Monday 30 May 2005

random, tenuously related thoughts

The proofreading is over, praise be. I enjoyed it, but as the same time, it was exhausting, and took up all the time I would normally devote to fruitlessly worrying about the agonisingly slow rate of progress currently happening in PhD land. I'll do my best to make up for lost time, now.

I finished Ian McEwan's Saturday over the weekend, and this afternoon: only found two typos, but both are extremely bad and obvious. Other than that, the novel didn't blow me away - maybe I'll write a bit about why, sometime this week.

Over morning tea last week, the subject of blogging arose, in connection with the life writing subject another proofreader's teaching in. The older people at the table shook their heads. "I think it's like tattoos" said one. He meant, bound to be regretted sooner or later. I wonder if that's true.
I haven't discussed my blog with any of the people at my university, and to the best of my knowledge, nobody there knows about it. I certainly wouldn't be bothered to find out people I know in non-blog life have read what i've written here; but because I can't imagine actually telling friends and colleagues about my blog without feeling like a spruiker ("hey, would you like to read my sort-of diary? Here's the address!"), instead I feel almost as if I'm trying to conceal its existence. 'Tis a funny one, that. Well, tattoos aren't so bad. The worst thing really would be to go along not doing things because you were afraid they might have embarrassing or inconvenient consequences later on.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmn ... as someone who originally concealed her blog's existence, only to let a few people in occasionally, after 3 years it seemed that EVERYONE I knew knew about it, whether by my admission or someone else's (and, the spruiking on my behalf was something I sometimes didn't like too much ... and then had to wonder why I cared about being so secretive with only certain people and not with the faceless mass). So, it really is a tricky one, Laura. However, I think the tattoo comparison is sort of different. I don't think I'd ever regret my blog in the same way I'd probably regret that tattoo of Robert Smith I intended on getting on my thigh in 1990, if I ever went ahead and got it!

momo

Ampersand Duck said...

Someone I know only vaguely in a professional sense found my blog quite accidentally by googling a relevant subject. So now I'm a bit careful naming names and places.

BTW I meme'd you. Sorry. But I like your work.

BwcaBrownie said...

oh kids let me tell you how wonderfully liberating it is to be OLD and not give a damn about anything I do anymore. when one is a parent or partner, one has an obligation not to tip the shared canoe of 'family', but now I am free, and if the Australian wants to put my blog on their front page then let 'em.

Laura you probably know all about this Austen thing anyway heres a link
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1495780,00.html