Where d'ya go Joe?

Well, this is awkward, isn't it? Until my sudden, furlough-induced reappearance in early April, it had been 524 days since my last blog post. That's 18 months since I last dedicated any time to this blog, a huge part of my life for almost 10 years, which I used to work on most days - and I've missed it.

Why the hiatus? In the immortal words of Rihanna, work, work, work, work, work, work.

Sorry, no great conspiracy theory here. No grand adventure or juicy gossip, just work. Towards the end of 2018, an opportunity came up for me to take on some extra hours in my day job. And because your girl needs dollar (houses aren't getting any cheaper...), I took it, and things have been pretty hectic from there on in. It's not that I fell out of love with blogging, but rather my intentions to blog gradually got pushed back, week by week, month by month, as assignments and press events and deadlines took over, until the intentions stopped.

Jamaica 2019 - destined to remain forever unblogged.

That's not to say it's been all work. I've still partaken in my usual dose of days out, holidays, afternoon teas, meals out with friends, cosy chats over cake and the like. I'm especially privileged in that my day job involves plenty of this too. I just haven't had time to put pen fingers to paper keyboard as I normally would.

What I regret most is not having a record of what I've been up to over this time, something to look back on. Those missing editions of my monthly series The Whole Picture are always going to bug me, their very absence rendering the picture 'unwhole'.

My September 2019 trip to Alhambra.

It's not that I subscribe to the "if you didn't blog/Instagram it, did it even happen?" way of thinking, but rather, I write those posts as much for myself as for anyone else, as a reminder of what I've been up to when I look back over the months and years to come. Even now, reading some of my posts from a couple of years ago, I'm reminded of restaurants visits that I'd all but forgotten. I hope that in 10, 20, 30 years, rereading old posts brings me as much joy. But in order for that to happen, those posts need to exist.

So, what next for this blog? At time of writing, I'm off work for an unknown period of time, which should give me time to catch up on a few blog posts which I've been cooking up for a while (you can follow this blog on Bloglovin' to be kept in the loop). Ironically, now that I've got the time to restart The Whole Picture, there seems very little point. Being stuck indoors due to lockdown, there are no restaurant visits to report on, no new afternoon teas to try, no newly-discovered secret gardens to share.

Fuerteventura, March 2020 (including the bell tower which I first visited in 2012). Although on balance, the 2020 trip is one holiday I'd rather not re live.

But, I'm making a pledge, right here, right now. It's a pledge to myself, though do feel free to call me out on it if you see me slipping. When things get back to 'normal' - a relative term right now - The Whole Picture will be back, in monthly installations, meaning that at the very minimum, there will be a new Scribbling Lau post for you to enjoy every four weeks or so. You lucky things, you. I hope that there will be more than that - even writing this has reminded me how much I love blogging - but I don't want to over-commit. Watch this space, I guess.

Here's to Scribbling Lau: The Revival.