On the Horizon

It hasn’t been keeping me awake, I promise. However sometimes I wonder. Since we last spoke, which admittedly has been a while, I have been wondering.

Maybe I am a dinosaur. Maybe I am long in the tooth. Maybe I am soo last semester. Maybe I should update.

Why the sudden reflection?

A week or two ago, whilst waiting for a flight from Larnaka (Cyprus) to Tel Aviv (Israel) Diana (Mother) and I were hypothesizing. Why the multitude of Italian soldiers? Where they had been serving and why? We wanted answers, but I did not want to look like I was getting up from my chair only to ask questions. After all, we know how those fiery Italians can overreact.

I got up from my chair and headed toward the newsstand behind the sitting soldiers. Mum wanted a paper anyway and we had a few Cypriot Pounds left. God forbid we put them in the big Perspex charity sphere. I casually diverted my path toward three Italians sitting at a plastic table. Opening with “Congratulations on the World Cup” and closing with a "But…you do know, it was not a penalty in the Australia game” the conversation was brief. I about asked them where they were headed. "Home, thank god" they answered in unison. They were returning from duty across the Middle East and Central Asia. Iraq, Afganistan, et al. I could not pry much information out of them. Secret war business I guess. I continued toward the newsstand and bought the Herald Tribune, International Edition.

One thing leads to another, so whilst waiting for a flight from Larnaka (Cyprus) to Tel Aviv (Israel) I sat reading the Herald Tribune, International Edition.


Quirky serifs aside, Georgia wins on Web. By Alice Rawsthorn. Page 4.

Well written and just what I was in the mood for, the article discussed font fashion. Apparently Georgia is the most popular font on the Internet right now. Damian Hirst uses it! Bloggers swear by it! Why?

Developed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft in 1996, “Georgia is an elegantly, quietly idiosyncratic typeface which is a pleasure to read on the screen.” This is what Georgia looks like.

The article continues, presenting a comparison with Verdana (a personal fave)and a beginners guide to serifs. I get it! It is French! Sans Serif! Without the decorative endy bits! This is what Verdana looks like.

I have been using Arial. I am clearly out of touch. A dinosaur. Long in the tooth. Soo last semester.

Additionally, I stumble across many popular blogs that use an internet-bourne language that I have trouble understanding. It is neo-something, or post something else. Not sure. Wikipedia has no link to aid illustration. I will say however, that I am sure many of these bloggers are intimately familiar with the green squiggly line. Fragment (consider revising). I hate the green line, but more on that when we talk Cyprus in coming weeks.

I thought, maybe I can do one of those fast paced things flashy neo-entries. I once saw a bad film in which a dude recounts his backpacker-rockstar tour of Europe.

Flash. Image of pillow fight with models. Flash. Spewing in the street. Flash. Backstage at rock concert. Flash. Louvre. Flash. Spewing in the street.

Maybe that style of story telling could be the Blogtox I am seeking.


It would go something like this:

-Arrived in Madrid’s fantastic new airport.
-Took Metro to Centre.
-Whilst looking for a place to stay I unknowingly approached a prostitute and asked her for the time. Have done a similar thing once before in Melbourne. On both occaisions I had to carefully back out of the conversation.
-Found a hostel.
-Had a nap.
-Festival of Saint Isidro the night I arrived. Jetlagged, I wandered around the muggy streets till 4am drinking Sangria with Madrileñas.
-Wrote blog entry "El Barco".
-Ate lots of calamari and druck beer.
-Had a nap.
-Ate lots of cured ham.
-Went to the fantastic new Madrid airport to meet Dad on arrival.
-Saw Guernica. Bigger than I imagined.
-Took Fast train to Toledo. 250km/hr. Felt slower.
-Took not as fast train to Cordoba.

Very efficient, boring storytelling. I cannot make it chic like others do. In fact, a while back I accounted for a day in Mexico City using that style; was not chic then, is not chic now. I will have to grow old gracefully. High school writing style intact I will go down with the ship. This blog will have to remain normal. No unfinished poems, no observations about my toothbrush, no bloggy dotpoint opinions, no red wine stain of the day, no mysteries, mo money. Just stories.

Following Bruno and the Lobster (Brasil) I spent a month with my father in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. So, on the horizon are three little stories. One per country.

Until then, Shalom.