Decennium Mirabilis, on Dispatch from the Razor's Edge

Happy Birthday to Dispatch (and to America)

Plus: God (Particle) Discovered

"'Nous autre Americains, we Americans,' he said, 'like change. It is at once our weakness and our strength.'"

- W. Somerset Maugham
The Razor's Edge

I'm stunned but pleased to report that today is the exact 10th anniversary of Dispatch from the Razor's Edge. In these lovely and strange ten years I have published:

517 dispatches – almost exactly one per week;
10,955 images – most of them photos of things I have seen; and
372 movies – mostly of multifarious foolishness; not to mention
699 comments – brilliant insights and key corrections from you.

It was in this space ten years ago today that I inaugurated the end of my old life and the beginning of… well, at the time, I could hardly know. I only knew that I was reasonably happy there in the San Francisco Bay Area, the most beautiful urban area in the world, and nestled right up in Silicon Valley, the most dynamic and exciting place in the technology world. And I also knew that I did not want to just sit there being reasonably happy and waiting out the clock. So I got rid of half my stuff, put almost all the rest in storage, and took off on an open-ended odyssey of wandering and discovery.

I'm slightly tempted to try and catalogue all the blessings and adventures I've been gifted with in these ten years as a direct result of this decision. But better probably to just bottom-line it. Was this decision, so disruptive and terrifying at the time, the right one?

Yes.

And I just want thank all of you very, very, very much for coming along for the ride.

(Not to mention for reading along, and very often chiming in, while I weighed in on – and in some cases reported live from – 7/7, the Egyptian Revolution, the London sky, the Iraq War, Iran & Israel (and the Iranian people), Brideshead Revisited, the loss of David Foster Wallace, Scarlett Johansson kicking ass, female Apache pilots kicking ass, marriage equality, the loss of Hitchens, movie trailers, video game trailers, the London riots, not getting cancer, not dying in a car crash, walks across England, and up into the Scottish Highlands, and around Cornwall, and the zombie apocalypse, and techno-existentialism, just to grab a few at random…)

This is a slightly odd time to celebrate DftRE, as it's gone so quiet lately. (While I try to get real books written, which might just conceivably possibly maybe earn me enough of a living to get me out of that dynamic and thrilling technology business that makes me want to jump off Tower Bridge.) But in the time-honoured tradition of "reruns," you can now get served a totally random dispatch by clicking on the "Random Dispatch" button up above by the search bar – or by clicking here – after which, the button will reappear, allowing you to surf random dispatches through, let's face it, what will probably be your first day back at work after July 4th.

Because of course today is also the 236th birthday of the Great Republic, the United States of America. Happy birthday, America. And thank you wise, far-seeing, Enlightenment-steeped founders.

Oh – and the God Particle was discovered today. Coincidence?

american independence day dftre my exodus

Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.

Fuchs is the author of the novels The Manuscript and Pandora's Sisters, both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation); the D-Boys series of high-tech, high-concept, spec-ops military adventure novels – D-Boys, Counter-Assault, and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2016); and is co-author, with Glynn James, of the bestselling Arisen series of special-operations military ZA novels. The second nicest thing anyone has ever said about his work was: "Fuchs seems to operate on the narrative principle of 'when in doubt put in a firefight'." (Kirkus Reviews, more here.)

Fuchs was born in New York; schooled in Virginia (UVa); and later emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lived through the dot-com boom. Subsequently he decamped for an extended period of tramping before finally rocking up in London, where he now makes his home. He does a lot of travel blogging, most recently of some very long walks around the British Isles. He's been writing and developing for the web since 1994 and shows no particularly hopeful signs of stopping.

You can reach him on .

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Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.


2023 >> 2022 >> 2021 >> 2020 >> 2019 >> 2018 >> 2017 >> 2016 >> 2015 >> 2014 >> 2013 >> 2012-12-25 2012-12-20 2012-12-18 2012-12-16 2012-12-14 2012-12-10 2012-11-11 2012-10-25 2012-10-15 2012-10-06 2012-10-01 2012-09-30 2012-09-28 2012-09-27 2012-08-13 2012-08-07 2012-08-06 2012-08-04 2012-08-03 2012-08-01 2012-07-31 2012-07-30 2012-07-27 2012-07-07 2012-07-04 2012-06-24 2012-06-23 2012-06-22 2012-06-21 2012-06-20 2012-06-19 2012-06-18 2012-06-17 2012-06-16 2012-06-15 2012-06-14 2012-06-13 2012-05-23 2012-05-01 2012-04-01 2012-03-18 2012-02-04 2012-01-27 2012-01-10 2011 >> 2010 >> 2009 >> 2008 >> 2007 >> 2006 >> 2005 >> 2004 >> 2003 >> 2002 >>	Decennium Mirabilis Happy Birthday to Dispatch (and to America) Plus: God (Particle) Discovered "'Nous autre Americains, we Americans,' he said, 'like change. It is at once our weakness and our strength.'" - W. Somerset Maugham The Razor's Edge I'm stunned but pleased to report that today is the exact 10th anniversary of Dispatch from the Razor's Edge. In these lovely and strange ten years I have published: 517 dispatches – almost exactly one per week; 10,955 images – most of them photos of things I have seen; and 372 movies – mostly of multifarious foolishness; not to mention 699 comments – brilliant insights and key corrections from you. It was in this space ten years ago today that I inaugurated the end of my old life and the beginning of… well, at the time, I could hardly know. I only knew that I was reasonably happy there in the San Francisco Bay Area, the most beautiful urban area in the world, and nestled right up in Silicon Valley, the most dynamic and exciting place in the technology world. And I also knew that I did not want to just sit there being reasonably happy and waiting out the clock. So I got rid of half my stuff, put almost all the rest in storage, and took off on an open-ended odyssey of wandering and discovery. I'm slightly tempted to try and catalogue all the blessings and adventures I've been gifted with in these ten years as a direct result of this decision. But better probably to just bottom-line it. Was this decision, so disruptive and terrifying at the time, the right one? Yes. And I just want thank all of you very, very, very much for coming along for the ride. (Not to mention for reading along, and very often chiming in, while I weighed in on – and in some cases reported live from – 7/7, the Egyptian Revolution, the London sky, the Iraq War, Iran & Israel (and the Iranian people), Brideshead Revisited, the loss of David Foster Wallace, Scarlett Johansson kicking ass, female Apache pilots kicking ass, marriage equality, the loss of Hitchens, movie trailers, video game trailers, the London riots, not getting cancer, not dying in a car crash, walks across England, and up into the Scottish Highlands, and around Cornwall, and the zombie apocalypse, and techno-existentialism, just to grab a few at random…) This is a slightly odd time to celebrate DftRE, as it's gone so quiet lately. (While I try to get real books written, which might just conceivably possibly maybe earn me enough of a living to get me out of that dynamic and thrilling technology business that makes me want to jump off Tower Bridge.) But in the time-honoured tradition of "reruns," you can now get served a totally random dispatch by clicking on the "Random Dispatch" button up above by the search bar – or by clicking here – after which, the button will reappear, allowing you to surf random dispatches through, let's face it, what will probably be your first day back at work after July 4th. Because of course today is also the 236th birthday of the Great Republic, the United States of America. Happy birthday, America. And thank you wise, far-seeing, Enlightenment-steeped founders. Oh – and the God Particle was discovered today. Coincidence? Tweet american independence day dftre my exodus ← before \| 2 comments ↓ \| after →