Having written the first post in this blog I thought to myself 'I think I'll write a little in here every week'. The whole idea of starting a blog was to have somewhere that I could let off a little bit of steam whilst talking about what I hoped would be interesting things. What that sounds like to me then is something that I would invariably enjoy doing and thus I would churn out a post every couple of days. However my reason for not doing this is now quite obvious to me - I am under-motivated to do anything, even the things that I enjoy doing. The good thing is that I have decided to do this now because it means that I am starting to find some sort of motivation from somewhere which can only be a good thing with prelims coming just around the corner.
I have decided to dedicate this post to an essay that I wrote about my memories of the 'noughties'. It was an essay that I can't say I was looking forward to writing but when I got down to it, was actually quite - dare I say it - fun. So here are a few extracts from the essay which I hope will help you to remember some things from the last decade whilst also maybe making you laugh along the way as well:
To look back over the last 10 years of my life comprehensively would be stupidity on my part because I have the memory of a goldfish. Not in that I walk into glass and forget who I am constantly but more that my ability to recall events and important moments in my life is rubbish. I feel that an in-depth approach to remembering the ‘noughties’ would be to not do justice to what has been an amazing decade for me. Honestly the decade of terrorism, obesity, the credit crunch and the dominating presence of Big Brother on our television screens, was actually a good one. As well as these negative aspects that society has had to endure (yes I feel that watching a group of celebrities eat, sleep and flirt is something one must endure not enjoy) there were changes made to the world that have provided much needed positivity. My HD television for example is a marvel of modern engineering; never have I been so excited about watching a David Attenborough nature documentary since the wonder that is 1080p was brought into my house. Somewhat linked to this (not so much by the cable with which the two are currently connected but more the topic of technology), the ‘console wars’ between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo has produced my PS3. The much maligned next generation console has been torn to shreds by critics and Xbox users alike but is still one of the loves of my youthful life. As sad as that may sound it is true and has gotten to stage where I don’t talk about Xbox when I am round out in case I hurt its feelings. This attitude towards technology is one that I share with the majority of the nation, the only ones not sharing my feelings being the older generations and technophobes. My life and the lives of people around me have changed for the better over the last 10 years because of the simplicity of our lives thanks to technology. Even as I write this I am looking at a pretty, brightly coloured screen which responds as I press little buttons which correspond to the letters of the alphabet. This kind of thing was just a concept at the start of the century, one which has developed beyond recognition from the boxy idea that some people disregarded as something only a handful of the population would desire. Another advance in this area would have to be the mobile phone. If you had told someone back in 1999 that we would one day be touching the screens of our phones and using them as cameras then they might have thought you to be crazy and may have even offered you a cloth to clean your tiny, limited screen with. That was even if you had a phone as well. I do not know anyone who does not have a mobile phone now and when asked by someone what we would do without these handheld masterpieces I think my brain might freeze and I would immediately grab for my mobile in order to phone a friend for their opinion. This concept of being able to communicate on the go is one that I never really thought to be that important as a minor but now is one that I fully believe to be a necessity of life. At the risk of offending someone worse off than myself, I see the mobile phone as less of an aid to my life and more something that I am obligated by society to have. I fully understand that not everyone can afford to have such luxuries but if offered the choice between my mobile phone and food for a week I think it is fair to say that my mobile phone would win though: at least I would be able to phone and text people about being hungry rather than get myself fat and not be able to tell anyone about it.
The ‘noughties’ have provided my life with a sense of meaning, a place where I can spend time with my friends and meet new people over a game of cards. A home from home and a haven of infinite opportunity and wisdom. I am of course talking about the social networking phenomenon that is Facebook. I have to say that only in the last year of the ‘noughties’ was I dragged into this online social play area. My life before Facebook was orientated by the less exciting Bebo network where my childhood took a turn: I’m not sure if for the better but there was a seismic turn somewhere that I was aware of. Once I had dipped my toe into the ocean that is Facebook, the Bebo period in my life was behind me, dumped and replaced by this better, more exciting place for me to express myself from behind the computer screen: something of a paradox you might say but I’m sure I know a keyboard shortcut or two to counter any arguments somebody might have against what I’m writing. To say that I jumped in would be an understatement. I believe the term that I would use instead would be ‘dive-bombed’. I was gripped from the very first time somebody gave me a sheep for my virtual farm and when they then went on to hit me with some kind of ‘virtual pillow’. There was something rousing about this new found community for me; something that I cannot even begin to describe. Not a day goes past without me checking what people are saying on Facebook or if I have been tagged in some embarrassing image of myself from a party. Everything that happens in the real world is either reported on or, further still, started on Facebook. It’s almost like a big journal that everyone writes in only I’m sure that there are no journal’s anywhere that have questions asking that if I was on a deserted island would I look for food or eat my best friend. Nothing comes close to this mindless splurge of obscene humour that flows from the Facebook home page. Now I’m sure my comment about Big Brother from earlier now sounds stupid because I made it seem that I was above such nonsense but I personally don’t believe anyone is – well not the younger generation anyway. What’s more if someone is willing to argue that my seemingly contradictory views are utterly hogwash, then I will start a rumour about them on Facebook and somebody somewhere will ‘like’ it.
It’s all very easy to say things like ‘the noughties are the most defining period in my life’ and that kind of thing but I am true believer in this stuff. Had I taken the wrong turning somewhere, who knows where I would have ended up? My life up until this point has been as good as it has been because of meticulous planning, a fair share of luck and an upbringing by my parents that I will forever be in debt to them for. Now I stand at the threshold of another exciting decade in my life. So I say thank you to the ‘noughties’ and say hello to the ‘teenies’ (or whatever colourful name that they will be given) and welcome them with open arms. I just hope that they will be able to match the last decade and that will be no mean feat with such a hard act to follow.
So that is just a little bit of my ramblings about the decade past. It's actually super lazy on my part to just copy a bit of another essay in here but I felt that I would quite like to share it. Maybe over the next week or two I will find something to write about but up to this point I have nothing. It would be nice to talk about something topical that people will enjoy reading about but I guess I will only keep writing and publishing it if people are going to read it.
