100 cups of coffee and now I’m a lamb | The Velvet Café

On July 17, almost exactly four months ago, I opened the door to The Velvet Café. I didn’t have any clear idea of why I did it or what I wanted it to be. I just knew that I wanted a place of my own, where I could think aloud about movies I’d watched recently in full freedom.

100 posts later I’m still blogging, happier than ever.

Judging from the comments, a great deal of the readers of The Velvet Café are other bloggers, so you know where I’m coming from. But in case there’s a non-blogger out there I’ll give you a few reasons why I love to blog about films:

1. It makes the movies better.
Or at least it gives me a better experience from them. I watch most movies on my own, but I think they don’t reach their full potential until I’ve thought them over and preferably also talked about them with someone else, comparing our impressions. Something happens in this process. A film that would have been unremarkable if I’d just watched it like a normal person can become interesting since I’ve given it a proper examination while writing about it.

Blogging about movies makes them grow.

2. It helps me to get to know new people.
Before I started to blog about films I imagined that there might be quite a rather popular topic to blog about, but I had little idea of how popular it is. There are thousands and thousands of film blogs out there. It’s like Universe. So big that you can’t picture it and most of them I’ll never ever see. They’re like dark matter or unknown territory. But somehow bloggers have an instinct to clump together in clusters. Little by little I’ve gotten to know and tied bonds to a few of them in my neighborhood. Some of us are in the same galaxy, such as the bunch of fellows who also use to hang out in the forum connected to the Filmspotting podcast. Others are in the same nebula, such as the members of LAMB. I’ll get back to those later in the post.

3. It helps me to remember.
I have a terrible memory. I don’t remember early years in my life. I don’t remember names. And I don’t remember films I’ve seen only a few years ago. It’s always been like this. I tell myself that old stuff needs to be weeded out to make place for all the new impressions of the world around me.

It’s too early to tell since I’ve only been doing it for a few months, but I think blogging about films can stop them from slipping out of my mind so quickly.

4. I have fun.
I’ve been writing all of my life. I think I was about 13 when I did my first fanzine, a magazine about punk rock, which probably was truly bad since I later on was too ashamed to even keep one single copy of it for reference. For some years I didn’t have time or energy to write just for fun in my free time; the combination of a career and family life didn’t leave much space for this. But now I’m back at it. Running a blog is like printing your own fanzine, but in the digital era, and how I enjoy it! It’s writing at its best – completely relaxed and free from duties and expectations that need to be met.

Joining LAMB
After four months of blogging I’ve brewed 100 posts, including this one. Not every cup has been hot and some of them could probably have been stronger. European style coffee rather than that diluted brew they serve in the US. But on the whole I’m very happy with how the café has developed. I think I’ve found my blogging voice and place is pretty much the way I want it to be. The number of visitors is very modest, but those who have found their way here are friendly and talkative and the commenting activity has been far beyond anything I had imagined.

Now that I’m writing a meta-post about blogging issues, I could as well grab the opportunity to mention the little banner to the right that I recently added. It’s a medal to show that I’ve become a proud member of LAMB, the Large Association of Movie Blogs. My LAMB number is 1163. (Yeah, I told you there are many movie blogs out there, didn’t I?)

I don’t think my LAMB membership will mean that my blog is going to change. But I might I might participate in some of the common themes they run from time to time.  Most of all it’s a matter of group pressure. I joined the fun because almost all my blogging buddies are members already.

Finally: to all of you who have shared this 100d cup of coffee with me I just want to say: thank you!

Thank you for your support, thank you for your wit and insight and inspiration which never ceases to amaze me.

Cheers!