Oct

8

XF Closure

Filed Under Announcements, Blogs & Blogging, General, Photography | 9 Comments

On Sept. 3, I wrote a draft stating that I would be closing down X-Press Files for good. But I hesitated with the decision — in short, I dillydallied — and the draft was never published. Ironically, I even kept updating my blog more often than usual after a short, planned hiatus (in fact, shorter than the unannounced blog breaks I’ve had a countless times in the past).

But now, it’s definite: XF will be laid to rest. Let me explain.

Last week, I bought the October 2008 issue of Reader’s Digest at the Relay store in Neuchatel, after my weekly Niveau A2 French class. (I tell you, it was pure joy to be able to buy a copy of RD after all these years of looking for copies of the original English version amid the German and French ones usually displayed at the newsstands in Biel-Bienne, a bilingual Swiss town.)

Reader’s Digest published an erudite remark made by award-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood, which is included in a selection of quotable quotes that make up the new book Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman:

There was a time in my life when I was doing westerns, on the plains of Spain. I could have stayed there and probably knocked out a dozen more. But the time came when I said, That’s enough of that. As fun as they were to do, it was time to move on. If a story doesn’t have anything that’s fresh in it, at least for me, I move away from it.

Those words in bold letters struck me in the most profound way. They echoed my blog sentiments so well that it seemed like Clint Eastwood and I had had a meaningful discussion on life over a cup of coffee one fine day (okay, I don’t really drink coffee, but you know what I mean.)

I confess: the thrill for me to maintain XF had long been gone. I had mechanically churned out one uninspired post after another these past months merely for the sake of this activity called “blog updating.” As a result, posts were not as ‘fresh’ as they used to be back then, when I was joyfully writing my personal migrant tales and thoughts in this blog and happily basking in its therapeutic wonders.

The passion is gone, and with it, the freshness of it all. I feel it’s time for something new. Change, in my book, is a good thing. Wonderful things happen to those who embrace it.

I’d like to thank you, dear readers (especially the active commenters), for joining me in this joyful ride that was the X-Press Files (formerly called X-Pat Files). It was fun while it lasted — at least on my part.

I wish you all the best. Let’s all have a good life. Cheers!

OCT. 17, 2008 UPDATE: Freitag, my newest blog, goes live today. Meanwhile, Jolly J! (my anecdotes blog), has just been updated.

(Note: The photo above, taken in Bern two years ago, was one of the pictures featured in the inaugural issue of “Swiss Peeks” in August 2007. Two issues of the photo book — “The Red Makes It” followed by “Reflecting on Switzerland” — were published right after the first issue, “Seeing the Light.”)

Sep

10

Blog Notes

Filed Under Announcements, Blogs & Blogging | 5 Comments

I’d like to thank all of you who visited and left some nice comments in my relatively new anecdotes blog Jolly J!, where I had planned to feature all “the happy stuff.”

Although I’d like to reply to all of your comments over there at JJ, my chronic tendinitis condition prevents me from doing so. (To be honest, it’s already a physical struggle to respond to each comment here on X-Press Files, but I do try my best to get back to you when you leave messages in the comments boxes). But just so you know, I appreciate all your feedback on Jolly J! Thanks!

Yesterday was my third WordPress blog anniversary (I transferred my XF blog posts from Blogspot to WordPress on September 9, 2005 on an adventurous whim). I couldn’t believe I’ve been maintaining this expat migrant blog for more than three years now.

I had actually thought of shutting down XF many times in the past (the thrill to blog about my so-called Swiss life is gone). Last Friday, I already wrote a draft expressing my final decision to lay this blog to rest. I published the announcement, only to ‘unpublish’ it a few seconds later. I don’t really know what triggered the hesitation to push through with the plan to ‘end it all.’

Well, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I just need a short-term sabbatical from personal blogging. I’d like to spend more time attending to ‘offline things’ while pursuing other creative passions on the side.

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