Under Construction

After nearly six years of residence here at blogger, I will be moving the blog over to Wordpress. I don't have any technical complaints about blogger, except that I have exhausted what I'm able to do graphics-wise and found more options over at Wordpress.

Along with this move, my aim is to bring the blog back to its original intended use - as a way to work on my writing. Over the years, this has morphed into various different outlets, serving as a networking site, a travel blog, and a place to post my photography. But one of my primary goals in this new phase of my life is to get back to the thing I love the most - writing - and to work diligently at it to make it better, sharper, and smarter.

What has resulted is The Letters Project, a series of letters written to an undisclosed recipient. My hope is that this project will continue to grow and morph and attract it's own following, but still retain the faithful readers (mostly my parents and a few friends) who still come to thenewglitterati.com to keep in touch. I hope that this new project takes me back to my roots as a blogger and not further away.

Thanks for bearing with me through all of the metamorphoses of this blog, and stay tuned as I work through the details of set-up. Eventually I will redirect my domain name, thenewglitterati.com, to land on the wordpress site but I am waiting until I have everything tightened up over there and ready to go. This site via blogger will still be available through its own domain name, but my work will continue at the wordpress site. 

In the meantime, you can check out the construction and early pieces of The Letters Project here. 

Happy reading!

First post - new home

Still working on the logistics of porting over the web address, but The New Glitterati is moving!

For a saucy preview, click here. 

Words when there are none...

I can't stop checking for updates on MH370. Twitter, as usual, is my main source of information because it's the most up-to-date, even if it's packed with too much theory. A healthy dose of skepticism and checking the feeds of legitimate news sources usually helps me fill in the gaps.

I have had a sinking feeling in my gut since waking up yesterday to the first alerts regarding the missing aircraft. Aircraft do not "go missing." This is no Amelia Earhart in a tiny plane over uncharted territory, this is a Boeing 777 with over two hundred souls on board vanishing from the highly technologically-advanced radars of multiple developed countries. It has become one of the largest search missions ever seen, with planes and boats from all over the world looking for a single sign beyond a pair of twin oil slicks that this plane is somewhere on earth. 

Adding to the tension is the chilling fact that two passengers came on board with stolen passports. While this may be coincidental, the world's gossip feed - Twitter - is buzzing mightily with theories that it's not. And there's no evidence to the contrary. But right now, it's all just speculation sprinkled with the usual unwelcome fear-mongering.

In my new life as an expat, my world is both shrinking and expanding like some alternative universe. Where once, countries like Malaysia and planes filled with foreigners were so very far away from home, suddenly they are not. My perspective on world events is shifting. This is not to accuse Americans of being as uncaring and desensitized as much of the rest of the world seems to think. But it is an indication of how isolated we are in the world, how far away from everyone else who is crowded onto this side of the planet. Americans have fewer ties with other countries by nature of its geographical loneliness, and also by virtue of its sheer size. The US covers more inches of the map and therefore has more news generated within its own borders than any other country in the world (except maybe Russia...I'm not up on my geographical proportions). Moving to another country, one that is smaller than the US state of Maine, is changing my perspective drastically because suddenly I am living in a place with international neighbors on all sides. While this by no means makes me suddenly some global diplomat, it does mean that I am exposed to and absorbing much more world news than I ever did before.

Additionally, in my new expat life I have made several friends who work for Etihad, the major airline of the UAE. I had the good fortune of becoming extremely close with a former cabin crew attendant (who I sadly had to leave back in Baltimore) and she taught me a lot about the life of a flight attendant and the demands and scares and excitement of the job. I can't stop thinking about the Malaysian crew members aboard the flight, and how, despite extensive training and incredible preparedness, something - who knows what - had to have gone horribly, horribly wrong aboard MH370. I have intense feelings about anyone whose job puts them in dangerous places or risky situations, but for a cabin crew member this is the worst of the worst of situations, regardless of what happened. 

Tension in the Muslim-nonMuslim world is already rippling and while there are kind, open-minded individuals begging the world's community to pray for these souls regardless of religious affiliation, I know that fear mongering spawns hatred and distrust. There are so many people in this world who believe that terrorism is synonymous with Islam, and it's difficult to blame them entirely for their ignorance when you look at how these things are portrayed in the media. When the Boston marathon bombing occurred last year, my first thought was - "Please let it be some crazy old white man living in a remote cabin and talking to aliens and not anyone claiming to be of the Muslim faith." Ignorance, particularly the fearful and egotistical brand of American ignorance, refuses to acknowledge the basic fact that Muslim people do not do bad things - bad people do bad things. 

That rant may be off-topic and fueled by side conversations and speculation, but my feelings on the subject exist outside of this issue. Regardless - an entire plane has gone missing, and, as usual, the many conflicting faces of humanity are playing themselves out in the Twittersphere with rants and accusations and prayers and "facts" that are not really facts. And then, among the static and deafening noise, there are posts of pure love, of total sadness, motivated by nothing more than the aching hearts of those who are frightened and devastated and hoping for the best but understanding that in a case like this, the disappearance of a plane is overwhelmingly indicative of the very worst. I find hope in these posts, from all over the world, and I find pride for America when I see posts of concern and hope from my fellow countrymen who are so far away and yet still connected. 

I hope and pray for resolution, answers, and peace. For love and understanding. For more of this and less finger pointing and fear and terror. I hope that the souls on board MH370 are peaceful, wherever they may be, and that the best of humanity outweighs the worst. 

New Home!!

The cats and I aren't the only ones with a new home - I am currently working on a brand new layout and host for thenewglitterati.com. Details TBA soon!

It's gonna be so amazing.

In other news: House of Cards whaaaaaaaaat?! We're almost finished Season 2, although Netflix tells us that 3% of its users completed the first season within like 48  hours of release or something ridiculous.

In other news: tickets procured for Macklemore/Ryan Lewis in April and Justin Timberlake in May! 

In other news: I will not be getting up at 2:30am to watch The Oscars live, but I will be attending a get-together tomorrow evening for the recast at 7:30pm. I wish I could say I'd stay off of social media until then, but that's just silly.

Off to pick up probiotics and get new tires for the Jeep. Another exciting day in the life of an ex-pat. I may even go on an adventure to find color balancing shampoo for blondes!