Silent Applause

I must admit that writing in my blog has dropped off the past year, primarily due to the emergence of Facebook. It seems strange to write to my blog, as if the stadium is empty and the guests have all gone; it is so much easier to send out a quick snippet in Facebook or even Twitter. However, the limitations of those media have been more and more apparent of late, as my “friend” lists grows exponentially and I am unable to keep track of who reads or comments on my postings. I recently had to set my Twitter account to private, so that strange and unknown persons could not read about my daily activities and surmise my whereabouts. So the world goes; as things become more popular, so they become more dangerous.

Thus I return to the silent applause that is my blog. Here I don’t remark on how good my coffee was this morning (it was excellent — a 16-ounce Americano from Avenue Coffee, with cream and a dusting of cocoa and cinnamon) or whether or not I slept well last night (hard to do with two children who came in at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and took up most of the bed) but I do get the chance to write, scratching that writing “itch” that has pursued me most of my life. I’m also beginning to appreciate the ability to comment at length on what’s happening in my life, and if there are some that read this that shouldn’t, well, at least comments are moderated — by me.

And so I throw myself out into the strange and turbulent seas that make up the Internet and announce: I have passed the foreign service oral assessment and received a conditional offer of employment should I pass the security and medical clearance process. This means I have been poked and prodded both emotionally and physically far more than any human should be, really (read: two pap smears and 10 years of scrutiny into my job/life experiences, including all my failings as a parent). For this reason as well as the fact that I am still shocked to have passed (2 of 12 people in the group passed, one of whom was me) I have been reluctant to announce the results, but since the State Department has been investigating my entire background and probably knows the entire contents of my sock drawer, I thought, what the heck? I’ll announce it to the world. Finally.

So here I am, at the edge of this precipice, trying to juggle security and medical paperwork, my visiting parents, mold in my guesthouse, a leak in my roof, the transmission and master cylinder going out in my horrible car, the purchase of a used vehicle to replace mine, and the usual feeding/bathing/caring for children. Oh, and work, too. And the class I’m taking at the university. See? And at 396 characters, I could not have fit even that paragraph on Twitter.

I can juggle. I can do this. I can practice being diplomatic. Best of all, you can read about it here, without ever hearing about my farm/pet/mafia/vampire; that’s the beauty of a blog, silent applause and all.

Tags: blogging, facebook, foreign service, foreign service oral assessment, fsoa, life, twitter