Funny how? Do I amuse you?

Wow. I haven't updated this since May last year. That's a pretty spectacular loss of interest right there.

In any case, after having a fairly shitty 2011, I've been trying to be pro-active in turning things around in 2012. So far this has manifested itself in trying to say yes to more things, but I did have a few more specific changes in mind, one of which is related directly to this blog. When I started writing it I don't really know what I had in mind. An outlet for the rantier ends of my thought process perhaps in order to make sense of my own opinions, and also to save my friends the worst of the accompanying ear ache. Maybe to sort of chronicle my PhD adventure. There's been a bit of the former, not much of the latter, and generally I don't think there's been any real direction to it.

But I was thinking the other day that the blog could potentially be far more useful to me. I think it could be used much more creatively. I have a few things I want to do from now on, not resolutions as such, just avenues I want to explore.

Last year I took some tentative steps into the world of performing stand-up comedy. This is something I've had a desire to do for a long time, but only recently found the mental state and opportunity to have a go. I think the results were better than I might have expected, and I want to do more of it. This means I have to write and preview material. You can see where I'm going here.

So rather than set myself some kind of theme, or a rigid structure, I am instead going to devote the blog to sporadically updating with a few different themes.

Firstly, I'm going to try and write up bits of observation or stories that I think will eventually form routines in a stand up set. Writing essay comedy is very different to performance, but it sets me a nice little challenge to try and be precise enough with my humour that people will find it funny regardless of the telling, and doesn't require any self-explanation. Anyone who finds them self reading such posts, I would encourage to comment on what you found funny, what you didn't, and if you don't mind me stealing them, suggesting notes and improvements. At some point I will perform those bits live, record them, and hopefully you'll enjoy them.

I also want to do more music reviews. I listen to a lot of music, and I'm going to go to more gigs this year, so I want to practice my critical writing with, well, criticism.

And of course, very occasionally, the news will enrage me enough to write political polemic. Perhaps I've been mellowing with age, much like stale piss, but for a while I have lacked the visceral energy to work myself up about our government. They're too ridiculous to ridicule. But I'll have a go.

Anyways, I'll be writing up some comedy tomorrow. Look forward to that.