Variety is the spice of blogging

During my opted hiatus from blogging (one needs thinking time you know) I spent some moments looking at other blogs around the planet – well the ones in English anyway.

You’d be amazed at how many blogs there are written just about the art of blogging... literally there are blogs suggesting what to blog on, with things like ‘topic lists’ and ‘hot subjects’ etc.

And there’s me thinking it was all random and pot luck!

So as an ‘easy in’ to launch my November blogs, I found such a list of topics and gave them a few thoughts as to whether I fancied doing a blog on them myself…

15 Random Blogging Topics

1.    The worst movie you ever saw at the cinema, and why…

Yeah there’s possibly life in this one, but I’m not sure how many would have heard of ‘Mac & Me’?

2.    That one time you told a huge lie and got away with it

Me tell a huge lie? Never! Although there is the 1987 egg throwing story that has since been confessed to. Honestly we thought the house was empty! No harm was done and no-one got hurt. Not least the poor old dear living alone inside.

Yes I feel guilty.

3.    Five things that freak you out (spiders, toes, etc.)

Plenty of scope here, but it might give people ideas in how to frighten me! I’ll mention one though: The Muppets

4.    A letter to your 16 year old self. What advice would you give?

I suspect things like this could send out the wrong messages, so I might avoid this one!

5.    Your first love / kiss, and don’t skip the awkward details

Avoid! Mainly because I still know those involved!

6.    The day you started blogging. What were you thinking?

I was thinking ‘would anybody really be interested?’ – That thought still hasn’t changed! Seriously though, as mentioned in my Opinions blog, I’m genuinely just doing it for fun, and I just wanted to write about things that interest me and I’ve found that I gain a lot of enjoyment in doing so. So I’ve probably covered this one already!

7.    An anti-bucket list: the things you hope to never do before you die

Aha now this I think I could do. Sounds a bit pessimistic, which might dissuade me – but it might be fun to consider.

8.    Your earliest childhood memory

Plenty of early memories, but the earliest is probably too boring to write about, unless you find q-tips and washing machines entertaining?

9.     What your Facebook status might be in 2018

10.  What you’re addicted to, and why

Crisps. Boring. Next.

11.  Write your obituary

A touch too morbid for me, and I’m not sure if I like judging my own achievements

12.  Write a FAQ-C {Frequently Asked Questions by Children} post

I have a plethora of examples to hand. Might be worth a crack!

13.  Who people think you are, compared to who you really are

Hmmm this is always extremely subjective. One’s desired perception may often be miles from reality!

14.  Your ideal meal and which celebrities would you invite to it

Sounds quite do-able. Do they need to still be alive though?

15.  Share a secret you’ve never told anyone. Until now

As if!

Watch this space…

Reunions

On another forum I subscribe to, there was recently a debate about whether to attend school reunions. It was a mixed bag of comments, but a definite stronger leaning towards negativity:

The negative comments:

“The same clicky groups still existed”

“Shouldn’t have gone – far too much water had passed under the bridge”

“I don't feel the need to catch up with a bunch of people I didn't really like in school”

“If I wanted to keep in contact with my friends I would have done”

“Full of people looking to boast how well they're doing and bore you with baby photos – too many hideous look at ‘me-ers’… a bit like most people's Facebook page!“

The positive comments:

“It was absolutely brilliant, people chatting like there had never been a gap”

“I felt good to see my old school friends again”

“We recounted hilarious memories and stories – I’m so glad I went”

“It was great meeting two of my oldest mates, but it didn't give me any burning desire to rekindle old friendships.”

In my experience and research, the last comment possibly sums up quite a few people’s views. ‘Yes it was good to see an old mate, but we won’t be sending Christmas cards this year and it’s likely I’ll not see them again for equally as long a time…’

One other person made the observation that the key to a successful reunion (be it school, work or otherwise) is for the participants to have actually been friends once upon a time. A reunion with those that you vaguely knew or didn’t like could quite easily be rather dull and / or awkward.

As a result of old class mates joining the Friends Reunited website around the turn of the millennium, a ten year school reunion was organised in 2002. Personally I was well up for it, so I wilfully attended.

My impression at the end of the night was that it was a roaring success as around a hundred classmates from the ‘Class of 1992’ were able to attend and I honestly didn’t see an ego in sight. Everyone was incredibly friendly to each other and any daft gripes had been rightfully left in the past.

And whilst I wouldn’t say that my school years were the very best of my life, that night proved to me that, on the whole, those years were pretty good actually.

The only disappointing aspect for me was that some of my very closest friends wouldn’t / couldn’t attend, and I really think they missed out on a great night. Maybe they would disagree!

I recall one such friend (with whom I’d maintained contact since school) stating that he wouldn’t go because – to his mind – hardly anybody liked him. The truth was that many asked after him on the night and he was incredibly well loved. Perception is a very strong emotion.

A few years later a couple of mini reunions were organised, but had very few attendees, and the 20 year anniversary came and went without anyone noticing.

My guess about the lack of enthusiasm since that terrific night in 2002, is that the social networking era we now live in has probably negated the need for such events.

Nowadays you have even greater control and choice, and near enough anyone you want to get in contact with can quite easily be found on Facebook – and likewise you can ignore a lot of people too!

People knock Facebook a lot, but it has its place. For some, it’s clearly a hub for inane gossip, drivel and bitching – but for many others it’s a genuinely powerful support mechanism. Just ask people who have gone through relationship break ups, or suffered bereavements.

I’ve connected with people on Facebook that I barely knew at school, and the kindness they showed me when I needed it was overwhelming at times, so I personally am extremely grateful for social networking, as it helped me no end.

I digress!

So is there a place for reunions still? Well possibly, but you might find the numbers diminishing in this age of when everyone knows everything about everyone.

A Reunion Party Vs Lack of Privacy.

What’s more scary for you baby?