Bye for Now

Image by Bill Cammack via Flickr

I’m going to go into hibernation for a bit regarding this blog, and start deleting some of my online traces where this is possible. The plan is to end up with one website dedicated to my PhD, where I will then also integrate my twitter eventually, as well as – maybe – a blog in the future. However this won’t be a daily one like I’ve attempted with this one.

The reality is that my life is pretty steady right now – I know where I’ll be living, working, and who I’ll be dating for the foreseeable future. I have no desire for change.

Hence, I will focus on the things in my offline life and enhance them, and make them better and better. There’s not much room right now for social media, or ‘web 2.0′ (apart from maybe twitter, but that’s micro and not intrusive upon my life!).

The other point is that I think the backlash against social media has begun (see for ex. Bobbie Johnson’s Why I’m finished with Social Media). Brought on partly by the credit crunch, but also the fact that companies will realise that they’re have to make money out of it somehow, then they’ll introduce some shite, and users will desert. I’m not a doom-monger, but I’ve always been kinda right in my vibe about the internet. I might just be starting a new trend here

Changing Online Presence

Over the next few days, I’ll be scaling down my online output. I’m going to put the blog on hold and, once I’ve done that, will in the coming weeks/months be updating my ‘main’ website (the one hosting my PhD) to be a static, search engine optimised, half decent representation of my online identity (all in one place. Most other stuff will be gotten rid of).

I own my main website’s domain name, but all the files are hosted on webspace the ex owns – not ideal! So either way I’ll need to host it myself. It’ll just be a process to get back to a manageable online presence that I’m comfortable with. I may even keep my twitter and integrate it, and e.g. use the wordpress platform to publish my personal website and PhD (but not as a blog, i.e. not updated).

We’ll see. It’s good to keep moving with these kinds of things, and it’s not as if I completely want to erase everything. I just want to get back to a decent static representation of myself, with no additional effort required! And forget all the stuff about personal branding and the importance of online visibility – I see myself staying in my current job for years and years to come (it’s public sector so I don’t exactly need to be worried about losing my job…).

Facebook to Market Its User Base

Image via CrunchBase

Yes, they  need to make money somehow, someday. It’s more crucial than ever in 2009, to justify the (very likely very highly inflated) value that’s been put on it:

Zuckerberg said 2009 will be Facebook’s “intense” year as it tries to justify some of the mammoth valuations that have been placed upon it by making some serious revenues through advertising.

(Facebook Marketing)

What they are planning on doing (maybe)? Offering up their user base for market research purposes (polls, questionnaires and such). While not as bad as intrusive advertising (remember Facebook Beacon anyone?), it still raises concerns about privacy (somehow they will need to query your data in order to see whether you would ‘fit the bill’ of the market research brief). Good job I have disabled my FB profile.

But it is another development that confirms my intended retreat from the online world.

And one other quick point about inflated company evaluations: Remember Friends Reunited anyone? The company was sold to ITV for £175 million in 2005, and this was a ‘web 1.0′ social network. Just how much less Friends Reunited is worth these days is yet to be audited (ITV to slash value of Friends Reunited) – but undoubtedly it’s going to be a fair bit less (have you been on the site? It’s DIRE, and the competition for online social spaces is now so much higher than back in 2005).

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Getting Away from it All

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been thinking of reducing my Internet use at home to the bare minimum, i.e. just emailing (when I have to) and ‘information search’ (including buying stuff).

Why?

For a number of reasons.

One, security/privacy. I don’t like the idea of putting myself about online – I’ve completely gone off that idea. I don’t want anyone to know anything about me . I’m thinking about googling my own name and deleting every profile etc. that I can find that’s under my name.

Two, boredom. Producing stuff online, putting myself out, using online tools to tell the world about me, just doesn’t hit the spot any more. I’m in the grip of some kind of internet fatigue.

Three, general media apathy. I’ve completely reduced the amount of media that I consume, especially, visual media, and I feel better for it. The only visual media I use in my private life is the occasional game, and, the occasional (mostly educational) programme on iPlayer.

Thus, I’m going to think about it. I might just stop blogging and twittering for a while. Or I may disappear altogether

Taking the Pill when you’re Over 35

At the GP today, the bloke (’doctor’) really made me feel my age. Well not quite. I don’t have it hammered home that I’m 35 and don’t think of myself as ‘old’. Usually I just am what I am without thinking of classifications, especially age or gender (I don’t reiterate myself as a woman either, nor do I have that rammed down my throat either professionally or in my private life).

The other point is that ‘being old’ for me always connotes doing the grown-up things, and having responsibility for others, especially, having children. For instance, my next-door neighbours strike me as old even though they are both younger than me – but they have 3 children! And as such, they take the role of parents and are a stage ‘further up’ in the responsibility/growing up/ OLD stage than what I am (no offence intended to any parents who are/feel young. It’s just my own peculiar value system and way of understanding the world).

But I’m rambling. The point is that for some reason, for women 35 and above it’s more dangerous to take the (combined) Pill, especially, if you’re a smoker. Now, I don’t smoke apart from the very occasional social cigarette (which is easy to switch off as I only do it when I have a drink. I’m not a ’sober smoker’ – I hate cigarettes!!). Thus, if I did decide to go back on the pill, even if only for a few months, I’m at greater risk of blood clots and such.

It’s probably not worth it at all. The one good thing about it is that contraception here in the UK is free, at least the pill. So it’s not going to cost anything – I may try it, then, for 6 months or a year, to see what it’s like. I really don’t want any babies and I do want to avoid falling pregnant at all cost! Having kids is not on my life plan

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Going Back on the Pill – pt 2

I have an appointment with my GP this week to discuss whether or not I want to go back on the pill. I think I’ve blogged about this before. The only criteria I will be applying to decide whether or not I should try it are:

- will it make me fat? From what I remember, the Pill (some brands anyway) will make you put on weight. Though this may be untrue – but it’s definitely one aspect I want to ask

- will it  be free? I remember that when I lived in England 15 years ago (!), I got it free from the Family Planning Clinic. This may not be the case any more, or may  not be the case in Scotland.

Thus my decision will be made. I might just go on it for a few months so that I can have ‘unprotected sex’ to see what it feels like (with B. of course – not some random stranger), and then stop it again

lenina’s Scottish Ancestry

Image via Wikipedia

I found out the other day that my wee nephew’s birthday was this Sunday passed (25th January) which is the same as Burns’ birthday (the Scottish National Poet). The funny thing is that my nephew is also a redhead – this gene ‘jumped’ a generation (my dad is a ginger or ’strawberry blonde’).

My BF told me that ginger hair was an indication of potential Scottish ancestry which I quickly googled today. While it’s true that world-wide the greatest percentage of redheads lives in Scotland (13% of all the population), the ‘ginger gene’ is generally considered to be Celtic, not Scottish. And even the Celts didn’t come out of nowhere – some say it originally came from the Scandinavian Hugh hair.

Either way, my dad’s dad is from Prussia (Preussen), which to me is far more  historically interesting. Even my surname is much more common in the East. Plenty of people carrying my surname apparently live in Berlin. If the ‘ginger gene’ did come from my granddad, it may have been through some Scandinavian connection (Scandinavians immigrating to Prussia hundreds of years ago).

So I don’t think I have anything Scottish in my genes – more likely a tiny amount of Viking ancestry, which would make more sense (even my body shape and height etc. is quite Nordic).

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Best British Chippie is in Scotland

Image via Wikipedia

A chip shop in Anstruther, Fife, was crowned best UK chippie last week

This is excellent as I’ve always wanted to eat the best UK fish supper (I’m a sucker for Fish supper but have it very rarely, as it has 1,000,000 of calories!).

It’s actually the second year in a row that Scotland has won this title. Last year, it was a chippie in Biggar – the Townhead Cafe.

I’m planning to go to either of those – or both – some time soon. Naturally, since I live in Edinburgh, I will have to include some other activity on the day too. I don’t want to just drive to Anstruther (in Fife) or Biggar (in South Lanarkshire) just to get a Fish supper – though if I did go to the Biggar one, I could combine it (sort of) with a visit to my friends A&S.

Winner of best UK Chippie 2007/08: Townhead Cafe, Biggar, South Lanarkshire

Winner of best UK Chippie 2008/09: Anstruther Fish Bar, Anstruther, Fife

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Scotland’s Homecoming Year 2009 starts today

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Today (25th January – 250th anniversary of Burn’s birth) marks the start of Scotland’s Year of Homecoming.

Apparently, it “aims to attract expatriates back to Scotland to celebrate the country’s culture and heritage.” (from Burns Events kick off Homecoming). There are at least 20 million people with Scottish ancestry living outside of Scotland! Amazing, given how small the country is.

There is some controversy regarding this ‘Homecoming’ – it’s considered by some as a thinly veiled attempt by Scotland’s First Minister to promote and strengthen a strong Scottish national identity in its people, with Homecoming being an advertisement for  Scotland’s political independence in the lead up to a possible independence referendum.

However, I think that’s a bit far-fetched. I’m quite glad that Scotland does have a strong sense of identity and is not ashamed to promote and celebrate it. That doesn’t mean they, or its people, would vote for a complete separation from the United Kingdom. Culturally and psychologically, Scots will always be independent anyway

Burns Night Sunday 25th January – eat a Haggis :P

Image by Project 404 via Flickr

This Sunday 25th January is Burns night, where traditionally, people in Scotland eat a Burns Supper and recite his famous poem, Ode to A Haggis. I’ll be spending it at my BF’s parents’ house and will all dress up (wearing a tartan scarf and jacket hehe). B’s family is quite nationalistic, which I like

Also this year is the 250th birth of Robert Burns (who is also Scotland’s national poet, i.e. of similar status to Goethe in Germany). Which makes it all the more important to celebrate it and I suppose the Scottish identity, as different to the English or British one (sure, there are common traits and I’m not one to be anti-English, but the Scots’ national identity strikes me as more positive and more distinct, whereas the English still seem to be getting over the fact that they no longer command an Empire. See here for a rather good, albeit somewhat anti-English, take on the matter – what went wrong with the (English) working-class?).

The only problem with this Burns Supper is that Haggis is of course meat, and meatier than meat at that! Whereas I’m a Vegetarian – but my BF has assured me that his mum is going to cook a vegetarian one just for me

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