Books, Inq.

Books, Inq.: I have problems with Google ... Frank Wilson of Books, Inq. has not only linked to my post (somewhere below) on this topic, but writes that there is much of interest on Petrona today (yesterday). What a lovely and generous thing to say. Trouble is, now I can't think of anything the least bit interesting to post. One reason is that as I've become so involved in blogging -- both in creating Petrona, and in reading everyone else's fascinating blog entries, which cause many intriguing and distracting thought-processes -- I have disappeared into a series of ever-decreasing circles of reading and commenting, which takes up even that tiny bit of time in which I try to read and think (ie when I am not working, commuting, attending to the girls or doing the domestic routine). The law of diminishing returns has kicked in, so now I need to go and read a book or something like that, in order to have some linear thoughts instead of circular ones. I'm in the middle of a book by Elaine Viets at the moment, which is so readable that I should be able to finish it and move on, once I can tear myself away from the screen. I must say that (echoing similar sentiments about the positive power of blogging in a different context by Jenny D at Light Reading) blogging has made such a difference to my life in the very few months that I've been trying it. Before I tried it, I had incorrectly thought that the Internet was a huge disorganised place outside the confines of "proper, published" sites. I had no idea how easy it would be to hone in on interesting, individual blogs and articles (courtesy rss and rss readers). The ability to interact on other people's blogs, and to write about the thoughts you have as a result of reading blogs/articles by people with overlapping or related interests, is just so uplifting - quite an antidote to the "malignant sadness" (as Lewis Wolpert terms it). And thank you, Frank. I am very touched by your kind remarks. [weblog] [musing]