Welcome
Hello ! My name is Alexander. I am 24 when writing this first post for an online blog. Here is a little bit about me:
I am fascinated with documenting life. Printing out pictures, keeping paper logs of books read, films watched, songs heard, dreams had, and trips made. A fascination with memory. My memories and the memory of me. My few years on our old planet will be insignificant in history. Néanmoins, I want there to be trace of my tracks, indication of my itinerary, proof of my presence, thought of my thingness, record of my reality, evidence of my existence. In my absence acknowledgement of foregone activity.
You could associate with this an egotistical quality, a certain vainness. I gladly plead guilty to both for they are the logical consequences of fear of being forgotten. To be forgotten is, of course, inevitable. I will fall into amnesia's abyss never to return. They will find no fossils of my footsteps. Everyone wears the same shoes nowadays anyway. One day, the great equaliser will come for me and I will face life's great mystery. The eternal footman will hold my coat and snicker. And in short, I will be afraid1. I hope that it will not be an end, but a beginning; not emptiness, but eternity. I am, however, not so sure.
Quoth the raven "Nevermore"2.
Les hommes passent mais leurs oeuvres demeurent3. Whilst passing through, one must leave paraphernalia. My papers will perish, my photos will fade, but this online space will persevere. Digital footprints will withstand the weight of time and won't wear whilst our world wide web stands watch. Herein, then, lies the solution. My space on the line. Forever, hopefully.
I have known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of keeping a journal. A fun, personal, and meaningful token one can leaf through when nostalgic. However, physicality means drawbacks. Mainly two: it is impossible to share with more than one person at any given time, and it will be impossible to read for that person because my handwriting is sh*t. This has been pointed out to me by the lucky few that have been allowed to set eyes on my penned works. Again, digitalisation offers a convenient and accessible solution.
The initial idea for the webpage was given to me by a mysterious, motherly figure. My mom. She likes to worry and a blog would allow her to stay up to date during travels and tribulations. A great suggestion. It has taken me some time to find the right format, which will undoubtedly keep evolving. The idea for an online medium was equally enforced by an old friend W.... who is typing his adventures through the Balkan down on his personal computer and sharing them with us to read. Or is it the Baltics? This won't be as well written, nor as good looking as his.
My platform, however, is etched in history. Notice the Latin title (whether it is grammatically correct or not, I haven't a clue), which traces its roots all the way back to classical antiquity:
The Itinerarium Alexandri [The Journey of Alexander] is a 4th-century Latin itinerarium, a travel guide in the form of a listing of cities, villages and other stops, on a journey with the distances between them noted. The text describes Alexander the Great's journey of conquest to the Empire of the Persian. The book contains a description of Alexander's life from his ascendance to the Macedonian throne to his conquests in India.
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.