Monday 24 August 2009

Am I a bloghead, a loner and weirdo?

Don't answer that question by the way. I know you are tempted, but let me take a stab at it.

One thing is to sit in a quiet dinner party or a loud pub, trying to explain and tell about an event to friends, family or colleagues, another thing is to get the point across and be understood.

I'm proud of my family and what I've achieved, so proud that I have no problem telling people about - if they want to listen. And, listening can sometimes be difficult for some people, so a blog is in my opinion a better media. How many times haven't you tried to tell a story to your friend, uncle or colleague, only to find that he/she is not paying attention at all. I've caught a few people already just glazing at me, not listing, and I just throw in the odd sentence or word like "...then we drove down road towards the beach, and ran over a pygmy, and let the dog run on the beach...". No reaction means no connection to their skin flaps on the side of their heads (ears), and no connection to the blob inside.

My mum would most likely be totally against the notion of putting anything remote personal up the Internet, as she thinks people would only use it to carry out less honourable actions...and she might be right, hence I'm not too sure how much detail I want to share with the Internet world. In fairness, my mum is probably not the best authority for Internet security and usage, as she struggles on seeing how we can call for free using Skype. She's convinced that someone, somewhere, is charging us. And, while on a Skype video call, I rarely see her face, as the camera points more at the ceiling, so I end up looking at the top of the frames on her glasses.

Another point is that I always wanted to write a book about my life, simply because I think it has been a really good life. Plenty of funny moments, but also loads of less proud moments. Nobody would read my book, let’s be honest (and few people would read my blog), but at least I get to share this easily with my family and friends. In other words, I'm probably doing this more for myself than for you, some would say it is my midlife crisis, but I would tell them bugger off.

So, how much detail should I give in these blogs? Pictures, real names, locations, etc.? Hell no, all that is really unimportant. The important piece is the event itself, not the identities of my family and friends. At least, this also gives me some comeback, in case a friend gets upset about a story. I can always say it was about him.

My biggest problem is, how do you write a blog? And, the honest answer is: "I haven't got the faintest idea". I simply write, let my wife read it first and then publish it. It would be great if people could give me their feedback / comments, but hopefully they are too busy laughing at my stories. I try to keep each blog short (ish), as there's nothing more boring that somebody writing a long blog, like this one, about nothing.   Not in it for the fame, but just because I'm worth it.  :-)

So, sit back, get some coffee (not decaf) and enjoy a bit of light reading.

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