About

About me

I’m more than an English lecturer.

About this blog

While doing a postgrad degree in Creative Writing I attended a writing workshop – the speaker was P. G. du Plessis, a famous Afrikaans author. One thing he said that always stuck with me is that he does not believe in writer’s block (“skrywersblok”). He offered an uncomplicated antidote to writer’s block. Write. It is that simple. One need not write “creatively”, but you have to write – be it a letter to your niece, or a business report, or keep a journal; as long as you write you are still busy sharpening your tools of the trade. So this was one of the initial reasons for this blog. It is a place where I can write, especially when I’m not writing creatively. The title “Skryfblok” is a play on words. It resembles skrywersblok (“writer’s block”) but literally means writing pad.

As a writing pad, this blog often functions as a convenient place for me to jot down stuff I wish to remember, things I find interesting, or just random thoughts I’m pondering at the moment. Therefore there doesn’t seem to be a chief overarching topic to my blog. Of course there are some recurring themes; specific interests pop-up every so often: my life in Korea, my work as an English lecturer, music, literature, movies, martial arts, and so on.

It is believed that keeping a diary is a valuable habit. Apparently many successful people keep diaries. I used to keep a diary. Now I just blog. I hope that blogging has the same benefits that diaries are supposed to have.

Also, I have friends and family around the world. Keeping in touch with all of them is just too difficult -- especially since I do not use Facebook (on principle). Blogging is an easy way for me to keep my Global Family up to date with my life.

About my self-portraits

I sometimes post self-portraits on this blog. While these may seem narcissistic, their actual purpose is less exhibitionistic and more artistic. For more on this topic, read my apology “Why All the Self-Portraits?”