Blogging about blogging? How meta

Blogging means many things to many people. I registered a domain on 12th July 2001 and started building myself a little personal website, slowly moving towards keeping a strange sort of personal diary of my odd little thoughts, along with a handful of useful and/or funny links. It slowly turned into a blog and I hand-crafted each post in basic HTML, consulting the ever patient Topper over anything terribly techie, then eventually adding a commenting functionality and a blogroll through the use of a couple of handy free tools I found on ye olde interwebs. As I really got into blogging, and started to build up a readership, I decided needed to make more time for the actual writing and so asked Topper if he would be kind enough to install Movable Type for me. The archives from that version of the site dated back to 19th March 2003, so I can definitely say that I've been a blogger for at least 7 years now. But why do I do it?

Well, to be perfectly honest, it's mostly a way of getting a lot of junk out of my head that would otherwise take up space for more important things. If there's a topic I want to comment on, links I want to share or news stories I want to bleat about, I simply pop online to jot it all down before pressing the 'publish' button. Much as I love that people read and like my blog, its reason for being really is something completely personal. Sitting down to blog about a subject helps me clarify my own thoughts, and also helps to improve my writing, editing and concentration skills. It's a place to document experiences and express opinions, where I can write about anything from feminism and sexuality, to music and clothing. When I received an invitation to the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards, I was excited to go along and find out what it was all about but I never once thought I would be shortlisted, mostly because this is a personal blog. The best thing about that day was meeting and chatting to other bloggers, which reminded me that connecting with other people through blogging has always been a large part of its appeal for me. Reading other people's sites, commenting and sometimes arranging to meet up in person has always been extremely enjoyable. I like all the little blogging communities that exist, and I love discovering new blogs and meeting new people as a result. A girl can never have too much fun, right?

Recently though, many people have started to treat blogging as a business and this is a whole new area to me. I've pondered what I could do to make this blog more professional and even attempted to 'monetise' it with some Google text ads a while back, only to discover that Google didn't recognise my postal address. I was denied a small taster of revenue that wouldn't spoil the nice clean look I have been cultivating and so wasn't sure what, if anything, to do next. I know my blog's a bit old skool - with an uncluttered design, no adverts, small images, and no fancy links to other 'posts you might like' - but I actually quite like it this way. However, I do sometimes wonder if I'm missing a trick and so was intrigued to discover that Cate Sevilla has a new venture called Oh My Blog workshops, which aims to "make your blog better, from the inside out". There will be sessions on everything from content, PR and tech skills, through to how to cope with trolls and grow a thicker skin! I think I might pop along and check it out. At the very least, I might meet a nice bunch of new bloggers but, you never know, I might even pick up some useful tips for a revamp. First things first though... I need to make more time for writing content!

Vintage at Goodwood

As I mentioned earlier this month, the weekend just gone was spent by me at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, as a volunteer for a new and rather different festival. Billed as a 'celebration of creative British cool', Vintage at Goodwood aimed to inject a bit of glamour back into the UK festival calendar and bring music, fashion, art and design back together where they belong. Part of the 'art and design' aspect involved workshops which, under the heading of sustainability, would provide guests with creative opportunities by recycling old materials, and this is where you could find me. Yes, I spent a large portion of the weekend in a tent making bunting out of old sraps of fabric and encouraging other people to join in. It was an awful lot more fun than I thought it would be too!

On Friday morning, the volunteers all gathered in the Upcycling tent wondering what we were going to be doing but, before long, I was assigned to The Seaside Sisters who popped me on bunting duty, along with the lovely Sarah, Sophie and Jo, and we proceeded to get the workshop area ready for some paying customers. Once the fabrics were laid out, it was simply a case of starting to make our own bunting to get people interested and lure them over. By Saturday, however, things were looking a bit sparse on the fabric front and so I had to go to the on-site Oxfam shop to get some unwanted garments for us to cut up. A nice chap called Luke came with me in the car to where all their spare stock was being kept, and he very kindly carried a massive sack of clothes back to our tent. Thanks to his help, I got the rest of the afternoon off to go and explore the festival properly.

The 'high street' had been well publicised and was a great visual treat on first entering Vintage. Once you’d gone through the archway proclaiming this to be the festival of our lives – there were a lot of memories relived that weekend, I’m sure! – it was a short walk down the red carpet and past some beautiful vintage cars before you got to a whole host of familiar shop names (including the aforementioned Oxfam), plus a beauty salon and even a cinema. It was a good place to get your bearings from, and the clock tower was perfect when arranging to meet people. On either side of this was the Vintage Marketplace, made up of lots of smaller retailers and workshop areas. Here you could buy vintage and retro clothing and homeware, request tunes from the Charity Shop DJ, take part in our bunting making, join a 60s art class, or have your photo taken in your best vintage outfit. There were plenty of tasty and fairly reasonably priced food options too, if all that walking around left you feeling a bit peckish. The music was arranged around a handful of venues: The Tanqueray Torch Club (40s), Let It Rock (50s), The Leisure Dome (60s), The Soul Casino (70s), and The Warehouse (80s). On top of that, there was the 'Inspired By...' stage and the Main Stage. The line-ups at each venue could have been better publicised but, once you found your favourites, the music on offer did not disappoint.

I think Vintage most certainly delivered on its promise of being "joyous creative feast for all ages". The atmosphere was happy, relaxed and friendly, reminding me of wonderful camping holidays and large village fairs attended in my youth. It harked back to a time when festivals were about having fun rather than getting insanely drunk and muddy. The rain may have come, but wood chippings were spread on the worst of it and the hard ground meant that I could have worn heels after all! It may not have been 'vintage' enough for some people but, for a first go, I thought that Vintage at Goodwood was a fantastic festival. I’m sure they will learn a great many things from this year’s experience, which will help to improve it next time round. More women’s toilets and better signage for the food and music options would be my request. However, it was the friendly happy people that really made it work for me, and so I’m looking forward to the next one already... especially as a volunteer as it's much more affordable that way!

UPDATE: More images from the weekend can be found on my Flickr photostream.

Working on words

The unread
Originally uploaded by lipsticklori

I'm rubbish with books. Well, fiction to be precise. I was a keen reader when I was a child, and a minor obsession with Anne Rice helped me to continue that into my teenage and university years, but more recently I just haven't been able to find the time I need to really get into a book. Rather annoyingly, I need a couple of hours before a novel becomes un-put-down-able and so reading in smaller chunks has led to much difficulty in recent years. Even before I moved to London and had much less free time on my hands, I'd buy them and start them... and then never get around to finishing the damn things!

However, it seems that the one thing I can read easily these days is books that have sprung from blogs. The short sections and friendly writing style makes it easy to dip in and out on short train journeys and gets my attention far sooner than with a standard novel. I may feel like my brain is failing me and my currently inability to concentrate for very long is making me somehow more stupid, but I do enjoy reading books like this so perhaps it'll help me get my reading back on track?

I recently finished Girl With a One Track Mind: Exposed and promptly wrote a review to be published on BitchBuzz this week. I was very pleased with it too, despite the ridiculous length of time it took me to write. Annoyingly, I've just read a much better review by Abby O'Reilly on The F Word and so now I think that perhaps my writing needs a bit of work too.

Volunteering at Goodwood

One... two... three!
Originally uploaded by lipsticklori

I have just received an email to inform me that I've been accepted as a volunteer for the sustainability workshops at the Vintage at Goodwood festival next weekend. If you're heading to Goodwood yourself, you will find me at the t-shirt customisation and/or the bunting workshops at various times throughout the festival. At other times, I'll probably be the one with a Lomo LC-A in her hand! Now I just need to plan my outfits, round up some old clothes (for use in the workshops), and find someone with a tent I can borrow. Photos and a review will follow after the event, of course!

Increased Productivity Week

Rolodex
Originally uploaded by lipsticklori

In an attempt to be organised and get some things done, I decided that this would be Increased Productivity Week. This is mainly a cunning plan to keep myself off Twitter and see if that helps me got more work done during the day, but it also involves me doing useful things on my two free evenings. Last night resulted in some more fresh laundry and a rough soundtrack for my next burlesque act - one I can use for rehearsals, at least. Thursday night involves packing for a weekend away (and a burlesque performance), but I also need to fit some writing in there somewhere. Tonight and tomorrow, however, I aim to have fun!

So, for now, it's back to work for me. I think I need to start writing myself more 'to do' lists though, as they act as a reminder and crossing things off always gives a nice little feeling of achievement. What do you do to keep yourself organised? Any tips you don't mind sharing?

UPDATE: Well that was a big fat fail. I think this is going to take more than just keeping away from Twitter, to be honest.