It's sad that my first blog should be reserved for such negativity. But what do you want? A diary of hillwalking (today I walked up Moel Famau, ate a squashed sandwich, drank tea from a submarine-sized Thermos flask, shivered, came back down again)? A commentary on the seasonal changes in my garden (a leaf just fell...and there goes another one!)? How about "My day at the office" (went to the kitchen to clean the cups - be gone with you, you smelly three-week old scum marks!)? Or, eek, my fingers are trembling here, "My day" (well, apart from cleaning three-week old scum marks from the office cuppery, today was just like yesterday - refer to entry above)?
Because it's my first blog, I thought about using it for something clever. But then I'd have to write it.
In any case, there's nothing like a good old fashioned rant. Besides, I've seen other blogs that appear to be nothing but a stream of rants (some constructive). A lot have a common thread and it's clear what gets their goat. Others are just reading the Daily Mail while they type.
So, in my writing class the other night, inspired by a campaigning globetrotter who's seen and done some pretty incredible things, I started earnestly with this:
"The public sector in Wales is sucking the life out of the private sector. To put it another way, your taxes are paying for the erosion of the country's wealth."
But that's rubbish, isn't it? It's boring. Who cares? Who in their right mind will sit at a computer and read pages about that? There's a messageboard on the BBC website called "Have Your Say" and it's bursting with negativity (my kind of reading). People can type a short message about whatever the news topic of the day is, and then get an e-buzz when they see their prose in pixels. It's the variety of topics, and the brevity of peoples' opinions, which makes it weirdly compelling reading.
So yes, the public sector is sucking the life out of the private sector in Wales, but it's not sexy or soundbitey enough to go into here.
Today's topic on Have Your Say is immigration. Too right. But I have more weightier concerns. Such as, the overuse in spoken English of the word "amazing." Listen to any interview of a half-intelligent person on the street, or a quasi-intelligent celebrity, and wait for the word "amazing." You'll be, er, astounded.
Tomorrow's hot topic: Why do we refer to people as "legends" when they're neither historical nor mythical figures?
