KL November 18, 2012
Posted by indigobunting in Uncategorized.trackback
I have never been to Kuala Lumpur. What little I know of it comes from watching shows on the Travel channel, like Tony Bourdain doing a food tour through KL’s mixed Malay/Chinese/Indian culture. I’m familiar with the Petronus Twin Towers, of course, briefly the tallest buildings in the world and scene of scary heights in the film Entrapment. I understand that by simply writing those two sentences, I am putting my vast ignorance on display.
So it’s funny to think I have a friend in KL—one of those friends I’ve never met. A blog friend. Damyanti recently mentioned me in one of her blogs, Writing on Writing: Amlokiblogs, in a post called “I Miss You: The Bloggers We Really Miss.” Me!
That Damyanti. I can always count on her for a good kick in the pants.
Damyanti is one of those people I think of as a “real writer” in that she truly devotes her life to her craft and works hard at it all the time. I admire that. I’m a little intimidated by it. When I think about real writers, I am sometimes likely to feel less obligated to write, because real writers are putting good stuff out there that is truly worth people’s time. (Read Damyanti’s haunting, lovely tales in her A to Z Stories of Life and Death, available on Kindle, Nook, and other formats!)
But thinking about real writers keeps me coming back to why I—if I don’t think of myself as a real writer—blog. One reason is to make myself write, of course (a helpful tool as an editor), but blogging has morphed into a way to keep in touch with people all over the world: my virtual pen pals. That’s why I’m here. Most of us met through a year-long project that began almost seven years ago, and when it was over, we needed to still hang out. Damyanti then found me on a follow-up let’s-keep-writing project, I believe during one of her Internet searches that had something to do with Italy.
Ahhh, Italy.
And here we are.
Of course, I’ve been letting work and life get in the way of posting. I will try to do better, even when I think I have nothing to say. I will wave to you in Malaysia and New Zealand and Canada and across these United States.
See? Look at me waving!
Perfect post, IB. Just perfect.
Waving back…
Hi Cedar!
Waving back, Kate.
I love that my post made you think about blogging more. The tragedy of the writing world is that those who have talent do not give it a chance by working at it, and those that have none (like me) keep going at it! Also, I’ve moved since from KL to Singapore, so now you have a whole new place to find out about
I thought you’d moved from Singapore to KL! Did you move back again? Or do I have it all backward?
Well. I moved from SG to KL five years ago. I moved back about two years ago. I’ve confused a whole lot of people with my shuttling between the two places!
“blogging has morphed into a way to keep in touch with people all over the world: my virtual pen pals.”
Yes. That. Exactly. It is one reason I was so sad that Helen stopped blogging. I wave across the internet – one day I intend having one of your chocolate martinis whilst watching a skunk (through your windows). Be warned.
You would like KL. And Singapore. But if you go anywhere near any of those places, you also have to a) come to NZ (cos it’s kinda on the way/in the vicinity), and then b) go to Bangkok (I’ll write your travel guide).
It makes me nervous that Helen’s stopped blogging too, for the same reason.
I look forward to martinis with you.
I need my body to accept travel better than it does. It feels like my enemy!
I’m still here! (she says, waving frantically…).