To the like two people who may or may not still read this: is this article interesting to you?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/world/europe/14moscow.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
And if so, can you please tell me why?
I realize that the whole "journal" rubric in the Times is, naturally, meant for an audience unfamiliar with the place in question, but come on . . . . Anne Barnard or one of the many bazillion smart people who would love to write something for NYT can't come with something slightly more compelling going on in Moscow than street cafes? Sure, they're a "big deal" here in summer, and that might be interesting---but the article doesn't actually deal with them very much, it just makes a few semi-sociological and economic points while talking to a few utterly unremarkable people. I suppose for those who know little to nothing about the country or city, these slight insights are interesting . . . . or are they?? ANYone who reads this, if you glance at the piece above, please let me know.
Sorry for the rather unclassy journalist-bashing. It's probably just jealousy, I realize. But hey---I and most everyone else at the Moscow Times could probably write a better piece than that. What makes Ms. Barnard so special, hmmmmmm???
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Writing again
Hi there, possessors of RSS feeds!!! I know you're the only ones who could possibly be reading this, so I thought I would direct this to you, more than to anyone else.
It's amazing how much inertia seems to be involved in writing. I finally had a full-length assignment due at work this week, after a good couple months of writing little blurby descriptions of restaurants, and POOF suddenly I have the itch. I have some confidence that it will whither away soon enough, though, this itch, as it so often does, so I figured I would indulge it while it lasts.
I don't really have anything in particular to talk about. Just wrote a piece about a bunch of (somewhat) cool stores in Moscow, the usual Moscow Guide fare. It was fun to write, sometimes, but mostly just to try to make the writing itself interesting---writing about stores is . . . not always that fun. I don't even know why I proposed the story in the first place, except that I thought it was an actually useful thing for ex-pats in the city---that is, stores where you can get apartment stuff that isn't run-of-the-mill, isn't from Ikea, will last, and is central enough not to alienate all the timid businessmen who don't know there's more city outside the Garden Ring. But then it turned into this piece on little knick-knack shops where you can get things that could be compared to the "flare" shit Jennifer Aniston had to wear in Office Space, stuff that I don't actually think is all that cool but that makes for pretty good pictures which often seems to be the priority here at the Guide . . . which I guess I understand but don't always appreciate. Being a writer for the magazine, not a photographer. Ssssooooooooo anyway I also have some freelance assignments!!! Which is far more exciting news for me. I'm writing about this Soviet video game (who knew they had THOSE?!?) called Morskoi Boi, which is not the most interesting game in the world but the history surrounding it and the others is pretty cool . . . and, like so many Soviet projects, it was real perty. Constructivist art, almost Japanese-like sharp lines and solid blocks of color. Way cool. And then another one, a travel story on Kaliningrad, this very odd part of Russia, an exclave, that the Commies snagged from Germany when settling up after WWII. Lucky them. Actually it was pretty lucky, because the place is of strategic importance being a port on a sea that isn't frozen year-round and being next to those massive giants of the European continent Lithuania and Poland. I wanted to head over to Lithuania to check it out while I was there, but it didn't quite work out . . .
In other news, it's hot as mmmmmmmm a boiler room in Moscow. A wet heat, too, the kind in which you're always sticky. I know I shouldn't complain considering so many of my friends have been/are in places billion times hotter, but I figured I would mention it. Makes staying at work late easier at least---they have the magical AIR conditioning here at least!!!
Been cooking a lot lately, too. That's fun, except that I so often get down on myself for not coming up with more recipes, especially tasty ones . . . I realize that I have to cook more and use more recipes that ARE tasty and read more etc. etc. etc. to get better but sttiiiiiiiiill . . . sorry but now I got interrupted in writing this so I lost my flow so I'll stop now. Perhaps more another time. Stratosphere.
It's amazing how much inertia seems to be involved in writing. I finally had a full-length assignment due at work this week, after a good couple months of writing little blurby descriptions of restaurants, and POOF suddenly I have the itch. I have some confidence that it will whither away soon enough, though, this itch, as it so often does, so I figured I would indulge it while it lasts.
I don't really have anything in particular to talk about. Just wrote a piece about a bunch of (somewhat) cool stores in Moscow, the usual Moscow Guide fare. It was fun to write, sometimes, but mostly just to try to make the writing itself interesting---writing about stores is . . . not always that fun. I don't even know why I proposed the story in the first place, except that I thought it was an actually useful thing for ex-pats in the city---that is, stores where you can get apartment stuff that isn't run-of-the-mill, isn't from Ikea, will last, and is central enough not to alienate all the timid businessmen who don't know there's more city outside the Garden Ring. But then it turned into this piece on little knick-knack shops where you can get things that could be compared to the "flare" shit Jennifer Aniston had to wear in Office Space, stuff that I don't actually think is all that cool but that makes for pretty good pictures which often seems to be the priority here at the Guide . . . which I guess I understand but don't always appreciate. Being a writer for the magazine, not a photographer. Ssssooooooooo anyway I also have some freelance assignments!!! Which is far more exciting news for me. I'm writing about this Soviet video game (who knew they had THOSE?!?) called Morskoi Boi, which is not the most interesting game in the world but the history surrounding it and the others is pretty cool . . . and, like so many Soviet projects, it was real perty. Constructivist art, almost Japanese-like sharp lines and solid blocks of color. Way cool. And then another one, a travel story on Kaliningrad, this very odd part of Russia, an exclave, that the Commies snagged from Germany when settling up after WWII. Lucky them. Actually it was pretty lucky, because the place is of strategic importance being a port on a sea that isn't frozen year-round and being next to those massive giants of the European continent Lithuania and Poland. I wanted to head over to Lithuania to check it out while I was there, but it didn't quite work out . . .
In other news, it's hot as mmmmmmmm a boiler room in Moscow. A wet heat, too, the kind in which you're always sticky. I know I shouldn't complain considering so many of my friends have been/are in places billion times hotter, but I figured I would mention it. Makes staying at work late easier at least---they have the magical AIR conditioning here at least!!!
Been cooking a lot lately, too. That's fun, except that I so often get down on myself for not coming up with more recipes, especially tasty ones . . . I realize that I have to cook more and use more recipes that ARE tasty and read more etc. etc. etc. to get better but sttiiiiiiiiill . . . sorry but now I got interrupted in writing this so I lost my flow so I'll stop now. Perhaps more another time. Stratosphere.
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