A hearty welcome to my little blog. Before long, I will fill this page with notes about the blog and about me.
In the meantime, please be free to read at your leisure and write whatever comments that may come to mind. Just click the HOME tab above to begin.
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Welcome to my blog.
Whether you came through my door by choice or by chance, I am glad to ‘meet’ you. Of course, I hope you enjoy your visit and hope you’ll come again often. But that will depend on how interested you are in my opinions and (I suppose) how much you agree with them and on how much you want to argue with them.
I wish I could write a sparkling introduction to my blog which would leave you in no doubt as to my talents, my accomplishments and my assured future. But if I could do that honestly, I would not be writing a blog ; for good or ill, I would be doing something altogether different.
Who am I?
Just an idler, really. Nowadays I do far more watching of the world than wrangling with it. I should explain that Jamie M is not my real name but one I chose just for blogging.
Why do I write?
I have wanted to write for as long as I can remember ; but time and chance conspired against me in my working days. One has to earn a living with whatever talents one has – and I have no illusions about being a talented writer! But now I have the occasions and the opportunities ; and, actually, I do feel enthusiastic about a number of things which did not seem so important once upon a time.
Very well, I admit that I’m touched by a certain vanity. But, more than that, I find writing helps to straighten my thoughts in a way that casual discussion does not. Didn’t Bacon have something to say about that?
What do I write about?
Dare I say that I am fairly eclectic? In another time and maybe another place I might have been an essayist – not that I would or could have challenged an Emerson or a Swift. But essays nowadays are called blog-posts, is that not so? And we each have a licence to do it, no? So I write about a range of things. A blog-post usually starts with an idea and then follows it through ; it’s a kind of meditation, and often I have no notion of where it will end up.
So, what do I write about? It’s the ‘about’ that matters, for I try not to be too focused and too technical ; unless, that is, it’s a technical subject. I have no ‘message’. If I write about politics, psychology, beliefs, education, history, or fly fishing – it is not to persuade ; it is to open up discussion and stimulate ideas.
What’s important to me?
Nothing and everything. Nothing, because there is little we do in this world that is terribly important in the grand scheme. Everything, because I believe we are here for a reason ; and the little that we do helps shape the world so as to right its wrongs.
How important are your comments?
Very important. What is the point of communicating unless it’s a two-way thing? I might add that your comments might be important to you, too ; for why read unless you have an opinion on what you have read? (And no opinion is too slight to communicate.) So all comments, however brief, are welcome. And I will try to respond to each one. And people tell me that I am very polite 🙂
lovely meditations. you live life.
thanks for your reflections.
Thank you for your kind thoughts, Genoveva. You are most welcome to call at any time.
Hello Jamie,
I am nominating you for the “The Versatile Blogger Award”
Check it out: Written Words Never Die > http://wp.me/1YE83
Congratulations,
Eric Alagan
How very kind of you, Eric, to make that nomination – though I doubt I truly deserve it, for there are so many good bloggers around.
I hope you enjoyed your Christmas, and now look forward to a cheery New Year.
Thank you,
Jamie.
Sharing blogs
Sharing life
Sharing joy
Sharing thoughts
Good morning, Dumb77, and welcome to my blog. But most of all, thank you for your thoughts on sharing.
Would you say that sharing is the most important thing we can do?
Hi Jamie
It may surprise that I have just read your opening Post for the first time; my attention was in other places at the time you started out at WordPress.
It was listed for me by WordPress in their notification about people who click the “Like” button in someone else’s Post as you did in my most recent effort when I was pondering the sour state of affairs in life and reminded me that it is time to look at the bright side for a while.
I have watched the first DVD and enjoyed it though I miss out on some of the dialog with my “new” hearing affliction. But the second one looks great and I shall handle it bit by bit not to miss anything.
Thanks for being there when you were needed.
Ike
Good morning, Ike,
For people of our generation there is quite a lot to be gloomy about ; for we can see the awful follies being erected by politicians and ‘intellectuals’ who ought to know better. We can see how the young are being cheated out of a decent life, with empty promises and empty amusements to keep them quiet.
But there are many reasons for hope. There are many reasons for faith and charity. For hasn’t the world always had its ups and downs, just as individuals have. Progress has ever been patchy and uneven. But progress there has been! The world is morally very different from what it was a thousand years ago, even if today things are looking shaky. But this tide is turning, as did all the others.
I’m glad you have seen the first DVD – interestingly, I have become a bit deaf lately and tend to miss bits of speech at first hearing. Film makers are so fond of giving us just snatches of dialogue, aren’t they? They do it to give the film its ‘pace’, but they forget that we oldies find it hard to follow. But a second showing usually fills the gaps.
Enjoy the Candleford DVD! The acting is really good (and you can ignore the historical inaccuracies!) .
All the best,
Jamie.
Thanks old Friend.
Ike
Jamie, I have just fallen over your blog site. It is in my favourites list so you can expect some hopefully constructive but probably opposing views in the coming months….:-)
Hullo, Gaz, and welcome to my little haven – how did you get past the doorman? … 🙂
I shall have to write some special poems and pieces for you, just so that you may leave some perceptive remarks. 🙂