(It’s a French word, don’t-cha know? From ‘rever’, to dream. Curiously, ‘revere’ comes from ‘vereri’ which means to fear!)
As is customary around this time, you’re meant to reflect briefly on how the previous year has been, and more importantly: look forward to the future!
(I wrote that about 4 hours ago, before I went out for a rather large and filling New Year’s Day lunch at some pub in a quaint little village called Lindfield.)
So with a light heart, and heavy stomach, I’m reflecting. It’s been over a year now, since I last had a foray into the realms of everlasting love and adoration. It’s high time to find another girlfriend, I think. It’s something I’m meant to be doing around now, too, right? Allowing for a long courting period (the foreplay’s the best bit), I should be able to meet a girl and be married before I’m 30! Yeah! It’s a bit unfair that my sister’s in a long-term relationship at the age of 19, and by the time my parents were my age, they’d already had their first kid… me. The pressure’s on.
A little companionship would be nice, too. 12 years of solitude, hermitude (and other words ending in -ude) out here in the brush and scrub of Sussex is enough.
That’s not say it’s been a bad year, on the love-and-romance front, it’s just that my little … flirtations haven’t… continued… past a point where you could call it… a relationship. Those Czech girls are crazy, I tell you.
#1, get a girlfriend.
#2 is a slightly more constructive, towards some kind of career goal — get some photos published again. It’s been a while now since the local papers or books used my photos, so it would be nice to get a photo published in a big paper or major publication, or something like that! (Part of the purpose of this blog is to get people to look at my photos again, if I’m honest.)
I know it’s not real to expect an income from photography that I can live well on (unless I do wedding photography, yay…), but working towards some kind of recognition is definitely worthwhile.
I did some great travelling this year though (and I will write about Italy, and religion at some stage), and this year I’m going to continue pushing further east, as I originally planned. Egypt next, I think. A Nile cruise, a tour of the ancient Pharaoh’s tombs by moonlight, fighting off the curse of King Tut (ew, Americanizm, sorry), and dysentry — at the same time! No, if you discount the slight military activity just over the border in Gaza, I’m really looking forward to it.
And perhaps it’s finally time to go to the Far East…
Jo
Jan 2, 2009
Czech girls???????
sebastian
Jan 2, 2009
You’ll have to wait for my memoirs…
Renee
Jan 3, 2009
May you find the love your life and take photographs that dazzle then. I’m certainly looking forward to reading about Italy (and I’m curious to what you have to write about religion).
If I remember correctly, you’re about a year older than me, and that would mean you have at least 5+ years before 30, so I think you have plenty of time to find her, whoever she may be. Then again, perhaps I should not be giving romantic advice/encouragement, all things considered.
I’m somewhat envious of the traveling you get to experience, but at least I to read about it and see pretty pictures, right?
sebastian
Jan 3, 2009
Yeah, I was just exaggerating a little when I said before 30…! But I don’t want to set an impossible target either! And you should plan to travel somewhere… even if it’s close by! Gotta start somewhere…
Religion is a tricky topic. I might try to write about it a little, but I don’t want to scorch anyone’s sensitivities just yet.
Renee
Jan 4, 2009
I’ve found life is much easier if I view other people’s views on religion as a perspective and not much more. (Granted, I’m going to take what Christians say about Christianity much more seriously, and likewise.)
I’m still paying off Italy, though I imagine I’ll do some vague form of traveling around California. But I’d really love to visit Europe again. (Why can’t I just be independently wealthy? *pout*)
sebastian
Jan 4, 2009
Well, you could be independently wealthy… the art is perhaps your only ‘in’ (unless you have some secret skills I don’t know about!), if you can push it some more.
I’m still trying to work out how to make art pay though… there must be some secret to it. I think there are just too many photographers…