From “Light Stories” to “Chit-Cat”

What to write, what to write… hmmm…

How and why I went from a photography blog to a general landing page for all my creative thoughts and work.

Wasn't this a photography blog?

When I was in high school, I once had an assignment where we had to write a story about one of the handful of photos my teacher had selected. I enjoyed doing that so much, and my interest in photography was such at the time, that that was my aim with the original blog named “Light Stories”. The intention was to share my photography and challenge myself to do some creative writing to accompany each photo, like I did for the assignment. While I did do that at first, I quickly noticed my interest in this task fade, and I wrote very sporadically.

So, instead, I began to focus more on the photography aspect and began to experiment with it under this project name – sharing the work on Instagram mostly. I was still trying to discipline myself then and learning how to follow through with a new hobby, amidst finishing high school and starting college, and the blog clearly suffered for it. So, after a dropped photography challenge in 2019, I figured I’d just pick up the photography whenever I wanted and could. For my photography musings, that is what @light.stories is still for, from here on out. Since I was doing this mostly for myself, I wasn’t too worried to keep up with it, and the same remained in regard to the writing as well. But now I have decided to revamp the blog, rename it, and use it for a different, broader purpose – to condense all of my creative work, thoughts, and links. So, here’s to a second, more successful attempt at keeping that up!

Onto "Chit-Cat"

Because to many I’m Cat, lover of puns, “Chit-Cat” thus is a blog for my small notes, or chits. Really, this is a space for me to gather all of my “creative” thoughts (in writing) and attempts (in photo or video projects). Follow the links to the Instagram, to my personal Youtube, the old light.stories site, or go ahead and explore my posts.

Though chit-chatting consists of trivial and meaningless conversations or small-talk, the writing I aim to publish here are about the things that interest me, and would prefer to chit-chat about, instead of, say, the weather. That is, I like to think and discuss stories and media, in its many forms.

I had a teacher in college who encouraged us to explore why we like any audiovisual creation; he told us to start by looking at what we like, and to go back and search for its characteristics and signs to uncover the why of our liking it. So, that’s what I am going to do. I’ve been particularly longing to write about TV shows for a while now, because to me, they’re more than just entertainment. I always look for some way to understand why these stories resonate with me and so many other people. Why they work or don’t work. What impact they have on viewers, our values, on society or on culture. Why do some characters standout? How can the plot get richer, or how has it developed for the better (or worse) in some cases? What expectations do we get from the genre straight out of the gate? What contributions does the soundtrack, choreography, set design, or wardrobe add to the story, to the production?

These are the questions running through my head when I get excited about a new show or story I find and devour. These curiosities open up more reasons to love them, appreciate them, or marvel at them – and maybe those feelings and that curiosity may radiate outward to you, reader. Maybe you’ve seen the same shows, maybe not. Maybe your opinion differs from mine, and that’s ok. I aim to use this space to simply wonder.

So, if you’re interested in reading my chit, thank you, and feel free to give me some feedback, so we can keep the conversation going.