a peek inside the fishbowl

One of my favourite life hacks is to do something fun on a Friday night that does NOT take place at home. Whenever I do this I feel like my weekend was longer than it really was. (Seriously, you should try this sometime.)

In the past, we’ve gone out to dinner, or something similar, but last night was a bit different. I was invited by the official Czech Tourism Board to the Czech embassy for a travel meetup. In lay terms, this is an event in which media types and influencers are invited along with travel agents etc. as a bit of a show n’ tell. The hope is that we are so wowed by the presentation (not to mention, the food and drink) that we tell all of our friends. And since some people have big audiences on social media, it’s worth doing if you’re a tourism board.

Was I wowed? Yes ma’am, I was wowed, and this is a country I have been to before!

When people go to Europe they often focus on the biggies like London and Paris and Rome but Prague absolutely needs to be on that list too.

The Czech Republic, or Czechia as it’s now called (I suspect most Czech people don’t love the new name), is a jaw-droppingly beautiful country with a wide variety of things to see and do.

The tourism folks referred to it as the heart of Central Europe, and it truly is, not just because of its location, but because it’s a slice out of time that’s vibrant and FUN, with a very rich arts and culture scene. For history buffs, it is a treasure trove overflowing with iconic architecture and tales of old. Imagine cobblestone streets winding through medieval buildings; landmarks that are hundreds of years old like Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. (DYK the Prague Castle complex is actually the largest in the world? Yes it is.)

Prague is truly stunning but their presentation highlighted other regions that are equally deserving of exploration, such as the mountains and spa towns and arts and cultural scenes of smaller cities like Brno and Karlovy Vary. Look them up!

There’s other history to observe as well. For example, Ostrava, a former mining centre in the Eastern region of Moravia (think: ironworks, coal mine, coke ovens and blast furnace operations) these heavy-duty industrial operations have been reimagined and transformed into a national site that both preserves their industrial heritage and turned it into a destination that allows visitors a look back to a different time. These are now firmly embedded on my radar.

Also, note to self: Google “contemporary art gallery in converted slaughterhouse.” (!!)

So yes, last night. The wine and beer were flowing (they are famous for their beer!) and we were served traditional Hovezí guláš (aka goulash), which is chunks of beef in an onion-based stew. It’s traditionally served with bread dumplings or fresh bread, a staple of Czech cuisine and something I grew up eating.

I’m hoping there’s a family trip in our future. We shall see.

I’m keeping a new list of potential topics to blog about now that I’m back in the saddle and trying to do this on the regular. One of them is: “GROUT: Psychological test?” It promises to be a thrilling exploration but I think I’ll keep that one until next time.

This morning I went to the gym, did groceries, watered the plants, ate lunch, and did two loads of procrastilaundry before finally sitting myself down here. Normally I wouldn’t be so difficult about it but here’s the thing, I’m mentally preparing for an interview with CBC Cross Country Checkup this afternoon. The topic is a good one: How much do you share about your kids online? Where do you draw the line between your kids’ public and private life?

Bloggers have been talking about this since the DAWN OF BLOGS. Fortunately, I was there, at the dawn, talking about it too. ;)

In my pre-interview with one of their producers, I got to talking about all the steps that were involved in actually getting a photo online in 1999. (Sidebar: I have heard people refer to this time as “the late 1900s” and boy does that make me feel old.)

Step 1: Take a photo with a film camera. Remember, you only have 12, 24, or 36 exposures, so make ’em count.

Step 2: Physically bring the film somewhere to be developed.

Step 3: Weeks later, pick the negatives and photos.

Step 4: Scan photo of choice.

Step 5: Upload JPEG via FTP to your website.

Step 6: Use your fancy pants HTML skills to edit your web page so people can actually see it.

Compare that to today. You can take a photo, or a video, and upload it somewhere in under five seconds for the world to view. Honestly, I never saw this coming. (I also did not predict you could order a pizza from your phone so there’s that too.)

Anyhoo, I feel my excitement overflowing** already and it’s not even happening until 4:45 p.m. The host is David Common and I’m sure it will be a great exploration of an important topic. I hope you tune in!

 
**To channel that excitement I might have to do some jumping jacks or something beforehand to channel it into a good place.

** This has me debating whether or not to have that afternoon coffee. Hmm.

It’s Saturday morning and I’m writing this with no specific topic or goal or purpose in mind, only that I want to start a Saturday morning writing habit and to sit down and do it is the only way to start. If I’m really honest with myself, this is the time I am just wasting time reading random stuff on the Internet anyway, so why not use this for something that is better for me and my brain? Anyway, I am trying to make a change, that’s the point. :)

A surprising number of people talked to me about the blog after the publication of this article, like, even months after it came out. The conversation almost always turned to whether I’m still writing, and what I’m writing about. I never had a good answer because it’s changed so much over the years, and to be honest, I don’t know what it is now. When the kids were at home I wrote a lot about our life together, but we’ve been empty nesters for a while now, so that’s not a go-to topic anymore. I had various creative projects and themes come and go. Where I’m going with this now, I really don’t know, but I do know that I’m writing it for myself, and I have to start again by just doing it. I don’t know who’s reading, my comment function only works some of the time… sigh, it’s time to upgrade the guts of this thing but I find it overwhelming and don’t know how where to start with that. But that is for later.

When I first started this blog, ideas just poured out of me. I kept a spiral-bound notebook with me at all times (Dollar store grade, with a special leather slipcover) and I used it. A lot. Parenting is a gold mine for a writer. I wrote posts longhand while the kids played in the park and during 100 stolen moments during the day.

Now, I am writing and editing five days a week, and it is harder to summon those extra words during my leisure time. Most days when I get home I feel like my brain is like a wrung-out sponge.

That being said, I actually do not believe we have a finite amount of creativity allotted to us. I still stand by my “empty vessel” theory. You can read more about that in this past post, but essentially, I think that when we’re feeling drained we need to find a way to fill ourselves up again. And HOW we fill ourselves up is a personal thing. I should get on that.

I may not have been writing here in longer form, but I’ve been writing Piper’s Instagram account on a near-daily basis. That is creative work, so I can’t really beat myself up for not doing any creative work, right? All that to say, I don’t want to say I’M BACK because I don’t know if I really am and I don’t know what I’m doing here yet, other than trying to build the habit again.