Getting Back on The Hobby Horse

Pffffffft... Pffffffft!

Excuse me, that was just me typographically speaking (If indeed you can speak typographically, clearly this is oxymoronity of the highest order) blowing the cobwebs off from this old blog of mine. It's been almost a year since I last posted anything on't'Internet, and even that was to bemoan the fact that I had apparently forgotten how to type in paragraphs.

So why then have I returned to this dusty and somewhat forgotten corner of my own Internet world?

The answer, put simply, is Twitter.

Twitter is something I signed up to almost two years ago. Having been invited to join in the fun by my good friend and long time MySpazz cohort Douglas. I can recall spending a bit of time configuring my profile page and tweaking bits and bobs. I think I may even have tweeted a grand total of four times.

However, I was lost and suitably underwhelmed by the experience. At that point in time, it just didn't cut the mustard as far as comparing it to the interactive experiences I had gained from being on MySpace and even Facebook. So inevitably I abandoned it. Almost immediately. I just couldn't understand it and at that time, not even Stephen Fry was making the waves he eventually went on to do. From that point onwards, the only contact I ever had from Twitter was an occasional mail update letting me know I was being followed by a Spambot or three.

So, how then did I come to be reunited with Twitter and ultimately this blog and er, typing in paragraphs?

Well I'll tell you. Or at least I'll tell myself, as quite conceivably, I'll be the only one who'll be reading this guff. The answer to the above question again is simple. Technology. Or I suppose more accurately, jiggered technology. The "jiggered technology" in question was my old Zen Creative Mp3 player. Sadly it died a miserable and ignominious death, having leapt like an electronical Lemming from my top pocket to the cold hard, unforgiving ground.

This may seem like an unlikely happenstance to bring about my reunification with both Twitter and blogging, but bear with me.

Now bereft of an Mp3 player, clearly I had to seek a replacement. Having had the Zen for what seemed like an eternity, and also some loose change wearing a hole in my pocket, I managed to convince the missus that an iPod Touch was clearly the only sensible replacement option.

Okay, so I know I'm late to the party in the technological gadgetry stakes, but firmly believe in the old if slightly amended adage "if it ain't broke, don't seek to resort to wanton, rampant consumerism to unnecessarily replace it". In any event, I was blown away by the veritable box of magical tricks the iPod turned out to be, having entertained myself with adding the vast majority of my CD collection to it and rating the songs. Playing Angry Birds and being able to watch videos in the palm of my hand on the bus home... through this sleek little beast I was finally living in the future parts of my childhood had always wanted (especially the pocket TV aspect).

Having gone on an App adding frenzy, inevitably Twitter was eventually added, and BANG, that was it. Suddenly, held in the palm of my hand Twitter made sense to me. I know I'm not alone in this as a number of friends have expressed similar views.

The thing is, the old MySpace blog withered on the vine as I, like so many others made the mass exodus to Facebook. Facebook was an entirely different beast to MySpace, and the truth of it is, having a bunch of former school friends, work colleagues and relatives metaphorically prying over my shoulder into my more extensive musings did not appeal. So there just didn't seem any point in musing any further.

Twitter on the other hand has given me a new lease of life. I am enjoying the relative anonymity, meeting new, entertaining and interesting people. I relish the challenge of reigning in my notorious grandiloquence to 140 characters and attempting to both get my point across and make it entertaining to read.

So in many respects I am reminded of how I felt when blogging on MySpace was fun. It has also caused me to start thinking similarly to the way in which I did back then. A part of my psyche that has lain dormant for far to long feels as though it's been kicked back into gear again and for this I am thankful.

I have no idea whether this means regular blogitudinalism or not, but I suspect I may be able to rustle up a word or twelve now and then and post it on here. Who knows, I may even be able to use Twitter to let folk know when this occurs.

Luv'n'Cuddlz

TheBlogtometrist xx