't want the people writing about their experiences, lest they publicly share their experiences of being dissatisfied with the ruling party (an outright prohibition of unfavorable information must be cheaper than bullying writers with a repetitive barrage of cheap, shallow insults). You know how authoritarians are. I continued blogging at Truespies.org during my sojourns in Singapore in 2008-09 and 2011-12.
I hope you notice the change in writing style. Back in 2007 I was apparently trying to ape Hunter S Thompson's gonzo journalism style. I was also so naive about life abroad -- my summer in India was my first time living in a developing country or living in Asia. Since 2007 my writing has grown more sober and analytical, and I am no longer so easily amazed by the idiosyncrasies of daily life in foreign countries.
I therefore hope you don't judge me by my 2007 India posts.
Truespies.org was a local Pittsburgh blogging site, small enough that it evaded the Ethiopian Internet censors. The site was apparently folded, and as I hadn't provided the owners with my updated email address, I never got the message. So sad to see it go -- all of my stories from my Singapore school days, my days at KPMG, my days of traveling east and southeast Asia, and my days of being unemployed (when I was able to write the most frequently).
Fellow Travelers
Now Christine and I are embarking on new journeys -- as parents and as ex-pat professionals in England. First, we will spend five weeks in Singapore, a weekend in Malaysia, a week in Tokyo, a week in the Pacific Northwest, two weeks in Chicago, a very long weekend in Washington DC, and a number of non-consecutive blocks of time in the most exotic of destinations, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Christine and I have been practicing our travel skills for decades now. We've learned a lot of lessons -- sometimes hard -- over the years. Bringing Bobby on our travels is just a new challenge for us to master. We've already learned a number of lessons -- for instance, always err on packing too many diapers, extra baby clothes, milk, and plastic bags (into which you may deposit soiled items you don't want to discard). No doubt we have many more lessons to learn as well. Travelling used to be defined more by the scrimping and the scraping (especially when we were students, as documented herein back in 2007-10). Now that one of our fellow travelers is a little one, we cannot cut so many corners or freely take risks.
Newest Adventures
So now we start our new adventures abroad and with baby. I, Eric FD Linge, will document here.
New Blog Same as the Old Blog
You may have noticed the address change and the discontinuous timeline. My previous blog (at Truespies.org) was killed without warning to me. It is gone except for a few posts I was able to salvage from Archive.org. It is too bad because I was much happier with the writing of that blog than this one. During my Indian summer, 2007, I used Blogger. During my Ethiopian summer, 2008, I tried to use Blogger, but the site was fully blocked in Ethiopia. The authoritarian government didn't want the people writing about their experiences, lest they publicly share their experiences of being dissatisfied with the ruling party (an outright prohibition of unfavorable information must be cheaper than bullying writers with a repetitive barrage of cheap, shallow insults). You know how authoritarians are. I continued blogging at Truespies.org during my sojourns in Singapore in 2008-09 and 2011-12.
I hope you notice the change in writing style. Back in 2007 I was apparently trying to ape Hunter S Thompson's gonzo journalism style. I was also so naive about life abroad -- my summer in India was my first time living in a developing country or living in Asia. Since 2007 my writing has grown more sober and analytical, and I am no longer so easily amazed by the idiosyncrasies of daily life in foreign countries.
I therefore hope you don't judge me by my 2007 India posts.
Truespies.org was a local Pittsburgh blogging site, small enough that it evaded the Ethiopian Internet censors. The site was apparently folded, and as I hadn't provided the owners with my updated email address, I never got the message. So sad to see it go -- all of my stories from my Singapore school days, my days at KPMG, my days of traveling east and southeast Asia, and my days of being unemployed (when I was able to write the most frequently).
Fellow Travelers
Now Christine and I are embarking on new journeys -- as parents and as ex-pat professionals in England. First, we will spend five weeks in Singapore, a weekend in Malaysia, a week in Tokyo, a week in the Pacific Northwest, two weeks in Chicago, a very long weekend in Washington DC, and a number of non-consecutive blocks of time in the most exotic of destinations, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Christine and I have been practicing our travel skills for decades now. We've learned a lot of lessons -- sometimes hard -- over the years. Bringing Bobby on our travels is just a new challenge for us to master. We've already learned a number of lessons -- for instance, always err on packing too many diapers, extra baby clothes, milk, and plastic bags (into which you may deposit soiled items you don't want to discard). No doubt we have many more lessons to learn as well. Travelling used to be defined more by the scrimping and the scraping (especially when we were students, as documented herein back in 2007-10). Now that one of our fellow travelers is a little one, we cannot cut so many corners or freely take risks.
Newest Adventures
So now we start our new adventures abroad and with baby. I, Eric FD Linge, will document here.
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| The FD Linges excited for their new adventures. Photo from Bobby's first plane ride. |
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