So it goes. The months drift by and the blog lies dormant, becoming more and more settled in its virtual oubliette. The absentee proprietor occassionaly spares a thought for it as he goes about his daily routine but he goes no further than this; entertaining idle speculation about giving the blog a firm identity is the limit of his ambition. The more distant ambition of establishing a career in journalism hinges upon his endeavours with the blog and since nothing happens there... well, that career will always linger on the horizon. Until... one day an e-mail arrives in his inbox that wrecks all his most poorly laid plans and tenuous hopes.

A delicate family situation has arisen in Dublin. He feels uneasy about being away from home so our hero plots his return. Favours are sought in the pursuit of employment and, as the situation is understood, apparently granted. Tickets home are purchased and notice is given to current employers and landlords. An e-mail seeking clarification about the job is sent and... the reply given sends our hero scurrying back to his forgotten blog.

So it went. We come full circle and now I, your non-descript hero, sit in front of my laptop searching furiously through my inbox for a link to my blog. This is done in the hope that a new posting will represent some kind of statement of intent regarding a future that, up until this morning, had seemed fairly well defined despite the fact that it was never really seriously considered. Work, earn wages, save significant proportion of same, repeat formula five or six times, travel, then repeat process again in another country. Such was my future up until this morning when I was fairly sure that the whole "work, earn money, save" part of the equation was a comforting, known invariable. Algebra never was my strong point however.

This afternoon that has all changed. I'm stil rubbish at algebra but I'm going to make a serious effort with this blog and the journalism. As such, before I leave Paris you can look forward to at least one review of an exhibtion that has recently opened. Currently I'm leaning towards posting on the new "Lenin, Stalin, & Music" exposition at the Cite de la Musique although the Basquiat exhibition is something of a dark horse in this regard.

Anyway, thanks for your indulgence,
Alan