Faces from the past
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong - Summertime

It never ceases to amaze me how the Internet has made it so easy to make contact with people that we have known in the past and haven't heard from in years.

Idly doing a Google search the other day for one of the RAF stations that I served on, I landed up on a web site in which I saw a picture of a guy I used to play music with back in 1967/8. It was in fact the start of my "career" as a performer, because Andy stirred in me the desire to learn to play the guitar.

We're now in touch again, and since we live not far from each other, we are hopefully going to organise a reunion.

Going Public
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: "Notting Hill" on DVD - one of my favourite movies

I'm always telling my children "if you want your stuff repeated, write it down" - it's the only way you'll ever be able to let your nearest and dearest know how they fit into your life.

Of course, writing provides you with a way of talking to yourself without gathering strange looks from passers-by. Problem is that years later it can come right back at you and cause you considerable embarrassment,  particularly if you no longer agree with what you wrote.

So is there anything at all that you should keep out of a public blog? - I confess not to being too up on the ettiquette of blogging. To my way of thinking, a blog's little more than a diary and I've kept diaries in the past, though never regularly. Should I reveal the innermost secrets of my thoughts, or would a steady stream of negative reporting too easily put a label on me?

Since becoming a depressive about fourteen years ago it hasn't been easy for me to be anything else. I'm not particularly ashamed of that, though I acknowledge it's probably the wrong way of living my life. The fact that I have managed to survive so far, to the extent of coming to the brink of suicide at one point (and ONLY one) gives me some confidence, strangely enough.

OK, then public it is, warts and all. Feel free to comment any way you will and I will try as far as possible to avoid embarrassing others in my blog. That will be hard.

Water under Bridges
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Nowt - it is half past two in the morning

Looking over my site's Guest Book tonight, I see there are several missed opportunities to engage in correspondence with some of the guests. That's entirely due to my laziness, but this is just something I feel I really must put to rights.

The title "Water under Bridges" has very little to do with the recent disastrous summer floods in the UK, but rather an acknowledgement of the length of time I've been ignoring this web site. It has been far too long and now I have a better working PC installed in my bedroom, I have no excuse not to put things to right.

All in a year
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Classical guitar music

Almost a year since I wrote anything here. Well, at least I'm still alive. Just.

I wish I could know just when I am to depart this Earth, 'cause there's so much I've still got to do and I have the devil of a job getting enough energy to do the outstanding tasks.

My beautiful little granddaughter is growing and flourishing. Nearly five months old now!

One of Those (Bad) Days
Mood:  down
Not a good day so far. Have lacked energy all day, with loss of all body strength. It really gets to me when I have to ask for help to stand up. Fell asleep a couple of times, waking up with sweat pouring down my body. Days like this I can do without. Maybe I'll pick up later on eh?

Saturday Night's Alright for Writin'
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: What does this
OK, so I parodied an Elton John song title. So what?

I'm in a writing mood as it happens. Starting this weblog has been something of a wake-up call. Since writing and driving my car are about the only things I can do these days to any great extent, and since writing consumes a lot less petrol (even at today's 86.9p per litre) I thought I'd leave the Focus parked outside the house and drive the keyboard instead.

I haven't yet read up how to use this blog feature on my Angelfire site, so I am playing it by ear. Oh hell - I just used that awful word "blog" again. What a terrible expression. Just saying it makes me think of something very ugly and very boring (kind of like what I see when I look at myself in the mirror every morning!).

Like so many other modern expressions, "blog" has entered the English language (and many others) with hardly a whimper being raised about it. We all know it is a shortening of the words "web log" and at best saves us typing two extra letters and a thump of the space bar. Big deal.

I had better not get started on what the Internet and information technology has done to the English language or we'll be here all night. I'm not old-fashioned and I do expect the language to be flexible and reflect changes in sociology, but I just can't get my head round the idea of "writing up my blog".

So however, if you can't beat 'em - join 'em, eh?

And so it begins.........
Mood:  cool
Hello! I've had this Angelfire web site for a good few years now. Over the past couple of years, I haven't done much with it and in the meantime this "blog" thing has come to pass. I did already start a couple of blogs on other sites, but although the spirit was willing... well, I think you get my drift. So coming to look at my site this morning, I thought it might be appropriate to give it the benefit of a weblog page. So here it is folks - Websterwords Writes. I don't know whether I'm going to update it every day or not, but the idea is appealing at least.