First post

Well, I've joined the blogging community. Feels odd - (though probably everyone writes something like this as their first post) because I've not really been reading many other blogs. The ones I have are Nick Robinson's Newslog on the BBC, and Chris Evans' new SHLOG (also BBC). [I realise blogiquette probably requires linking to these but I can't remember how to do that at the moment - watch this space.] I also followed a couple of others on this very blog hosting site that I can't find at the moment! Note to self - remember to bookmark things you want to read again.

Thoughts - why am I blogging? To see if anyone else reads this? To try again to do some writing? To try again to keep a sort of journal? To take up even more of my sadly limited time (study, work, parenting, church... all take their toll)? Not sure but I want to keep track of some thinking that I intend to do over the next wee while and this seems a good way to do it - especially if anyone does look at it and interacts with it/me.

I'm not sure how much to say about myself - Chris Evans' blog mentioned the idea that he doesn't know what his friends do (or rather did) for a living and many blog responses agreed that they don't tell people what they do (or invent other occupations). But if I want to do thinking on the blog, a lot of it may well relate to my field of study and potential occupation. However, attempts at remaining anonymous entirely are probably fraught with danger - what if I talk about a situation or discussion thinking that as my blog is anonymous, the person/people concerned won't read it or won't recognise themselves? Bad thing to do so best not to.

I'd like to be a writer. I've had a couple of (failed) goes at nanowrimo.com - writing a novel(ette) in a month. It may yet happen... But what I've read of other writers is that it's something they do almost compulsively rather than something they set out to do. Still, I've been putting words in front of each other for some time in one way or another - writing essays for one!

What else? I struggle a bit with identity - what makes me 'me' and not someone else, and what things do I want to make 'me' up with - if you catch my drift? I want to have more energy but fail to either exercise (to increase metabolic rate and get rid of sluggishness - as mentioned on Chris Evans' show this week) or go to bed early (it's nearly 2AM - fool!) I have too big an 'appetite' for doing stuff - bad at saying 'NO'; my eyes are bigger than my stomach as it were.

And why does the Express have such a Diana fixation? It was tragic what happened but it can't be helping William and Harry for them to continue to have weekly headlines (usually a Monday - thanks to news.bbc.co.uk/magazine 's Paper Monitor for drawing many people's attention to this tendency) about 'Diana conspiracy' or similar. Today they've even twisted a different story - the McCartney breakup - to include 'Diana' in the headline (something about one of them retaining the same lawyer, I think). Incidentally - leave them alone, breakups must be hard enough without daily updates in the national press. To be fair, the Mirror also noted this connection with an almost identical headline, although I should point out that I don't read either of these papers, or any paper regularly - if any, it's occasionally the Indy, Grauniad or Times (where does that put me politically?)

So much more to say, and so little time - if you drop by and visit, please leave a message and I'll try and update regularly (but no promises - my enthusiasm is notorious for waning...)