Procrastination and the next blog button

Hullo ma wee blog,

I had stuff I really should have been doing of course. I had a dozen things in a mental list; two loads of washing, empty the dishwasher, vacuuming and dusting, stuff for the recycling center, old clothes for the charity shop, half a dozen gardening jobs, the library needing a good sort out, some job adverts to follow up on, that piece to write for my course. I mean it's not as though I had to go looking for something to do, but here I was sitting at the laptop just mucking around basically. I'd already checked through any postings from blogs I follow, made a comment here and there, checked my own blog for comments and had a look at where people had come from to look at the blog. I could hear my little voice telling me to just take half an hour, to have another coffee and chill for a bit longer. Breakfast had been finished about twenty minutes ago and the dishes were sitting on the draining board by the sink waiting to be dealt with. It was early, not even eight a.m. The whole day was ahead. What difference would half an hour make, right?  It's not as though I have a schedule to keep. Just another boring, redundant day to kill waiting for the next boring, redundant day to get here.

{Lovely positive chap the inner me sometimes}

From my blogger dashboard I hit the view blog button and started to re-read the last post that I had published.

BO-RING!!!!!

I hit the next blog button. I've done this before and been sent to random sites, some of which I have ended up following. Sometimes it's been funny or plain bizarre. Through this button I once sampled the delights of 'Pants-Boy' who lives in New York and enjoys a lifestyle of photographing himself in his underpants and blogging about how excited the sensation of various underkeg garmenty material gets him - especially while at work at his office.    I didn't stay long.

Today the first blog I reach is dedicated to advising you how to survive under martial law when it comes to America, which apparently it's bound to do anytime soon. This chaps advice is limited to lots of canned food and bottled water, an extraordinary amount of guns and ammunition, the bible and an unchristianly violent zero tolerance policy aimed at anyone who approaches your dugout/womenfolk/animals/children/bible/food supply/ammunition/toilet paper {No - it was just me that added the last one there} He did have a nicely creative Rambo-esque take on booby traps though.

Next I am taken to the blog of 'His Handmaiden' who seems to be a pretty fifteen year old with an equally unhealthy penchant for guns, shooting and doing His work. She wants to be married to The Lord and live in paradise producing prodigious amounts of bible toting children to further His word - soon.

Um, no thanks........

I press again and arrive at the site of yet another right wing fundamentalist uber-christian with a penchant for living in the woods and killing almost anything that moves through the air or across the ground. This one goes into technical descriptions of how to dig latrines in some detail. It's clearly a subject thoroughly researched and close to his heart.  Obviously it's not just bears that sh*t in the woods then!

The next half dozen blogs are very Christian family orientated blogs who seem almost exclusively dedicated to posting scripture and evangelising about how to live a good life. Homeschooling, strict parental discipline and scrap-booking feature strongly in these blogs too. The next half dozen are ministers and pastors doing pretty much the same with quite a bit less scrap-booking. All the blogs are based in the USA, as perhaps this is where blogger has the biggest presence.

I don't have a bias against religion, honestly. While not a practicing Christian it's how I was brought up and they are fundamentally the values I carry. I believe everyone has the right to follow the religion they choose without interference so long as that religion is not aggressive or bigoted against other religions or lifestyles. My faith, such as it is, is quiet, private and deeply personal. I can't help feeling uncomfortable with people who define themselves first and foremost and especially solely by their religious belief. I feel it's often used as a rod to beat people with, a pedestal used to stand sanctimoniously above others who are not the same. It's a shield, a barrier, a defence against the approach of  the dangerous anyone who may challenge those views - a 'get thee behind me Satan' attitude to deter anyone of a different perspective, which in my opinion and experience doesn't preclude people from either being good or a valued part of society. If anything I have found my life enriched by those of very different perspectives as much as anything else. But maybe that discomfort is just me.

 My prejudice. My insecurity. My Achilles heel.

But this isn't what I had hoped to find as a short diversion from my day.

Bloomin heck...

I decide to try another tack, go into my blogger profile and click on 'writing' which should in theory bring up people who share that interest with me. The pages shows that the list is 4 million people long. Phew! That should be better surely.

I click on the profile of a woman who lists her interests as reading, writing, family and travel with a bit of cooking thrown in for good measure. The blog name is simple, quirky and interesting too. I hit the blog name to go there and find that the first post is a ramble on scripture and giving her life to The Lord.

Aw Naw!

Wait. Maybe I was just unlucky. Try another. I look down the list a few pages and this time pick on the profile of a guy from Britain who's interests are reading writing and the outdoors. Entering his blog I find that all he seems to post about is computer programming.

I try again. Another bloke from the UK who's profile fairly closely matches my own interests.

A blog about finance, insurance and share dealing.

Another. This one ends up as the blog of a forty year old woman who spends all day war-gaming on line and goes into characters, game strategy and scores.
I give up.

Where's that washing machine again!

I think I'll stuff my little voice in there and press 'ON'.

See you later.

listening to The Soundtrack from the film 'The Pianist'