Blogger, Bloggist or Blah Blah Blah?

I am going to start my career as a blogger or bloggist by pondering why we have such things, who writes them and why?

I have always preferred to remain a fairly private person, despite my occasional rantings and offerings of far too much information when asked an opinion, trying to secure my place in conversations or caught in the throes of enthusiastic banter. After all, I didn't get a mobile phone until 2008 when my job forced me to and even then I only gave out the number to a handful of people, believing if I wasn't at home, it wasn't a convenient time.

Yes, I am on facebook but I joined reluctantly as a means to stay in touch with friends who shared my stubborn streak by refusing to use e-mails and exclusively living by the book. Since joining, it has had both its merits and irritations. I have re-found friends I lost touch with, had a nosey at those people I knew in my school days who would most probably have fascinating lives and used it as a giant back-up storage unit for the thousands of photos I took during my travels. I have watched in disbelief as people obsessively become “facebook whores” frantically befriending anything that moves, others find the time to constantly update their status and the misguided try to befriend someone they most probably detested in adolescent years.

So why now I am starting this blog- something that will theoretically put me in the public eye (if anyone reads it) and be yet another thing to add to my seemingly already chaotic life? I spent a year on the road carefully sending e-mails and posting lengthy facebook entries for friends and family to read rather than share my ups and downs with the whole world through a blog.

While pretending to be Scottish with friends at the weekend the topic of blogs came up and they were deemed narcissistic, a view I can understand. Thinking my life is so enthralling others should read about it is not the motive behind this project. I am not documenting any life changing event but attempting to embark on a career in the media industry, which I suppose could be life-changing if I ever achieve lift-off. Trying to crack the media egg means you have to be multi-skilled and like Mario jump between platforms to embrace the media's buzz word, “convergence”. In the current climate of job shortages and the belief the web is threatening traditional publications, getting that first job is becoming an increasingly soul-destroying task.

In an attempt to embrace all technologies, prove that I can do it and document some of the wild imaginings of friends and strangers, Digesting the Fat will be the start of a long-term desire to write a column based around the mysterious silent workings of strangers, the musings of friends and random daily and weekly observations.

Disclaimer: Although I will try to keep this remotely separate from who I am, my sporadic ponderings may force you to experience a little of me.