New Sailings

Well, the troubled year of 2011 is over, and readers will have observed the sparsity of contributions on this particular blogpage. Not that anything hasn't been happening: far from it, in fact. The egregious VAF has finally opened (and is fulfilling its function to the art community if not necessarily the local one), Nick Clegg has at least shown some backbone in standing up to David Cameron in the European financial crisis, and the Olympics are just around the corner in Britain, which are greedily taking place for the third time in London.

Also in the approaching four years since I started jotting this blogpage, a new animal has gradually grown and grown, in the shape of Twitter and the increasing promotion of social networks. These two - Twitter and Facebook - in particular have shown their dark side: not only do they tinker with people's personal information, but the contributions themselves have almost started wars. Where once the thought at the back of someone's mind usually stayed there, or the occasional impulsive comment came and went, now they are on display for millions to see - anywhere around the world.

As indeed is this blogpage - for those who happen to find it. With that in mind, it's been a tricky dilemma wondering which of them to cut back on - social networks or blogs - in this age of austerity. Axing this page is a sensible temptation, but this was always meant to be for those occasional afterthoughts (and thought is the word) and incidental observations. So we'll see.

Good riddance 2011. Happy Olympic Year.