This is an archived version of this page. The current blog is here
I seem not to have blogged anything for nearly 3 weeks, which wasn't an entirely conscious choice - although blogging burn-out seems to be a topic du jour. It was more a combination of circumstances - some personal worries (now resolved positively), and a large dose of domestic chaos as we re-decorated the study which meant the PC was packed away for a while.
For the same reason, I haven't really been as interested in what's going on - Darfour, Iraq, ID cards and the rest have all proceeded to go bad in various ways without any intervention from me. I feel something of a tension between wanting to speak up on what I consider to be important issues and realising that my voice is really not important to the outcome (not mentioning any Home Office Consultations on ID cards in particular you understant) and I might as well spend my time elsewhere.
I used to be quite active in Amnesty International at a local group level (my ancient html skillz are still largely visible in the design of AIBG) and that seemed to hit a sweet spot between commitment and personal reward. Since moving to Cambridge though, and particularly since having a family, it's much harder to get involved in anything where I feel I can have an impact.
That seems to lead me towards reading a lot of political stuff as a substitute, which becomes kind of frustrating - reading about politics bearing a similar relation to activism as porn does to sex. A substitute, but ultimately unsatisfying.
Posted by MFreestone at July 12, 2004 03:51 PM