"So what do you hope to do? Are you just going to work here for a while?"
"I don't know; I've applied for teaching training in England for September but eh... I don't know about that."
"Hmm, working conditions for teachers are appaling these days so I wouldn't recommend it. What are you passionate about?"
"I loved philosophy when I did it in university but there's no jobs there."
"Yeah, you're right... What can you typically use philosophy for though?"
"Eh... not much. Maybe journalism. But there's no jobs in that one either"
"I don't know now, if you're good at it you can do well. You just have to be aggresive...committed about it."
I leaned against the barfront with both hands and thought about this for a moment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This was a fragment from the conversation I had with a customer last night at the Irish bar where I work in Paris. It's a dingy, dirty sort of spot mostly frequented by French office staff who work nearby so naturally enough, it being a quiet early Monday evening and all, it didn't take long for myself and the newly come fellow Irishman to begin speaking of Paris, the homeland and points in between. A lecturer in culinary arts for a regional I.T. in the west of Ireland, he had spent time in London and Paris working as a chef and spoke highly of his experiences there. It wasn't the usual middle class lament over how difficult it can sometimes be being middle class in Ireland however. In what he said he seemed too concerned with ideas like passion and ambition and education to be bothered by Ireland's climate, poor public transport network, or even it's lack of true high-end contemporary art galleries and clothing stores. He seemed to be neither overly ashamed nor proud of Ireland's up-until-recent-times sustained history of poverty but did seem like he'd travelled enough to know the difference between the good and bad parts of what could be described as the Irish psyche. In short, he struck me as being a warm hearted, well travelled, discerning individual.

As you will no doubt have picked up from all this he was, to my eyes at least, a most sympathetic character and for some reason I don't fully understand my conversation with him has made me think more seriously than ever before about becoming a journalist/professional writer. In a way I suppose meeting him and hearing him freely throwing bold abstract nouns like passion, commitment and ambition about has somehow awakened my own previosily dormant ambitions. With that inspiration in mind and in that spirit I thus begin this blog/public diary; a repository for updates on what I've been up to, philosophical musings and pretty much anything in between.

Let me know what you think either about the writing (could it be clearer? did you understand it all? did you enjoy it or was it hopelessly self-indulgent? etc?) or about my career options as a writer hoping to earn some money. In fact, even if you just want to say hello in the comments section for the pleasure of seeing your name in digitally encoded type then, by all means, go nuts.

Thanks for your time,
FAO