A walk through three Mexico City blogs
This review touches cursorily on one of the many Mexico City blog cliques. Its members are for the most part unpublished writers who started their blogs between the years 2001 and 2002. Their loosely connected network is evinced by their blogrolls and occassional appearances in each other’s blogs. Some of the blogs are still active and some have become dead links. This review focuses on the way in which two bloggers that belong to this clique write about the city. It starts with the blog of poet/journalist Luis Martignon.
Perixcopio [0] is the lyrical rendition of Martignon’s life in a blog. For the people who know him, the blog may sometimes prove too hard to read from a critical distance. Those who don’t know him, tend to approach the blog with incredulity. The reason is that Martignon always seems to be at the edge of an abyss. [1]
The anger and desperation that we find in his texts are not uncommon in this part of the world. [2] Perhaps they are “specific effects that this city has on the emotions of its inhabitants”. In any case, Martignon stands out among other bloggers in his fascination with the city. And he is unwavering in his position. Even if the city does not treat him too kindly, his poetry is still going to be enraptured by it. [3]
We find numerous mentions of the Mexico City subway in Clvaro Ernesto Obregn’s two blogs. One particular poignant passage is the end of Hard Pop. [4] Clvaro has finally moved out of his parents house and the physical distance between him and his brother is expressed in terms of the subway.
Clvaro created Hard Pop in 2003 for the sole purpose of posting his first novel. It is interesting to note this in light of Blogger’s endorsement of this year’s NaNoWriMo. [5] Although Clvaro’s other blog [6] was also started with the intention of posting a few poems and short stories, it eventually developed into a more conventional online diary.
The city is the necessary backdrop to Clvaro’s two blogs. It is practically impossible to conceive of his stories without the city. And he seems to delight in weaving the urban landscape into his writing. We find elaborate descriptions of Mexico City throughout his blogs. Take for example, the first half of the “Cola de Straub” chapter in Hard Pop.
In his blogs, Clvaro frequently appears travelling in the city. He’s either on his way to work, school or just out partying. As a matter of fact, many of his entries chronicle the nights when he and his friends set out searching for something to do. We are witness to their overindulgence in drugs and British pop music. Along the side, we see them accomplish the not so easy feat of crossing the city. [7]
This review is something of a reduction. It focuses on a particular aspect of three blogs that belong to a particular blog clique within the vast Mexican blogosphere. My hope is that it serves as an starting point, as an invitation to follow the link.
[0]perixocopio
Unshaved … he tries to get up but all his bones hurt. There is blood in his nose … he is anxious, nervous, he doesn’t know what to do. It’s Monday. He repeats to himself: “There’s not much time left.” Almost no time left.
At that time of the day, the subway is fucking death … you can see the fatigue, the disgust and the desperation in [everyone’s] faces. They are fed up and it shows.
The stories of the city are too boring if told before bedtime. That’s why it’s better to go out and take a walk. The name of a city like this one is solitude. Solitude is nothing short of being alive.
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