An Unkindness of Ravens

At that moment, my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth. I was now, and would always be, in love with Peyton Sawyer.

One Tree Hill is one of my favorite teen drama series. A refreshing storyline, made up of profound and complex characters, with some of the best writing I’ve seen on a television series in the last decade. Well, at least for the first four seasons, the others just seemed a bit presumptuous and unnecessary, especially after the sixth season. But I digress. As a teenager I always dreamed of becoming a writer. I thought about it every night. I hoped to write the great Portuguese novel. A great romance inspired by beauty, freedom, truth, and above all things, love.

As soon as I heard about this new thing called “blogging”, I decided to try it out for myself. I created a blog and named it Blue Dove. It was a symbol of freedom and inspiration. One day, I too will fly high, and my work will be acknowledged. I started Blue Dove in December 2004. It had a short run of a little more than a year. The platform where I was publishing, although popular, was a bit outdated. I decided to switch to Blogger, and remained a faithful publisher, with my current blog No Sense of Reason, which I started back in 2006 and, to this day, is still regularly updated.

Blue Dove had a fine run. Even though I stopped updating it, I often found myself reading some of its posts. Strolling down memory lane, looking for some sort of inspiration hidden in between the hopes and dreams of my teenage self. Most of the time, I just ended up reminiscing about old flames, letting myself be flooded with emotions. A flood that could only be stopped by shedding a couple of tears.  

I often wondered back to that moment when Lucas declared his love for Peyton. The endgame. That moment that every fan anxiously waited for since day one. I only wished I could have such a resolve. I only wished I could truly find love. Truly be in love. And thus, find my story, my greatest inspiration to write.

Earlier this year, I found out that, without my knowledge, Blue Dove had been put offline. Never to rise again. Luckily, I kept a record of every post I’ve ever published in that blog. For months I struggled with a way to bring them back. At last, the solution was obvious, I need to bring back Blue Dove. Not the old one, but a new, revised and improved version.

A little over a month ago, A Flock of Blue Doves was born. My new blog, that is actually nothing more than an old archive of short stories, opinion articles, thoughts, and poems that I’ve written over the years.

A Flock of Blue Doves couldn’t be just another copy of Blue Dove. It was a fresh start, a new platform where some of my best private work of the last few years would have a second chance to let itself known to the world.

Every day, from Sunday to Thursday I post a new, revised version, of every post ever published in Blue Dove. When I’m finished, I’ll continue to use this new blog to republish all of the short stories, articles and poems published in my other blogs, 25 de Julho, Story Writer and Antologia do Eu. After that, all these three blogs will be closed, and only accessible by invite. A Flock of Blue Doves will be the latest platform to promote my work in storytelling and poetry. No Sense of Reason will continue to be updated like it always has. Its older posts will too be revised and republished, but they won’t leave No Sense of Reason’s atmosphere, at least not for the time being.

In the near future, instead of five, I’ll only be managing three blogs, No Sense of Reason, A Flock of Blue Doves and Mercúrio do Porto. I’ve recently updated their design with new logos, taglines, and I’ve also installed a couple of new widgets, such as a recent post slider and a Like Button for my facebook page.

Sweet Tempation

I know that June is almost at an end, and that we’re closer to a new edition of Her Ideal, however, I couldn’t sign off without promoting the latest opinion article that I published in this magazine. “Sweet Temptation” is a journey through Portugal’s most exquisite examples of desert cuisine. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Until next time, be sure to read the latest edition of Her Ideal, and don’t forget to check out A Flock of Blue Doves for a little journey to the past, with the delightful company of my teenage self.