end of the line

It's time to take the bus back to the depot.


WHY?

Since I don't keep statistics (the counter has been broken for ages), I've got no real means to gauge the readership of this blog, although I'm pretty certain readership is dwindling not increasing. Not only did I commit a few blogger cardinal sins such as writing too sporadically - two in a week and then nothing for a month, I also wrote - repeatedly - on topics that were too esoteric, too specific, too narrow or too boring and managed to alienate a few others. I'd like to write about a few other things but it's useless at this point. Exclusively 'marketing' this blog to a somewhat fickle Maltese base was another mistake.



TRY

The blogs were the best thing to ever happen to the Maltese literary scene. They were fun to read and some of the stuff written was better and more exciting than practically any book in Maltese I have ever read. It's a shame that no traces will be left of the scene in 2 or 3 years. One of the main reasons that kept me going was the reward system inherent to them - I always hoped that one of my posts would, at least partially, inspire another blogger to post and I'd get to read some wonderfully flowing prose or an intelligent opinion for my efforts. I also got some vapid rubbish sometimes, like you did from me.

To those bloggers who bemoan the fact that they're not blogging even though they'd like to but they're too busy - well, it doesn't take that much time. It doesn't take much time or effort to post twice a week. At twenty minutes each post, that's less than the average person spends removing fluff from his belly-button or finding the right pose for his/her Facebook profile pic.



BUY

I can't stop dreaming of being a farmer (of all things). I've got no real idea what being a farmer entails. To me farm-life is one pastoral, idyllic image after the other. It's not me toiling the land at 5AM and filling in complicated EU CAP subsidy forms - it's me tasting goat's cheese and walking about my farm chewing straw and bleating back at my fat ruminants.

For other mindless optimists and/or property fetishists here's some rustic land-porn to get you excited:

Arable land + townhouse (i.e. pile of rubble held together using duct tape and goatshit)

• 2000 sqm, Rocca Santo Stefano (Rome/Tivoli) - EUR 23,000
• 5500 sqm, Lazio - EUR 18,000
• 8500 sqm, San Felice a Cancello (Caserta) - EUR 108,000
• 3000 sqm, Nicolosi (Catania) - EUR 35,000
• 7000 sqm, Bersagliera (Bologna) - EUR 120,000

Just the townhouse (and some magnificent views)

• No arable land (townhouse), Rocca di Cave (Rome/Frosinone) - EUR 19,000
• 180 sqm (townhouse), Montabone (Turin) - EUR 26,000
• No arable land (townhouse), Valbrona (Como/Swiss border) - EUR 55,000
• Stone chalet, Saint-Marcel-le-Grand (Aosta Valley) - EUR 25,000
• Stable/townhouse for people who look like horses, San Giovanni (Abruzzo/L'Aquila/Rome) - EUR 14,000

Tuscany has become very expensive.

Around May/June 2008 I've got something big lined up. Let's just say I'll have ample time to look at abandoned places in Northern and Central Italy, but won't have the cash to even think of buying any of them - not even a pile of rubble in Italy's remotest province. If anyone needs a sensaro, someone to deal with the workers, or someone who can actually build a wall, whitewash or pass a few cables without (hopefully) electrocuting himself, I'm your man. I'm the (self-styled) Del Trotter of the Apennines.



BYE

It's been a nice three years, but this bus is heading back to the depot now.

See you on another ride - maybe soon, maybe not. So long.