The Aerie
Garrison Keillor turned me on to the diary of Samuel Pepys. Actually, let me take that back. The first five words of this blog should never be written or uttered anywhere in any context, and I apologize.
Anyway I subscribed to the MPR "Writer's Almanac" podcast in the hopes that I would be inspired to remember my writing on a more regular basis (and lookit, I'm blogging!) And earlier this week he reported on the birthday of Samuel Pepys (pronounced "peeps" for some reason).
It turns out that Pepys was a blogger! Granted, his blog was written on paper in a quaint format called a "diary," had an uncertain audience called "posterity," and racked up even fewer page-views than MY blog for its first few decades. Nevertheless, it has many of the characteristics of a blog. It's as much fun as The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.
However, much of that has been rectified! Having been translated from its native code several times, some enterprising fellow has converted the daily diary entries of this Seventeenth Century clerk into blog entries! So every morning over a cup of tea I travel back in time 243 years to check in on the life and career of my friend Sam Pepys.
I'm tempted to begin all my own blog entries henceforth with "Up, and to the office." However, I won't start tracking my many affairs in my blog (as Pepys did) until I can come up with some kind of code that my spouse won't be able to translate. Pepys had some kind of code that he used for his liaison, which might have worked to conceal them if his wife hadn't actually walked in on him boffing the maid at least once. But what shall I use? Maybe pig-Latin?
"Oday-tay I offed-bay my istress-may" That will work! Now all I need is a mistress... er, istress-may.
Posted by Albatross at February 27, 2008 12:58 PM | TrackBack