Blogging is a funny thing. Some blogs are about very specific things (i.e. travel, cooking, research), some set out with a specific goal, some are funded or sponsored, some corner a specific market, and then there are the ones that just kind of exist. Arguably, the time of personal blogging is no longer in its prime. There was a time when having a blog was new and exciting and everyone jumped on the band-wagon, eagerly putting their thoughts out there for all to see. But then social media came along, and the phenomenon of putting your individual thoughts in 140-character snippets somewhat overshadowed the more organized, in-depth character of sitting down to write a blog post. As a couple of my fellow students and I sat around a seminar table this morning (waiting for others to arrive), this came up in a way. One student (in fact, the aforementioned adamant early medievalist) was complaining about the incessant emails he's been getting from an undergraduate tutorial student who seems to email at all hours of the day, just to communicate thoughts that come to mind. I put forward that a good solution would be to just tell this person to get a blog - because then they have the satisfaction of getting thoughts out without having to annoy anyone specifically with their inane or irrelevant chatter. The young man sitting next to me sniggered a bit and quipped that blogs are just fancy "circle jerks" where people self-indulge and pretend they're important. On one level, that's true. If I didn't have at least some ego, I wouldn't write my thoughts down and then publish them for anyone with an internet connection to see. [But then, if I had no ego, I wouldn't be a tour guide, either.] On another level, that's not necessarily the case because there's no guarantee that anyone at all will read one's blog. The internet is littered with useless information and sites no one ever visits. Food for thought, I suppose, but I enjoy writing this blog, and I enjoy reading other people's and so I don't plan to stop any time soon.
That being said, I find it increasingly hard to find topics to really write about. I could go on and on about totally boring, single-incident moments, but that's not even interesting to me. I have toyed with the idea of making this more personal, but then... is that crossing a line into an online journal? Hmm. But then I decide to just bite the bullet, begin writing, and see what happens.
Edinburgh is still basking in some crisp, relatively warm Fall weather. Or rather, it was until this morning at about 9:30am when gale-force winds and soaking rain rolled into town. I, sadly, had not dressed for wet weather and so I have been quite wet several times today. No bueno.
For some reason, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I could not tell you why, nothing is really out of sorts in my life at the mo. Well, that's not entirely true, but life is pretty damn good. Last night I curled up on a couch with home made hot chocolate (melted dark chocolate and warm milk), almond thins, and Downton Abbey. I absolutely love the show, and the addition of snuggles, cocoa, and cookies certainly made it that much better.
I've been reading some pretty interesting articles recently, as well, on the Loyalists during the American Revolution. It's a funny topic - everyone knows they existed, their presence is well-documented and well-acknowledged and yet they are still under-studied. Just reading about their treatment in the colonies after the war as well as in Britain (including other parts of the empire) made me realize how little we are actually taught about them. I'm not interested in them personally for research reasons, but I'm part of an Early American History reading group that will meet later this week, and Loyalists are the topic we'll be discussing. If nothing else, the culture of reading groups, seminars, lectures, and workshops outside of any prescribed course activity or my own research is the number one thing I like about being a post-grad at such a large university. That and chatting over tea or pints with my supervisor. Which I must go do now. Ciao!
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