a tentative return

I'm not sure that I've missed blogging.  I've been away for almost a year - not away from home, or away from my computer, but away from the practice of sharing selected thoughts with anyone who is tempted to stop by my blog.

It wasn't a momentous decision.  For some months I'd been running out of time to blog.  I had plenty to say - my brain didn't stop working and I continued to react to the world.  But work was taking over much more of my time and I also felt an inclination to spend more time in writing poetry and fiction.  And, as I stayed away from the blogosphere, the idea of a return seemed increasingly momentous - and I feared the extra demands it would make on my time.

Perhaps I also needed some time away.  Sometimes an absence from engagement in a particular activity provides a useful opportunity to reflect and gather thoughts together.  I'd like to think it's been a helpful pause as well as a hectic one.

But I've decided to return, and for no better reason than this: it's a rainy afternoon and I felt a sudden inclination to go back to Blogger.  If I were living in the time of the Odyssey, I'd say a god moved me.  That's what people in the Odyssey say when they make a decision for which they can't account in any other way.  I'm re-reading the Odyssey in the moment so that way of seeing the world is much in my mind.

I had a few ideas about what to say in this post but I'm still distracted by blogger's latest re-design.  Like most people, I'm conservative in familiar practices, which is a way of saying I don't want to relearn things I think I already know. (I still cook in pounds and ounces.)  I'm still trying to work out how to find the various functions I need on the dashboard, and hope I am doing everything right.  It's uncomfortable to be so uncertain about something I thought I could manage.  Perhaps soon I'll be used to the new design.

Meanwhile, I think I'll leave this where it is, add a few labels, press publish and see how this works.  If all goes well, I may post again soon.  If so, I'll try to write something with a little more substance, in case my readers are still out there.  And if you are, hello!

Mirroring

I've been blogging at yahoo since December 2006. I liked my little yahoo blog. It started casually, on Boxing Day, when I had nothing to do. I thought I'd let a few friends know about it and keep it as a sort of public journal. But I started commenting on other people's blogs, and visitors started dropping by. The blog ranged further than I'd expected but I enjoyed its modest layout, and seeing what I could do within yahoo's format.

For the past couple of months, yahoo has been playing up. Those friends and visitors who managed to post comments, said how difficult it was. I found it hard to access my own blog and comments, and I knew it was there. So I've finally decided to mirror the blog on Blogger. I'll start by posting a few old posts and then add to it.

Of course, Blogger won't be the same. A blog depends on its look and a good blog should be written with a sense of its layout and the potential of its format. I'll have to get used to the template I've found on Blogger - and I'll gradually build up this site.

I'll try to post everything at both sites for a while. I don't know how well it will work.