500 Not Out

Well, I am rather delighted to say that this is my 500th post in this 'ere blog. It is proof, were any needed, that this priest can not just concoct one or a dozen daft notions but many hundreds. 

I think that I have been blogging for about 14 months now, and have found it to be a most satisfying way of spending a spare fifteen-odd minutes some days of the week. I have learned as much about me as you have, and I know that there are those of you out there that have read every jolly letter. That in itself is a humbling fact to absorb, and I thank all of you most sincerely. 

So then - what of this blog. It is always a work in progress and this blogger a blogger in training. There are many hundreds of far better offerings than this, and I thank them too for teaching many lessons in what it is I try to do here. As I think back, I can count an incomplete Lent Course, an incomplete series of how to attract men into churches, far too many red-faced rants, a couple of experimental liturgies, some needless reactions to having had buttons pressed, many times when I have been wrong, a few when I was right, a change of name, some giggles, some good ideas (I think), and many many new acquaintances and friends. In other words, I'd do it all over again. 

I still believe in the valency of blogging. I think that the world is starting to too, with people facing conviction for stuff that appears in micro-blogs, and other social media sites. I read a story of a woman fined millions because of defamatory remarks made on her own blog. This is real, the words are real, the sentiment is real, the effect intentional (mostly) and it exists through eternity. We blog carelessly at our peril, and sadly, many do. 

I reach people in places I haven't even heard of, and by posts I would never have predicted. Most days, now, well over a thousand hits land here (and only 976 of them are me), and my top five posts of all time are:

 #Facepalm

Blogging in Television Drama

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

In The Cause of Good

I Just Gotta be Me

Oddly, none of these is overtly Christian, if even religious at all. It perhaps goes to show that if we God-botherers stop trying so hard, we might just get somewhere. 

I am not sure how to end this post other than to say thank you to those of you read this, and to bear with me as I struggle to find time to write. Be assured I still want to, and this Vernacular Fool ain't going nowhere. 

The Flight of the Haggis

With thanks to Laura Sykes for prodding me in the ribs with this erstwhile project, I am delighted to feature a blog written by one of my longest standing online muckers...

Winsome, Lose Some

The work of Fr Richard Haggis, this blog is in the hands of a lyrical writer who has a very clear grasp of the realities of the world and the church. Put another way, he is a cynic, but does is in a most beautifully crafted way. 

Seriously though, Richard is a joy to read (even in those encounters on social media) and I advocate his thoughtful work to the rest of you. He knows a little of the vagueries of the Church of England, but has never lost his pastoral heart. I have neglected our association for far too long, so I am glad to have an opportunity to do something to mend that!

Changes to This Blog

This is just a quick post to tell you that I am going to tweak this old site a little. As a former retailer, I embrace the effects of a little  re-merchandising.

So, gone is the map telling me where you are from. You know where you live and you don't need me to tell you. Gone is the Twitter box because if you were interested, you would have an account of your own and don't need to eavesdrop here. Gone is the Wordle thing, because it was boring and I am not here to bore you (much).

I have added my Vernacular Video Bar, which I will use to house a new video clip from time to time. It will be what has caught my eye or interests me, or of bits of music that I love. I think it add a dynamism to a site that is characterised by stillness of image. Take it or leave it, of course - but I will keep it mixed and will tell you more about me than most of my words.

Also, as an aside, I thought that I would advocate the place of Apture in this blog. From time to time you will see little symbols besides words. They will be links and the symbol, if you hold your mouse over it, will open a new dialogue box with some extra material in. It means that you don't need to keep flitting. I hate flitting. Do you hate flitting? An example would be Sacrament for links to text or King's College Choir for video (it takes the video symbol a little while to appear after posting, I ought to say)

I am interest to know what you think. Please say if there is anything you would like to see added or removed (any comments that have the word 'delete' will not be treated kindly and there will be tears before bedtime). I am among you as one who serves, after all. 

And now for something completely different

This is just to let you know, dear and beloved readers, that I am 'going where called' (I think), as I embark on another Blog called:

Flight Diaries

It is more of a spiritual direction blog than anything else, and a place where the more 'priestly' side of my mind and thinking will be wrought. It will be free of gadgets and most importantly, free of 'counters' - I offer my thoughts freely and into the ether. Who is looking at what is not my interest there!

Perhaps you will read it, maybe you will get something from it. Either way, I will proceed with it (with less frequency than here - or else my head will splat)

Am I getting old?

I was looking for an image for an entirely different thought, and discovered this (the site is a scream, do visit it) - and it tapped into a latent grump that I harbour about the world today. 

I open up Facebook from time to time (well, in times when I want to see an entire week of useful time absorbed) and I glance down the Updates. There seem to be specific brands of Status Updates:

• Smug mode (aka 'look at me, look at me')
• Something 'bleeding heart' that I have cut and paste from another, so I can show that I care (aka 'if you want a kitten to live, put this crock of giblets on your page to show you care')
• What I am meant to be doing instead of typing this Update (aka 'I am meant to be ....)
• My last bowel movement / cuppa drunk / shape of the last cloud to pass my window (aka pointless drivel)

• Wit (aka lack of wit, no-one gets it, only you, only you get your own joke, plum!)*

This picture sums up what seems to be a need in so many of us (and I am not ignoring the fact that a Blog is the biggest most grandiose form of Status Updating). So, as a loving Priest, I offer the following pastoral advice:

• If you are that busy, log off of Facebook - your life will not end if you do, it really won't.
• Finish what you are doing before you tell us - we don't  want to know what you might achieve, but rather what you did achieve. ['David Cloake is ... a proud Dad' is so much more savoury than the alternative if we take the model to which I refer] (this is an example, no pregnancies here)
• Yes, we all know that you know what we don't know - so stop telling us what you know, so that we too may know - we don't want to know what you know, and you know it. 
• Kittens will not die if you fail to cut and paste some tosh onto your Status, so get a grip and stop it. 
• Yes, we know you are working towards your PhD in something that no-one has hitherto heard of - you mention it EVERY DAY

Enough said?

* 'Wit aka lack of wit' - scans nicely doesn't it. Like a disco song ....