5 months on

About 5 months ago, after a conversation fuelled mainly by Itchen Valley Pure Gold, I started another blog on Wordpress. The idea was that a few of us would add our odd conversations to the library of the bizarre, but the others behind the project have, as yet, singularly failed to contribute to the typing up or the posting even though they continue to be involved in the conversations themselves. It would have been wrong of me to hijack that space for my own personal rantings so I chose to begin writing, still under the manwiddicombe banner, on blogger instead.

I've found the process to be remarkably useful in unloading all of the anger and frustration at the things happening around the world to be very cathartic. I've also had more than a few laughs and become acquainted with the writing of a number of other bloggers as well.

Those of you on who's wordpress blogs I've left comments previously will know that the email address that I set up when I started is not one that I'd choose to circulate, for example, to business contacts. I think that at the outset I wasn't sure if this would last beyond three days, let alone nearly half a year. I've recently set up a new email account that has a more appropriate username, the same one that I've posted somewhere in the sidebar here. I apologise for any confusion that this may have caused with your moderation software.

It's been a great time to be doing this. The number of huge and hugely important things that are happening in the world around us right now have given a constant stream of new things to think about. Not least of those are the excesses of the political system in a time when the economic system is on its knees pleading for mercy. The upcoming elections should provide even more fun.

Am I a "real blogger"? Others have kindly suggested that I qualify for that title but I'm not so sure .. .. .. I often think I'm just screaming at the wind in an effort to clear my head rather than for any other reason. The pedantic side of me says "of course you are, you write a bloody blog don't you?" but then the realist pessimist laughs and points to all of the elegant prose or insightful comment that abounds on the interweb.

You may be wondering why, on such a glorious day, I'm indoors in front of the lappy writing this instead of enjoying the sunshine. Well I did earlier and I'm felling the effects of it now. Exposing my already red skin to more punishment would not be the wisest thing right now.