Russell Kirkpatrick's Journal
I'm not interesting enough to have a blog
20-Aug-2006
I've read the blogs of interesting people. What I don't understand is how they manage to be busy and interesting at the same time. Gillian, Glenda, Jenny, I'm talking about you. I'm busy enough, but I'm not interesting enough to have a blog.
Why not?
I don't live in an exotic country. Well, I'm constantly surprised by people who think New Zealand is exotic. To me, New Zealand spoiled the Lord of the Rings movies. I'd grown up with the exotic otherness of Middle Earth, and I couldn't suspend my disbelief when at the movies I saw scene after scene I'd seen, mountains I'd climbed, rivers I'd tramped beside. And it's so small here. It only takes three hours to drive from one side to the other. Actually, only two up here in Hamilton. I can't breathe.
I'm not part of some celebrated minority. I'm the archetypal W.A.S.P. A hard-working well-off middle aged white man. Hmmm, no stories there.
I don't have a dysfunctional family. Actually, nice as my brothers and sisters are, I have very little contact with them. We're all so different. I'm the oldest, the next in line (Mike) is a black-haired dark-skinned ex-bodybuilder who runs a graphic arts business and acts as a hunters' guide. A real rugged outdoorsman. My days of going outside are well and truly over. Next is Karen, a dedicated parent with a fascinating assortment of children. Finally the twins, James and Kerry, distressingly sensible and kindhearted, not wizened and selfish like me. My two boys are well-behaved and surprisingly normal. Not anecdote fodder. Certainly not when they know I blog.
The only interesting thing about me is the people I meet. And, in recent times, that includes lots of writers, professional and amateur. I'm constantly amazed by their dedication, their depth and breadth of knowledge and their strong opinions.
Ah well, I think I'll go back to editing my novel while watching the telly. On telly WEL is playing HBR. WEL is Wellington. They could well be playing the Hebrews, although I think it is North Harbour.
I'm grumpy because I want to be playing golf and listening to music and making my atlas and editing my novel and playing my guitar and writing my next novel and playing board games with my family and watching a movie and reading a book and watching the rugby and patting the cat and surfing the net and no-one has yet invented parallel lives.
Argh.
Why don't you post about your ordinariness and I bet the rest of us will find it fascinatingly non-ordinary.
I agree with you about Jenny and Glenda. They have fascinating lives, those two. And Jenny's lists are hilarious *and* educational.
Glenda's are cool too :)
Your fans just like to know you're thinking of them enough to write a little tidbit every so often. Cheers, we're all reading avidly.
-Megan
(Seriously, I don't have the strong opinions or exotic country that Glenda has to draw upon, nor the madcap life that Jenny has, and definitely not the fascinating academic background that Gillian has. I just have an ordinary house extension, occasional chronic fatigue, and a whole lot of private stuff I wouldn't dream of putting into even a semi-private blog.)
I know the problem.
I am trying hard to keep my blog going as blogging seems to be a good way to keep in touch with interesting people like yourself, but what do you talk about if you aren't a Glenda Larke, Jenny Fallon or even a Gillian Pollock (I'm a second-hand book dealer on the side and am in envy of Gillian's private collection as revealed in her blog).
Now I am in the process of experimenting with new and interesting things so people will come and look at it because my life is not interesting enough in itself.
Keep on blogging.
Phill.
And I think I am mundane and about as interesting to look at as dead seaweed.
New Zealand, now...