It was on November 14, 2009, from Nairobi, Kenya, that I uploaded the first post to my new blog. Because I was in Africa, it made sense to play with the “journey” idea as I sought to come up with a title. It seemed to fit since by that time I had had a wide variety of experiences I wanted to share. Not always professional experiences (although there were plenty of those), but just things that happened to me, or things I did, or the result of some fortuitous circumstance for which I happened to be in the right spot at the right time.
And why a blog? Because I’ve always been a storyteller. Ever since I was a boy I found a lot of pleasure in sharing what I learned as I was growing up, sometimes too much so. As a youngster, I was often told, “Now that’s enough, Guy.” But being stopped on those occasions didn’t “cure” me of the storytelling bug. Not at all. So when I had the splendid opportunity to go to Kenya for an assignment to develop a knowledge strategy for a supportive client, I jumped at the chance.
And it was the right decision, one that was confirmed many times after I returned Stateside eight years ago. I’ve grown accustomed (and a tiny bit pleased) to being told that after that experience in Africa, I was a “different person” and that my life had changed.
Perhaps so. In any case, it was also, to my way of thinking, the right decision to begin my own blog, to get a little deeper into my storytelling and make some attempt to share some of what I learned, some of what I experienced. So I started with Kenya and – thanks to the good encouragement of many friends and interested readers – I was able, after Kenya, to follow up with other things that interested me.
And what are those, Guy? What do you write about that so interests you that you want to share it with the people you know?
To answer that question, I decided to look back at what I had written over these last ten years. I was surprised (perhaps even shocked) to see that I had done 284 posts during that decade, and I had a hard time deciding which of those posts I would emphasize here. Then I remembered that in the class I teach at Columbia University, I often begin the term by asking my graduate students to share a “fun fact” in their lives. Of course they ask me to tell about my fun fact, and I usually tell them that the “fun fact” about me is that there are three things about which I am particularly passionate: opera, Art Nouveau, and elephants. It will come as a surprise to no one who knows me that a sizable portion of those 284 posts are about these three subjects (or variations thereof).
But there is more, and to give you a general idea – if you’re interested – of what I’ve been writing about over the years (and what I’ll probably continue to write about), there is a list below of selected posts from each of these categories listed at the top of each post. Not necessarily my favorite posts, but stories that give you, dear reader, examples of what I’m trying to do with Sharing Guy’s Journey. If there’s a general theme (and I’m not sure there is), it probably has something to do with the fact that writing and posting this blog is an enthusiasm of mine that is strictly personal. It’s Guy’s personal blog, and I hope you enjoy linking through to some of the fairly typical posts.
As you can guess, not all posts are listed in any single category, and some posts fall into more than one category. All together these categories – with some sample posts – are:
Personal History: Nairobi Calls and Mr. Guy Responds November 14, 2009, Masai Mara (2): A Kenya Police Story (With a Happy Ending) May 22, 2010, A Thought for September 11, September 11, 2013, Looking Forward? Naw, Let’s Look Back December 31, 2013, Observing 9/11 September 11, 2016, and Knowing Ralph Walker October 15, 2015
History: Our Private Kenya (1): Paradise Lost Park and the Kenyan Freedom Fighters January 23, 2011, After the Fact: A Personal Context for the First World War Centennial Observations December 31, 2018, and Final (Perhaps) Thoughts about World War One January 1, 2019,
Art: Impressionist Pictures that Impress January 1, 2016, Bellini and Mantegna: Two Versions of The Presentation at the Temple July 9, 2018, More Art Nouveau Notes: Time and Place May 31, 2019.
Music: Back in New York – The Verdi Requiem – Many Musical Memories July 2, 2010, Dame Joan Sutherland: Grieve, Heart, and Rejoice in Happy Memories October 13, 2010, Farewell to Dame Joan Sutherland, May 24, 2011, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 – What a Treat! February 26, 2016, Thinking about Boito’s “Mefistofele” November 5, 2018, Venice: The City of Music February 9, 2019.
Nature: Masai Mara (14): Sunday Elephant May 29, 1910, Kenya and the 2013 Great Migration June 23, 2013, More Kenya Thoughts August 11, 2013, Consider the Elephant: An Important Step Forward November 19, 2013, and Kenya: Guy and the Old Lady Elephant January 22, 2014.
Travel: Rome and Sicily: Impressions of a Different Kind November 25, 2009, Rome’s Ostia Antica – For Travelers Who Like to Stray from the Typical Track, September 7, 2015, Ostia Antica (2) – The Surprising Museo Ostiense, October 12, 2015, and Ostia Antica (3): The Elephants of Ostia Antica, October 14, 2015.
A quick caveat: the format of the blog was changed in 2018. The pre-2019 run of posts (using Blogger) is at gstcjourney.blogspot.com and the style is a little different. In some cases, the current format links back to the earlier format, so readers should be able to find posts in either format. Just be in touch if there are any difficulties (guystclair@smr-knowledge.com)
And feel free, of course, to search for posts other than those highlighted here. There’s a useful search engine in the upper right of the first screen of each post and if you’re interested in a more chronological list, there is a Blog Archive for 2009 – 2019 posts in the left navigation column of that earlier format. In the post-2018 format, the chronological archive runs (in reverse chronological order) in the boxes on the bottom of the Home screen.
Enjoy Sharing Guy’s Journey. And thanks for your readership over the years.