Out on the range

In honour of the aforementioned BlogDay I decided to saddle up and head out over the range, aka the blogosphere, looking for kindred souls and friendly homesteads. Now, I have a problem with most of the blogs I’ve come across so far, which is this – most of the posts in most of the blogs consist mainly of links to other posts in other blogs which contain mostly links… you can see where I’m going with this. Not a criticism, you understand, just not what I’m looking for right now. Nor am I currently actively seeking out collaborators on here, not tonight, I’m taking the evening off.

It’s like this – getting on the boat was easy, free passage for all to the brave new world of web2 pioneers (yes, I’ve an obsession with the American dream, yes I know it’s nothing like the movies, no I’m not going to apologise for it), no customs check, no entry fee, just hook up to a wagon train and away you go. Ah, the glow of the camp fire, the camaraderie, the adventure of it…. but what’s this? A great plain criss-crossed with thousands of roads and thronged with people all pointing this way and that. The wilderness is a metropolis. Good job I like paradoxes.

Mark out a plot, stake a claim and call it home, go looking for rancheros. Windows everywhere (not a pun), choose a likely looking domicile (need to find a hand soon, my horse is getting restless), door’s open, do I really dare go in? No-one’s home, leave a message, wages negotiable, payment in kind preferred, just be there at noon, and by the way I like the way you’ve done up your cabin.

Should I get off the horse now, let it go, before it throws me? It’s quite a high horse after all, and I keep hitting my head on the lintel when I go in… whoah, what am I doing taking my horse into the house? I’m so confused! The world is full of signposts but I’m lost, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for any more. You can probably tell that by the way I’m speaking in metaphor – horses are my ideas, windows are web pages, signposts are, well, signposts.

So, to get to the point, when John drew my attention to BlogDay I thought great, more signposts, more links to links, and whilst part of me really did say “Great! Links from John, gotta be good!” part of me said it in a jaded fashion, have to confess that. Part of the reason is that the methodology of link-culture (did i just invent that phrase?) does not come naturally to me, being organisationally challenged I find it very hard to, it’s enough of a job for me to concentrate on teasing out a framework for the KJT, never mind linking to it in all the “right” places (wherever they may be).

But somehow or other I ended up at a window that isn’t full of signposts, a destination, somewhere to watch the world from, the world my friend Kayiwa knows, though he may view it from a different perspective. Scarlett Lion is a journalistic blog from Kampala, Uganda. The author calls herself a cynic. I don’t know, I don’t really care, I’m just happy she writes so well about what she sees. Right now, that’s just what I need.

And, John, thanks for your friendship and the signposts, they too were just what I (didn’t realise!) need.