Reflections on 6 Months of Blogging

It's now 6 months since I made my first, tentative post. I wasn't sure where the whole blog thing would lead and to be honest I still don't. However it has taken on a life of its own and I feel it's only partially under my control. Building the site has been an interesting and creative process although I wish I'd paid more attention to the HTML class I took back in 1998. Once I'd figured out how to do picture hosting, the whole thing became a lot more interesting for me and, I'm sure, the readers. It wasn't my intention that my rallying exploits would become the central theme, it's just that the recent MC Historique was a very big event in my life. So be prepared for other topics to pop up although I don't think I want to make this too personal. Public displays of breast-beating become pretty dreary and the blogsphere is full of individuals ranting about their parents, boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wives, work colleagues and people they encounter at their local pub. And blogging about work seems to be a sure way to get fired (hardly surprising, especially if the comments denigrate the author's employer) -indeed the term for this is being "Dooced". So some random thoughts after the first half year are:

• The blogging process is satisfying, fun and therapeutic.
• I had no clue how many blogs were out there (literally millions); they make for quite addictive reading.
• Much of the writing is of incredibly high standard, particularly the left-of-center politico blogs.
• Conversely, many of the right wing blogs (yes, I do read them) are downright scary in their approach to life i.e. shoot 'em, hang 'em, flog 'em, deport 'em, nuke 'em (seriously) etc...
• The right wing commentators frequently resort to extreme and threatening language that is very often racist into the bargain and are totally intolerant of anyone with left-of-centre leanings (sacry, again).
• The practice of "trolling" (leaving viciously negative, inflammatory, comments) seems to be a full-time occupation for many people. Sad, really.
• Over time I will add a balanced selection of blog links to the sidebar. These will be both entertaining and political.
• I've discovered how to do "Google Bombing". Ha! Ha!
• The first rule of print journalism seems to apply, namely, "However carefully copy is checked and edited, prominent and painfully embarassing errors will be apparent immediately after publication". Aargh!

In any case thank you all for visiting my site; any constructive feedback will be received gratefully!

Peace!