Professor Grumpy taught the band to play. Or rather that I began this blog. It's become increasingly quiet over the past few years. This is not because I consciously gave up on it. I have many, many half-finished blog posts on my computer/s/iPad etc. I did experiment with other forms of engagement - a Facebook Page and then a Group, neither of which turned out so well in that they brought the sorts of personal abuse that I can a: do without, and b: that I no longer have the resilience to deal with. Partly it's been the result of a bit of a collapse in self-confidence, related to mental health issues (the old Black Dog) that have dogged me (no pun intended) for as long as I can remember but which have become quite acute since maybe 2013, especially since 2015. I hope that such personal revelations don't make you uncomfortable, dear reader; I think it's important to be up-front about such things. That said, I think I may be on the up again since then, not least owing to a change in my private life and a concrete 'exit strategy' with relation to academia and my 'career' and I have been meaning to start blogging more regularly again for some time.
Some of the issues with Blogger that led me effectively to close this version of the blog down and start a parallel version of the blog seem to have waned. This makes me want to start running this 'main site' properly again, not least because it is the one with almost of all of my blog followers, though I might keep them both going in tandem.
I also had an interesting conversation about turning some of the blog posts into a book. Whether or not anything comes of that remains to be seen but it is (for me) an exciting idea.
Anyway, to those who still visit this page, thanks for bearing with me.