Writers

Featured Blog: Muna’s Blog

I searched the Web last month to see whether I could find any Paraguay-focused blogs written in English.  There aren’t many Paraguay blogs in the blogosphere written any language, even in Spanish, German, or Guarani (an indigenous Paraguayan language), Paraguay’s primary languages.  That’s why I was fortunate to stumble upon Muna’s Blog (http://www.emeraldpass.com/blog/), one of the few English-language blogs focusing on Paraguay (World Adventurers will also focus on Paraguay next year after we move to Asuncion). 
 
A native Paraguayan, Muna now lives with her family in suburban Seattle.  We’re happy that Muna is not only Paraguayan but also has a Seattle connection.  She now lives not far from where we lived before we moved overseas.   We’ve already been in contact with Muna and plan to meet her when we visit Seattle next February.  Next summer, she will return to Paraguay for a visit (which is actually wintertime in Paraguay because the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere).  We’re looking forward to meeting Muna again when she visits our new, adopted home.  In addition, we hope that Muna will introduce us to Paraguayan culture, especially Paraguayan locals.  We’ve been told by many people who have spent time in Paraguay that meeting and making Paraguayan friends can be an immense challenge for expatriates.  I’m looking forward to experiencing Paraguayan culture at the local level and hope that Muna can help us get started.
 
Muna’s blog features a treasure trove of information about Paraguay.  It is quite interactive, with videos, music, and photos of Paraguay that help the country come alive on the Internet.  Muna’s blog heightens our anticipation of what lays in store for us in this interesting land, and it piques our interest in getting to know Muna and her family.  Check out her blog!

Featured Blog: Girl in the Rain

"Girl in the Rain" (http://intherain.wordpress.com/) is a blog written by one of my colleagues.  She is a very nice lady, and I’m glad I met her and had the opportunity to work with her, however briefly.  We’ve worked together for about six months, since she arrived in Korea.  She will be here for another year and a half or so after I leave the country.  If you want your weekly fix of life in Korea written from another expat perspective, check out her blog.  World Adventurers will slowly shift gears away from Korea and East Asia towards focusing on Paraguay and Latin America, so if you want a continuation on life in Korea, have a read.
 
Girl in the Rain is also a fellow Seattleite, albeit from a another suburb often overlooked by us uppity Eastsiders who think that the upscale Eastside ends at Coal Creek Parkway (Seattleites will know what I mean).  We see eye to eye on things only Seattlelites can understand, although she would be quick to point that I’m not a true Seattleite, because I’m not native to the area.  Still, a conversation with her about Seattle is like rekindling a mutual identity that no layman Starbucks patron or Boeing pilot could understand.  From the Fremont Troll to the Renton Train Depot, she knows it all.  She peppers her blog with Seattleisms too, some too subtle for outsiders to catch.
 
She isn’t a frequent poster, but she has plenty of photos and stories to share with you.  She’s posted some memorable moments from our collective experience that I haven’t talked about on my blog, like this year’s Marine Ball.  Virtually everyone pictured is either a colleague, acquaintance, and/or friend of mine.  We all had a ball, figuratively and literally.  Great people, all.  And yes, the goofy looking Asian dude pictured is aware his photo is on the blog, and he’s one of my good friends.  One of the sharpest guys you’d ever want to meet.  If you want more of an inside scoop on Foreign Service life in Seoul, stop by her blog from time to time.  My blog is typically more vague and eclectic, musing about whatever whimsical topic comes to my mind on a given day.  While I have not devolved into recounting the number of countries and states I’ve visited (24 and 29), I have accounted for plenty of minutiae.  Girl’s blog is a much more straightforward view of life here.  Enjoy!

Featured Blog: Steven’s Space (Barenaked Ladies)

Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is one of my favorite music groups.  Their music lyrics are eclectic, pensive, and subtly satirical–OK, sometimes not so subtly–a bit like I can be.  I love their music and can relate to their offbeat style, which is why BNL is one of the few groups whose albums I will buy unheard, because I know that I’m buying something I will undoubtedly enjoy.  Frontman Steven Page started publishing a blog (http://bnlsteven.spaces.live.com/) on Windows Live to promote the group’s latest album, "Are Me," and the band’s upcoming "BLAM" tour.  I think it’s a fabulous way to reach out to fans, and I’m glad that Windows Live Spaces conned, cajoled, or doused him in bucketloads of moolah to get him to start a blog.  Thanks, Steven!  You are the real frontman–don’t forget that.  Just because Ed gets more airtime…pshah.  You are real deal.
 
I will plug the shameless fan blog comment I posted on Steven’s blog tonight:
Hello Steven, welcome to Windows Live Spaces!  It’s great to see you on the blogosphere, talking about BNL and the tour.  I just bought the BLAM album tonight here in Korea.  (It was really hard to find…wedged between country and rap for some mysterious reason.  You have to come tour here in the Far East and expose Asians to the finest music Canada has to offer.)  BNL’s been one of my favorite bands for years.  I first got hooked on BNL with "One Week," but I ended up buying just about every album you’ve released.  I especially love the live album you did a few years ago.  I laugh everytime I think of the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate on "If I Had a Million Dollars."  I think the new album captures some of the magic from earlier acoustical efforts–great job.  My wife and I saw you in concert in Seattle when you came through town to promote "Maroon."  Hands down, you put on the funnest, and funniest, stage show we’ve ever seen.
 
You guys have been with me on some of my most memorable moments, from singing "Light Up My Yard" (still my personal favorite) on desolate Highway 3 in British Columbia to walking in the snow along the storefronts in Vancouver listening to "Shopping" to laughing at "I just made you say underwear" on "Pinch Me."  The new BLAM album will likely create some new memories now that we’re here in Korea and when we head to Paraguay.  Thanks for helping me remember the best of times and giving me a welcome alternative to cheesy Korean pop music! 
 
P.S.  Did you ever find that old lady in Montreal Ed encountered a few years, the one who was lost and asked stopped him to ask for directions to the Bryan Street Theater?  I always wondered what happened to her.  🙂  She’s probably still lost, wandering around somewhere.
I had to one shameless step further in the vain hope that Steven will actually click on the link to this web site and stop by for a visit.  That’s the best a poor, shameless fan could expect!