Roger Ebert reflected recently on his 46-year journey with La Dolce Vita. His musings recall my own experience with Fellini’s film…

More than a decade ago, I remember the experience of being drawn to the screen — literally pulled closer to the television — as La Dolce Vita unfolded. Something in its velvet frames of black and white spoke to me… something, perhaps, about the quiet hunger for connection, for meaning — a reflection of my own thrashing struggles at the time.

In the years since, I’ve seen the film countless times, including an all-nighter infinite loop playing as I packed (and tried to practice my very rough language skills) for a trip to Italy. Today, the film’s thread of unquenchable loneliness doesn’t resonate as sharply as it once did — marriage and, I hope, a measure of maturity have helped to soften those pangs. But I still recognize the experience as a part of me, inseparable, I suppose, from being human… 

I have other blogs covering work-related subjects and my upcoming wedding, along with a host of dead or experimental blogs scattered here and there — not to mention the typical webgeek presence on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Yet none of them seemed quite suited as a place for random ruminations, the myriad ideas about which I feel compelled to write.

These pages, then, are the answer to that need. Stay tuned.