Inspired to try and get back into this exercise by the example of that late scion of Portuguese literature, José Saramago. Late in life — the site started in September 2008, he died June 2010 — he decided to start his own blog. He posted to it daily, without pretense (inasmuch as that’s possible for any author), and with what seems to be genuine enjoyment in a new way to directly engage with the interested masses.

His posts are a mix of subjects. Having started days before Lehman Brothers’s final collapse signaled the acceleration of the Global Financial Crisis, Saramago is strident in his disdain for a world quick to socialize massive financial losses but unwilling to put in the hard work to solve the crises facing the poor. But he does not dwell exclusively on the political. He is quick to laud works of art he runs across, chronicles the various cultural events he takes part in or organizes (Portugal’s only Nobel Laureate was very active in the country’s cultural life up until the very end), and philosophizes on anything from the nature of death to the pursuit of “true” justice. In short, the blog of a man equally in touch with the world and his principles.

I’m no Saramago, but his posts inspired me to try something similar again. I had begun something like it at my previous site before it had run its course. What I’d like most is to exercise my written voice. To use quick daily updates as a way to push it past the stuffy tone that so infuses everything I seriously try my hand at. If I force myself to drill down on one thing that catches my attention a day, I may have 365 new subjects to talk about a year.

Or I’ll stick to this for a week and see it, too, dissolve.

For now, I’ll categorize each Daily Note so that they’re readily accessible for A New Orpheu’s homepage. If enough are written, I’ll even try to categorize them by month and year.