It’s weeks since my last post and I started this new blog to try and start over again, only to find I’m the same as I was before – for years. That should tell me something, shouldn’t it? Nevertheless, I’ll keep trying.
I do procrastinate badly, and I suspect that it has prevented me from achieving about 2/3rds of what I might have done had I lived up to the unrealistic image I have of myself. But I have achieved quite a lot in my seventy-seven years, and have gathered the sweet fruits of labours in terms of a reasonably successful career in lecturing chemistry, being married for 50 years and have 3 beautiful grown, mature children, and growing 4 grandchildren. I own my own house, am reasonably healthy if you disregard highly challenging sciatica, and a bubbling, but controlled depression.
I have a couple of good computers, my own web site elfram.com, in which I’ve stuffed a ton of material, some of it interesting or even unique. And I enjoy reading, which I can do quickly. Here’s the thing: there is a huge amount of interesting, useful, valuable, educating and amusing stuff to be followed up in the net, that when I go on after my ( usually late) breakfasts, it’s usually lunchtime before I even finish reading the news and politics. Sometimes I even finish reading Facebook.
And regardless of what you say, Facebook is a valuable, interesting net-space, where I have about 134 “friends”. And if I skip over the twee and the rubbish, pick up the informative, amusing and entertaining stuff, follow something up and add in some nice comments, or even add in some interesting posts myself, then I feel it’s been worthwhile.
But just as an example, just in the last hour (while continually shifting the sprinklers around the garden every 10 minutes), I’ve read one topic in the highly recommended Australian political and academic TV show and web-site The Drum. I didn’t even finish, because I’m guilty as to how much time it takes out of my day. Here’s a link to the political discussion of journalist Nikki Savva’s latest book on the relationship between previous PM Tony Abbott and his fearful Chief of Staff Peta Credlin. This, including especially the Comments section, is an example of how easily a great deal of time can be eaten up, but engaging if you’re interested in Australian politics, as I certainly am.
“Must try harder – could do better if tried.”
Seen in so many school reports.
