Thinking Out Loud
I was quite surprised by an unusually high number of participants in this year’s Blaugust: Festival of Blogging. The current count is 165. I am pleased by this because I worry about the decline in written skills that appears to be happening in western society. Yet here we have 165 individuals all writing in their own unique way. It is quite reassuring. My RSS feed currently has over 200 blogs that are still regularly updated, many of which are prior Blaugust participants. I try my best to keep up to date with posts and to leave comments, if they’re supported. A bit of blogging solidarity can go a long way and it’s important to encourage all forms of writing and keep the community strong.
Thinking Out Loud is a regular feature where I share a few of thoughts and ideas that have recently occurred to me. Some of these could potentially evolve into standalone, longform blog posts, but that is not the point of this endeavour. Thinking Out Loud is a means to “throw out some ideas” for consideration and reflection. I simply take a virtual pen to paper to document some of my thoughts for your review. Hopefully it may encourage some debate and discussion. As always, I encourage you to leave a comment and welcome any insights you may wish to share.
Blaugust: Festival of Blogging
I was quite surprised by an unusually high number of participants in this year’s Blaugust: Festival of Blogging. The current count is 165. I am pleased by this because I worry about the decline in written skills that appears to be happening in western society. Yet here we have 165 individuals all writing in their own unique way. It is quite reassuring. My RSS feed currently has over 200 blogs that are still regularly updated, many of which are prior Blaugust participants. I try my best to keep up to date with posts and to leave comments, if they’re supported. A bit of blogging solidarity can go a long way and it’s important to encourage all forms of writing and keep the community strong.
Entertaining Children
This topic could well be a blog post on its own and I may well develop it into something more substantial at a later date. For now, I just wanted to state that today I took a tablet with me when we visited our local Italian restaurant. It was specifically to entertain my 4 year old grandson. In the past, this would be an anathema to me. A line in the sand not to be crossed. However, in recent months I have accepted the reality of the situation. All of my grandchildren have been raised in a very different world to the one that I was. Hence to put it candidly, they struggle to stay occupied and focused with a lot of the mundanity of day-to-day life. They crave stimulation continuously. So today I ensured that there were episodes of Hey Duggee, Bluey and Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures available and kept young Oscar amused and out of mischief.
The Decline of Drinking Culture
I was raised during the seventies and enjoyed my teenage years in the early eighties. Much of the social culture of those decades was based around drinking and pubs. I have a healthy relationship with alcohol and still find a trip to a good pub a pleasant pastime. It’s a place to socialise or to sit alone and escape from the trials of life, briefly. However, I am aware there is a generational divide when it comes to alcohol consumption. Young people drink less or not at all and so the default social activity of “going down the pub” is not necessarily the convenient catchall that it used to be. Going for coffee is an adequate alternative and has the added bonus of cake being available. However, I draw the line at bubble tea. Someone suggested meeting at such an outlet recently and it was met with confusion and raw panic among the older folk present. Times change and I try to move with them. But I can’t see Sham 69 recording a song about going down the bubble tea shop.
Captain Sensible
Best known as a co-founder of the punk band The Damned, Raymond Burns, aka Captain Sensible, is a one of the more beguiling individuals to emerge from the punk era. Apparently he didn’t actively seek a separate career from that of the band but success with a series of incongruous singles, coupled with his somewhat comedic persona and extended periods of inactivity by The Damned, made it inevitable. His first two albums were well received and remain interesting. However, after a while the media attention waned and the Captain faded from mainstream pop culture. Not that it mattered to the Captain. He just continued doing his own thing as well as collaborating with The Damned. I recently reconnected with his work via Spotify and was pleased that he has a substantial back catalogue. I find it heartening that such an artist can still exist in an industry filled with corporate bullshit.
Parties Are Shit
The sort of parties that you get invited to change over the course of your life, mainly due to your age. Yet despite being diverse, parties all have the same function. Namely to gather a group of people in a specific location with the goal of socialising and having fun. It is a simple and straightforward concept. It is also bollocks. I can remember numerous memorable parties from my youth but that isn’t the same as fun. I can also recollect a lot of awkward small talk and teenage angst. Also fights, substance abuse and trauma inducing embarrassing situations. The best party is always the one you don’t attend and you hear later how great it was from everyone else. As a man in his fifties the prospect of a party now means having dinner with a couple called Geoffrey and Jennifer and several of their friends, who you don’t know that well or especially like (they’re usually a friend of your significant other). The very epitome of middle class bullshit.
