Observations on Blogging

I was looking through some books on writing yesterday in a bookshop, and I noted that most writers' guides recommend a blog as a good way to practise one's use of language; to try to write something every day, be it your memories, your actions on that day, a particular subject that exercises your mind at that moment, a book you may be reading, or whatever. As a person who has spent a lot of working time writing, drafting, editing and proof-reading written matter for the engineering profession, I feel that I'm not so good at free-thought (as compared with freehand drawing!) jottings, I like to get what I want to say in some sort of shape -- but I guess blog-readers will be the judges -- or the critics -- of what you're doing. From the time I started with my entry-level post on 7th August this year, I've been very conscious that the world can see this; of course, the mouse-click could just switch it off, or Internet-surfers might skim over it, I wonder now who actually finds it?



As you could judge, most of my blogging this year (2008) has been in the form of travel notes, sometimes illustrated with photos or scanned images. Looking back, I lived in the city and province where I was born until age 17, when I went to the Cape to train as a seaman. I didn't leave SA until 1969, which incidentally was the first time I'd stepped on a jet airliner. From there I followed my dreams (to use a hackneyed phrase -- exactly what writers discourage!), often motivated by something I'd read, or a chance letter from a colleague who'd moved to other parts. Before I started my year of work in London, I travelled in Scotland, right up to the most northerly county of Shetland. It was a wonderful visit, and I found that people in the office were surprised that I'd already been 'where no Londoners tread' (shame, I've misquoted Star Trek, this is a poor session for clichès!) How I came to be there is another story.





Canada was similar, a colleague went to work there, and I determined to go myself, something I found infinitely rewarding -- go to British Columbia, you won't regret it! This part of my blog is now going all the way back to Germany, as I haven't finished with JS Bach yet.





If by this time you're thinking "Oh, no, not another old Travel Bore", why, there's always the mouse-click....................left button! And on that note I bid you a Good Morning.





Tchüss.