One of the things I like about having a personal site that was, once, a blog, is the ability to look back at things I did or thought at some point in my history. It’s not quite ‘Dear Diary’ but it’s not too different either. The actor and diarist, Kenneth Williams, once said,
The preoccupation with diary writing is caused by various things: the desire to keep a record which can be useful later, and committing to paper what can’t be communicated to a mentor … oh! all kinds of reasons, but fundamentally it is about loneliness.
I am not sure I agree, but I am reminded of this quote because I blogged about the book in 2003.
It was looking back through a few entries recently that made me think how nice it is to have this record. This post reminded me of a day trip to Milan twenty years ago. I went to visit a customer, but there’s little detail of what I did. I don’t think the lack of detail matters. I do recall I flew into Linate and out of Malpensa on that trip and nearly got it wrong in my rush to the airport on the way back. It also shows how far mobile phone cameras have evolved.
Not all of my writing was lengthy. If social media existed, some might have been shared there. I’m relieved it didn’t exist, preserving my record, but eventually, social media overshadowed mass blogging and there’s a ‘blog gap’.
In a 2002 blog post, I express uncertainty about London’s congestion charge, a stance I don’t recall as I now support efforts to ease traffic congestion. Great to have the ability to look back and see how I have evolved.