On Weblog as Place.

This essay is a contribution to the fortnightly discussion running at the “Ecotone Wiki”.

I am a newcomer to “blogging”. Our weblog is less than two weeks old and I am realising how much there is to learn about computing - just to post an entry onto the Ecotone Wiki site has been a challenge. Up until now, this computer has been a work horse - it was a means by which reports were written and accounts balanced - a source of frustration as it distracted children from doing homework. I never dreamed that it could become an important means of communication with people from different parts of the world or that it would be a place of continual learning for me.

I started reading weblogs three months ago after an old school friend invited me to read theirs. From that moment I became a “blogaholic” - a daily read of my favourite weblogs and of the posts on the Ecotone Wiki was a must. Over these weeks I feel I have come to know many of the writers - I have celebrated a wedding with Pica and Numenius from Feathers of Hope, I have grieved with Fred at Fragments from Floyd over the loss of his beloved Buster. I have travelled to India, to the U.K. and to many parts of the U.S. I have delighted in the photography and I have been inspired by the fluency of the writing. This is a social interaction without the, (pardon the expression), “garbage”. Looks, body language, dress, social standing simply don’t come into it. The weblog is a means by which like minded people can interact on a simple, uncomplicated level.

I predict our weblog will be a place of learning, communication and intellectual stimulation. As a mother of three I often get “lost” in the whirlwind of activities that go with the job. Like many bloggers at the “Ecotone”, I lived in many different places as a child. I have felt many times an innate restlessness, an urge to move on from the place I currently live in - Newcastle. Being busy with “child” activities and with work I now realise had narrowed my perception of the place we live in - I had lost the ability to appreciate it and my reaction was to dream of moving on to another place. Starting a weblog has enabled me to look at Newcastle with a fresh approach - to realise that it has many hidden facades that need to be explored and written about.

This weblog will portray my journey of rediscovering the place I live in. It will be a joint effort with my husband Geoff who will occasionally add a post when he has time. For him the weblog will be a good source of relaxation and distraction from his work. We hope that other bloggers of place will enjoy sharing some “Moments” at “Mulubinba” with us.

Comments

[fredf]

So very happy to have you and Geoff along for the journey to whatever our weblogs and this medium will become for us and through us in the coming months and years! Enjoying learning about your inner and outer places there and thanks for this post to Ecotone!

[Coup de Vent]

Good to have a marker in another Newcastle - whereabouts in Oz are you? I too enjoy the space to reflect on my environment - it does make you see and feel where you are in a more grounded way I think. Looking forward to further visits!

[Chris Clarke]

Jenny, you've summed up perfectly my secret reason for starting my blog as well. What a wonderful thing: another reason to pay attention to where one is.

[beth]

I'm so glad to be able to add my "welcome" to the Ecotone and to thank you for this entry! I'm going through a restless period here myself after 25 years in one place, and writing about it definitely helps me to continue to see the details and remember that serenity is really a product of one's inner, rather than outer, environment. I'm looking forward tohearing more from you and your husband on your site!