I was up very early (just after 6am) this morning and I've just been wondering if I could find something to blog about today. Sunday is my 'get everything done at done' day. It also tends to be the day when I have people to dinner (an evening meal for me).
For some reason YP's Laughing Horse Awards popped into what passes for my mind.
I've never been particularly imaginative - the result, I always say, of having, more than half a century ago, studied public administration and law at university and had a career as a bureaucrat.
Of course it may well be that it was the other way around and that it was because I was unimaginative that I became a bureaucrat.
However, I managed to find topics that kept my blogs going for many years so it should not be too hard to keep things going a bit longer. I miss not spending as much time in Blogland..
I think many of my readers also read YP's blog entitled "Yorkshire Pudding". (Clicking on the words in parenthesis with take you to the blog.).
I've never quite understood how YP managed to come up with all the topics he's blogged about over the last 21 years or thereabouts or, indeed, found the time particularly as he spends so much time out wandering with his camera. It has shown a single-minded approach. I often wish that I had had that dedication (to anything!).
having worked in a government department department for a short while...it did not encourage imagination..in fact it seemed to be actively discouraged..along with thinking for oneself..I escaped!!
ReplyDeleteGwynneth, you do have a point......up to a point. I was fortunate enough to be at director level and in a legal and admin department. It's quite amazing how much imagination is needed on occasion to come up with policies in a local authority. Not just because the public want and expect their services - the Western Isles is an all-purpose authority providing everything from roads and ferries to child protection, schools and a further-education college. And when the policies have been decided they have to be executed. Miss emptying a bin and the member of the public affected may give the impression in his letter to the local paper that he's been victimised beyond all reason.
DeleteYP's blog is good, or course, and whatever he writes about, he does it with style. His often sarcastic comments on other blogger's posts is fun. I am quite attracted to bloggers who write about their personal lives, even minute detail. I build a picture of a person and the picture is constantly added to. And amazingly when you meet some of them, they are just like are on their blog. I almost remember you telling me or writing about your decking? outdoor area?. Learning about the homes of bloggers is also interesting.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I agree with you absolutely. I love learning about the minutiae of people's lives too.
DeleteEvery blogger’s style is different, of course, and some have an amazing ability to make even the most mundane topics interesting and humorous. I am sure I speak for many, Graham, when I assure that we all find your blog a good place to be. We wouldn’t otherwise be here.
ReplyDeleteDavid, it's kind of you to say so and your logic is, of course, impeccable.
DeleteLike Andrew, I enjoy reading about my fellow bloggers‘ daily lives. What is ordinary for them may appear very exotic to me, but I always find some common ground in spite of all the things where our lives are different.
ReplyDeleteWhat‘s for dinner then at your house tonight?
Meike, I agree with you absolutely. I love going on your walks with you, for example. As for dinner.....I have absolutely no idea. If I'm in a supermarket today I might just see something I fancy. Or I may end up ferretting in the freezer. Or I may have planned it when I last shopped on Saturday and have just forgotten. Life is full of surprises for me when it comes to eating.
DeleteI, too, enjoy reading blogs that describe a person's daily life. The person behind the blogposts seems more real to me and it feels as though we have established a friendship, albeit a virtual one.
ReplyDeleteYours is one of those that I have always looked forward to reading so I hope that your return to regular blogging will continue.
IayCee, thank you for those encouraging words.
DeleteI'm also sure I'm not the only one missing your photos from your island, Graham. Right now may not be the most inspiring time of the year for photography - but there's always the view from your windows/garden... And probably tons of photos/memories in your archives worth repeating! ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica. I am fortunate to be liiving where I do and the view from the window where I do all my writing is such that I wouldn't like to try and guess how much time I have spent looking at the view over the last 30+ years I've been living in this house.
DeleteI still post almost daily but I don't comment much these days. I have a few loyal followers and that's fine by me. I like it when you visit my blog and join in. I like to see your posts. I particularly liked the car ride you took us on from your dashcam and I got the feel of the island geography. Rachel
ReplyDeleteFor some obscure reason, Rachel, I had got it into my head that you had stopped blogging. Or did you swap blogs? Anyway I see that I was wrong and I shall be resuming - and possibly catching up on some posts that I have missed.
DeleteI stopped blogging altogether for several months when I was writing my dissertation last year and wasn't sure whether I would ever come back. Then later when the dissertation was finished I decided to come back and start a new blog. So you weren't wrong in thinking I stopped. Rachel
DeleteI always like to see a new post from you, Graham! I'm also proud to say that I received a Laughing Horse Award from Yorkshire Pudding several years ago for commenting. I'm not a blogger so I was surprised and pleased to be recognized that year.
ReplyDeleteEllen. if those of us who do blog didn't have those who read our words, then there would be little point in our existence.
DeleteI guess YP is a very imaginative person. I certainly enjoy his blogs.
ReplyDeleteRed, you've hit the nail on the head re YP.
DeleteYPis an old timer blogger for sure.
ReplyDeleteYour blog posts are always interesting to me.
Going on 18 years blogging, I’m wondering more and more how that happened. A recent idea drought tells me you build a blog, ideas will show up.
May
Maywyn, I always found your posts from beautiful Vermont were interesting.
DeleteOther people's lives and homes are always interesting., What may seem mundane to you is fascinating to me.
ReplyDeleteJabblog, you have a very good point there. Other people's lives are invariably more interesting than one's own.
DeleteI long ago stopped reading blogs for their "topics" because I think of you all as friends so I'm just checking in with a mate and finding out what you have to say in any given post
ReplyDeleteYes, Kylie, I think that's how I look at reading blogs too.
DeleteI like Kylie's comment. It is how I feel too. When a blog goes silent I worry about them, as ridiculous as it sounds.
ReplyDeleteWe all do!
DeleteYears and years ago I followed a blog daily and had a good rapport. One day she didn't appear. I never knew what happened and it upset me for a long time. Even now all these years later it upsets me.
DeleteYP keeps us all amused. Maybe he should give himself an award!
ReplyDeleteCro, it wouldn't surprise me if he had done that. On the other hand you may have given me and idea.
Deletethere's a few that have gone silent that I use to follow and enjoy reading but I guess people have other priorities in life. Good to see you still posting though.
ReplyDeleteAmy, now that I'm an octogenarian I find that doing everything that I want to do takes longer than it used to. It's a contributory factor in me not getting through as much as I used to get through.
DeleteIt is interesting to read about other peoples lives and how they differ according to where they live.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Diane, I've learned so much over the last 20 years from Blogland.
DeleteI have just caught up with this blogpost Graham - never expecting to be the subject of it. It surprises me that I have kept finding new subjects for blogging after twenty one years. Sometimes i feel I should have devoted all of my many hours of blogging to proper writing - aiming for the dream of publication but the social aspect of daily blogging is very appealing. Thank you for writing kindly about me.
ReplyDelete