Why I'm Doing This
I've been blogging on and off for a few years now, sometimes in bursts of great enthusiasm, followed by periods of apathy, and neglect. It explains the long list of old blogs and websites that I am trying to consolidate into a few, rather than a lot of sites.
The most successful period of blogging was in the early 2000's when I ran a blog about Scottish football. Called Inside Left, it was listed in The Times as the 12th best blog about football back in the day. I loved writing it, Scottish football being a passion of mine. I'll explain why some other time, but for now it's enough to know that I wrote about it. A lot. Looking back on the archives (in a Blogger blog somewhere) I am amazed at the amount I wrote, and - not bragging or anything - the quality of it.
Some of it was rather good, even if I do say so myself.
It came to a crashing halt when I was approached by some gambling sites to place some adverts on the site in return for a small amount of money. It was at that precise moment I pulled the plug, the Corinthian ideals of writing to inform, as opposed to writing to earn, that drove me to start the blog in the first place being at risk, the site compromised by things I don't engage in, or would want other to engage in. As soon as money enters the equation, it's a race to the bottom, and rather than sacrifice my integrity, I deleted the blog.
I am a bit temperamental and impulsive. I did regret it for a while but once the decision was made I couldn't really go back on it.
I'm stubborn too.
For a few years I didn't really write much. Photography became my main creative outlet. Over at Ink Polaroids you can see some of my work, a site I maintain occasionally when the mood takes me, and I have content to share.
The things is, I love writing, but I'm struggling to (re)find my voice. So, at the risk of unleashing my utterings on a wider public, I started this blog for two reasons:
- No one knows it's here
- It looks nice
I will use this site to try and find the writer I was sixteen years ago. It may get a little jazz odyssey as times as I find that voice; it may not update that often. All of which is fine. I don't expect anyone will find this anytime soon. It'll be my little safe-space, my garden shed where I can potter about. And if no one reads this, that's fine also.
After all, the narcissist needs no audience, just a mirror.