Where are you now?

I'VE BEEN doing some carpentry work for my old man the past few weeks to top up my savings before I go overseas. The other day I stumbled upon this old photograph while knocking out some decrepit bricks from around a fireplace in an old house. Don't ask me how it got there behind the brickwork. I'm not sure what it was about the image that got to me - maybe it was the fact this little guy (or is it a girl?) had his whole life ahead of him when the photo was taken. Or maybe it's his haunting stare. Whatever it was, it got me thinking: what has become of him?

I'm guessing the photo was taken in the 1970s (I enhanced the photo a bit which is why it doesn't look so old) which means 1. the kid would now most likely be in his late 30s (middle aged); and 2. poor old Whitey playfully posing in the foreground would've carked it decades ago. Does the guy now have kids? A good job? What about his dreams - did they ever eventuate? Or is he now stuck in a dead-end job with nothing to show for it, hating life like Lester Burnham in American Beauty? Is he even still alive?

Spaghetti Blog

I'M NOT completely sure why I started this blog. For most of my life I’ve regarded with disdain the millions of nobodies who share their banal observations about their meaningless lives on the interweb. Every fucker out there has an opinion and through the joys of blogs, Facebook and Twitter they can put it out there for everyone to see. Approximately 99.87 per cent of these opinions – no one cares about. But with a newfound urge to pen my thoughts and an extended overseas jaunt waiting in the wings, I decided a blog could be a good way to let my friends, acquaintances and enemies know how I am going while I'm on the other side of the globe.

I suppose the blog will focus on life, love, music, travel, and surfing/bodyboarding, which should be fascinating in theory. But most likely it will feature poor attempts at humour, pointless observations no one cares about, and too many swear words.

I tried to come up with a snappy title for the blog, but alas it escaped me. I settled on “Fear In English” because as a 22-year-old nobody with no direction in life, angst is a feeling constantly saturating my brain. A website I can’t remember defined angst as a German word, which means fear in English. I thought the title was also fitting because I’m about to become a university graduate and walk away from four years of study with a brand spanking new Journalism degree. Therefore my future livelihood is to come from my supposed mastery of the English language. A scary thought.

I don’t expect anyone to read this drivel - I’m writing it mostly to work out things in my own muddled head – but if anyone out there gets some sort of enjoyment from my ramblings and attempts to be insightful then good on you. And may God have mercy on your soul.