Have blog, might get sued

As Graybo says (and he’s probably correct) the article Dating A Blogger, Reading All About It, this article will probably be linked all over the place by the end of the week. It’s an interesting piece, showing how bloggers sometimes write too much about their personal lives, their colleagues, and their thoughts. The phrase “I need an editor” seems to apply to a lot of them – either that or “I need some more braincells” – there’s a distinct air of naïvety to the people who comment, considering how they “don’t expect” friends/family/employers to find them. *Bows to the power of Google*

Personally, I’ve stuck with the pseudonym Lyle – it’s a safety barrier, but I also try not to leave myself open completely. There are levels to everything – I know someone once said that people are like onions, that getting to know them is like peeling the onion, going through all the layers. For me, that’s also what a site/blog is like – there’s no point writing absolutely every thought, emotion, and possibility down – it leaves you too open, and it’s too easy for people to find themselves, or find what their friends think of them. That, for me, isn’t what it’s about.

But don’t ask what it is about either – I don’t know. I just write what I want – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m happy with what’s on here, and there’s no-one I wouldn’t want to see what I’ve written. And maybe that’s what it’s all about – being the same as anything else we do, where you never leave yourself completely open to everyone – it depends how well you know someone as to how deeply you let them in.

Next of Kin

When, as today, I’m filling in paperwork for contracts, work-places and so on I never fill in the “Next of Kin” information. I’ve had arguments with people about this before – so I’m wondering what the problem is that they have with me not providing this information. So far as I’m concerned, if anything short of fatal happens, I’ll be able to handle it one way or another (the joys of work-related insurance etc. *Grin*) and if it were fatal then I’ve always got the donor card in my wallet, along with contact information there.

But my family are at least 200 miles and 4 hours away, should anything ever happen – and I wouldn’t want to cause them that much stress in the first place. If there were an accident, I couldn’t contact them to drive me home or whatever. I don’t have a partner, or children, so those options are out too. So really, I don’t have any next of kin that are of any use unless I’m dead – in which case they’re notified anyway. But some people see it as unreasonable for me to not fill in a Next of Kin form, so I ask you this : Is it a case of being selfish/unreasonable to not list a family member or whatever, or simply realistic?

I don’t believe it</meldrew>

As an exercise in shudder-inducing TV, it sounds like the “Celebrity” version of Wife Swap is yards ahead of the competition.
Richard and Judy, for frig’s sake. But that’s not the best of it – “Celebrity” now apparently includes the couple who cheated on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and also – God help us all – Jade from Big Brother, and her boyfriend. It sounds like the televisual equivalent of a major road crash.

No Shit, Sherlock

As expected, the jealous ex-wife Rena Salmon has been found guilty of murdering her husband’s lover. Really, from the media coverage of this case, it was the only real option for the verdict – it’s hard to persuade a jury that you didn’t know what you were doing when you’ve managed to con a locksmith into opening up the gun cabinet, drove the 60-odd miles to London, and then shot the other woman twice.

What does amaze me though is the concept, as GreenFairy says in her May 7th post (permalinks appear to be keffed, so you’ll have to find the day yourself), that it’s better to go after the lover/mistress/whatever of your partner, rather than going for the one who’s actually done the betraying and the cheating. I’m sure there’s a logic there, but it’s beyond me to work out what it is.

Open comments

To the couple with matching umbrellas : It’s very sweet, seeing you walking down the street hand-in-hand, with his’n’hers umbrellas keeping you both in your little oasis of dryness. However, it’s a complete pain in the arse when you won’t let go of each other, and you’re walking through the narrowest parts of the street, so no-one can get past you. In fact, it makes people want to take the umbrellas, and use them as tools for drumming up business for proctologists.

To the inventor of musical ringtones : My God, I hope you’ve died in the most painful way possible. Sitting on a bus surrounded by mobiles ringing with (in rough order) Walting fucking Matilda, the Nokia signature tune, the Flight of the Fucking Bastard Bumblebee, and Mission Im-sodding-possible, as well as some self-obsessed braindead gimp who thought he’d best find a new ringtone by trying all the ones he’d got, I found myself praying that you end up in a subterranean hell that’s sponsored by bastard Nokia.

Chuff

Ah, I love it when things suddenly slam together to make life really awkward. As of Monday, I’m working for a month for a company called Amaze in Liverpool. However, this also means I’ve had to postpone a dentist’s appointment for next week, and will have to look at re-organised train times for when I’m travelling to see friends for the bank holiday weekend.

Fun, fun fun.

Professional Skiving

via Slashdot, a truly brilliant article from the online Wall Street Journal about how people are finding new ways to look like they’re working when they’re not. Print it off, make it your bible. *Grin*