About Me – Now With Extra Blogroll

Last night this site experienced some serious problems. I’ve been having the odd issue lately, with downtime and other bits of erratic behaviour, but last night the site was really stuck and I was locked out, unable to login and make any changes (the white screen of death, for fellow WordPress users).

Thankfully the problems are now on their way to being resolved and after doing some maintenance, I decided to have a little play with this site’s About Me page.

The About Me is something most bloggers treat as an after-thought. But, on this (and every other site I’ve worked on) the About pages generate a serious amount of traffic. Readers want to know who they are engaging with, especially if they like what they read!

One very retro feature is the addition of a blogroll. I still remember when I removed the blogroll from this site back in 2011. But, like many of you, I’m keen to try and make the internet more civil and personable and maybe bringing back blogrolls is a good way to do this. I’ve only added a few names and I’ll add some more soon.

Finally, I included a few words on what I believe. I never got into blogging to make money. Rather, I was drawn to the freedom this platform gave us to express ideas that were suppressed, either because we didn’t have enough money, enough connections, the right skin colour or the right beliefs to get into print or onto the airwaves.

“I believe in truth, beauty and compassion. There are so many actions, big and small, that we can take to easy the burden of life for ourselves and those around us.

I believe in creativity. I love to see people make choices, work hard and create amazing things. We are lifted, not diminished, by other people’s success.

I believe the world is mysterious and rational. Too many of the either/or choices we face are excuses for not embracing the richness, complexity and ambiguity of life.”