Captain Shirty's (b)Log

Swine Flu Sanitising

2009-08-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

Hey, restaurant guests!

I know you're paranoid about catching swine flu, despite my scepticism about the threat level.

I also understand that you feel that hygienic wipes and gels are absolutely necessary.

However, I don't think that sanitising yourself at the dining table is good manners. There are other people eating around you, and they don't need to witness your ablutions, and neither do I. As far as I know, we still have a perfectly acceptable bathroom to do this kind of thing in, and last time I checked it hadn't been declared ground zero for the pandemic.

I'm even less impressed by your tendency to leave your used wipes on the table for me and my colleagues to pick up. I won't come to your house and leave my used hankies in your dining room if you agree to afford me the same level of respect. Deal?

I'm just saying is all...

Mobile Blogging

2009-08-29T01:23:00.001-07:00

Blogging on the go.

Is there any limit to the reach of online technology?

A book worth reading...

2009-08-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

I've been thinking about this book recently, and how I should read it again for the, um, 25th time or so. Yeah, it's that good. I've been recommending it to friends for years, and I hope I've created lots more fans.

Like a priest with a past, the intriguing thing about the book is the background story to the author and it's publication.

John Kennedy Toole tried to have this book published for years and kept getting turned away by (idiotic) publishing houses. In exasperation, he committed suicide. His mother took up the cause after his death, and through sheer determination she managed to get it published. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1979.

Ironic? Take a lesson, Ms. Morrissette.

Read it for yourself, its worth the time.

What am I doing here?

2009-08-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I have no idea.

Ya know, up to now I thought blogging was a load of nonsense. Just a bunch of Dungeons & Dragon types sitting in their rooms/cubicles/hospitals (delete as applicable), typing out a far more interesting life than they actually had. Or worse still, a bunch of self-promoting egotists preaching into a mostly un-interested cyberspace.

And now I'm here, starting my own. What's changed? Well, anyone that knows me knows I'm usually not short of something to say about most subjects. So now I get to do it here instead of boring my friends and colleagues (usually as drunk as I am, mind you).

And I attended an event today about online marketing and social networking (I handle PR and Marketing for work), and I was surprised to find myself intrigued by the bloggers who attended the event. They were normal, funny, entertaining, just regular guys. And suddenly the blog that I had considered writing didn't seem such a ridiculous proposition after all.

So, what to write about? My bf just asked me that very question - "What the hell do you have to write about?" Well, anything I feel like. The world's my oyster.

Shit. I need to go have a really really long think......