In the Beginning…

How does one start a brand-new blog? Good question.

Well, I’ll go into how this blog came about. After my friend Radovan (Hi, Radda!) suggested I keep a blog during my travels around Japan (Paul versus Godzilla), I decided it was time to try my hand at keeping an actual blog.

I did have a LiveJournal back in the day, but the bulk of that was angst, self-loathing and grandstanding.
In other words, it wasn’t very good.

This blog is going to cover a bit of everything. I consume a lot of various forms of media. I’ll share opinions/thoughts and welcome any comments and try not to engage in typing up flamebait for the sake of stirring up a dash of controversy with a side serving of scandal.

And now for something completely different.

Weddings.

I’m 3/3 in 2011 so far. One wedding for each month that has passed. I also realised I’ve been to a ridiculous amount of weddings since 2007. At last count, it was hovering around the 12 mark.

I’m not jaded by this statistic at all. Matter of fact, I enjoy weddings. I realise that the idea of a straight male enjoying weddings immediately calls his sexuality into question, but I could care less. They’re celebrations, the intention is to enjoy them.

This usually means I get drunk and set horrific new benchmarks for what is known as ‘white guy dancing’.

In fact, 12 weddings in 3 years is an amazing stat. I’m very fortunate to have that many friends that have managed to find people that they want to share the rest of their lives with. I tip my non-existant hat (because hats make me look stupid) to you all.

This all popped into my head after watching an episode of Charlie Brooker’s ‘How TV Ruined Your Life’ that was all about the topic of love. If you (yes, you!) haven’t seen any episodes of this series, I highly recommend it. In fact, anything remotely Charlie Brooker-related is great. Go forth and consume!

<Insert Topic Switch Here>

Natural disasters. This world is trying to tell us something. Have we got the message yet?

Let’s see how the rest of this year plays out, I guess. I read today that the dead and missing toll from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami has eclipsed the 20,000 mark. It shows no sign of decreasing any time soon, either.

I’ve donated money to the Japanese Red Cross and you should too, if you can spare it.

It’s been tough for me to start this blog, partly due to all these scenes of devastation across the world in the past three months – New Zealand, Australia, Rio de Janeiro… the list goes on.

The conflict began with wanting to approach this blog with the same level of utter enthusiasm and joy that I did with my last foray into sharing words with the interwebs.

But when you take a look around and see what’s going on in the world these days, how can I sit here just glossing over all these terrible happenings and worrying more about satisfying the curiosity of the people who choose to read this and my own need to find some form of creative outlet?

On the other hand, I saw a piece on a current affairs program this evening that consisted of an interview with the bully who got Hulk smashed by the kid he was picking on calling for sympathy because he’s a victim too, it seems.

So this is the point of saturation that we have arrived at. On the media circus express we’re currently riding into what seems like the end of days, we’ve managed to bypass genuine matters of national and international interest and devote air time to a schoolyard dispute.

At one point in said interview, the reporter asked the 11-year-old with an eyebrow piercing what he thought of Facebook…

Has there ever been a more redundant question asked on the face of the earth? I’m coming up blank.

Actually, there was that time this morning where I looked at my freshly popped pieces of toast and asked myself, “Vegemite…or peanut butter?”

I’m now imagining a current affairs story profiling my decision…

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

VOICEOVER: It was 7:43am, Tuesday, March 22 and Paul D’Agostino was faced with a choice that could very well displace the fabric of time itself. Two slices of toast. Two equally tasty condiments worthy of being spread on any slice of toast. What happened next will shock you…

REPORTER: So, Paul, can you tell us what was going through your head at that point in time?

ME: Well, I don’t know. I was just, like, caught up in the moment, you know? Here I was, knowing I had to have a shower and get to my first lecture at 9am. Traffic gets pretty bad after 8:10, so I was running out of time. It was a high-pressure situation.

REPORTER: I’m sure it was. What did you do next?

ME: I froze up. I mean, what do you expect? (SNIFFS) It was just so hard. Can…can we take a break?

(REPORTER SIGNALS TO CAMERA TO KEEP ROLLING)

ME: (SOBBING) I had no choice, I…I… I cross-condimented.

At this point I imagine a freeze frame of a particularly unpleasant view of my contorted and tear-stained face in grayscale, followed by…

VOICEOVER: We cut back to our panel of experts for their take on ‘the decision’ right after the break.

Well, that brings me to the end of my first post on Blogostino. A smattering of everything and nothing at exactly the same time.

‘Til next time.