As I think this WordPress theme is rather pretty and well-suited to big, pretty pictures, I thought I’d intermittently share some of the finest Creative Commons images I can get my mitts on. Keeps the post-rate up too, eh? I’d take some photos myself, but they are generally awful, unless I use one of those Polaroid app-things that makes even the worst photo look like a beautiful, wistful memory.
As I may have alluded to in the past I used to frequent a fair few blogging tips and advice sites. I’m sure I absorbed some useful information. Yet, pretty soon I figured out that at best they were stating the obvious (“Be nice to your readers! Make your site look pretty!”) and at worst were carny schemers looking to part gullible or trusting people with their money (“Subscribe to my newsletter to become a blogging star! Buy my pdf report to find out how you too can become a Full-Time Blogger!”). Beyond all that, these people were sermonising on how to be a better blogger, yet were often terrible, wooden, formulaic writers. I need never see a How Blogging Is Like *insert cultural influence here* article ever again. Read the rest of this entry »
No real post today, just a futile attempt to keep things ticking along. I would like to say that this was inspired by my desire to stay engaged with my readership, to strike out once again into the big, bad world (wide web). But no. My motivation is that damn site stats page WordPress offers us. If I post something then I’ll (hopefully) get a spike in my stats and a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Read the rest of this entry »
I think what I like about WordPress most is the way the platform helps foster communities and encourages networking amongst its users. Or, to put it another way, it is full of lots of good people, who are fun to read, respond to, and generally get to know. In a non-scary, non-stalker-y sense, I hasten to add. Read the rest of this entry »
A big welcome to everybody who has discovered this blog via the ‘Freshly pressed’ section of the WordPress homepage and read my post On Writing: The romance of the writer from Hemingway to Gladwell.
It’s been wonderful to have so many new visitors, and so many insightful and thoughtful comments, so thank you all for stopping by. It has been a crazy 24 hours for the blog – there’s been more pageviews in the past day than there had been previously in the total life of this blog, up to the point WordPress kindly gave me a plug.
So, to introduce myself, I’m Steve. I live in London, and have been properly knuckling down with this blog over the past six months or so. If you’ve had a nose about, you’ll see that it has predominantly been a blog focused on sport. However, once I hit 100 posts I decided I’d liked to broaden the subjects I cover here. and really blog about whatever interests me. While I expect there will still be plenty of sporting posts, after my unexpected success (exposure is perhaps a more apt word – but sounds a little icky!) yesterday, I’m definitely going to cover other stuff.
What is on the horizon?
In sport, I’m a big football (soccer) fan, so there will be plenty of coverage and commentary on that. I’ve also over the past few years got more and more into baseball. However, I’ve reached the point where I really want (and probably need) to learn some more. So, I’m planning My Baseball Winter, a series of posts where you can follow me getting to grips with some of the different aspects of the sport, be it the history, the statistics, the culture that surrounds it. We’ll see.
In non-sporting posts, I’m currently reading Kingsley Amis’ Every Day Drinking and have got some fun stuff in mind along those lines on the joys and pitfalls of drinking.
I’m sure to cover music too, be it reviews or more general thought-pieces. I’m sure films, books and other art will get a look in too. You know, the usual stuff.
And finally, after yesterday’s post, more writing on, well, writing. I think it is a fascinating subject and I look forward to exploring it some more.
My biggest aim for this blog is to encourage more and more comments from you guys, so please do feel free to add your thoughts. Any suggestions are very welcome, and your comments so far have certainly enriched this blog no end.
If you fancy subscribing to this blog, here is my RSS feed. Otherwise, I do hope some of you find the time to pop along again at some point, and I’ll do my best to visit every person who has been kind enough to comment.
Thanks again!
Steve
PS Please excuse the dreadful trousers/shorts I’m wearing in the picture. I love the picture as it reminds me of a pretty magical day out. I’m a sentimental old thing, really.
Wait until next year 