Lately I've been remembering a time before the gram, post myspace but prior to my 12 second attention span when I didn't have the internet on my phone. I had to look out the window when I was on the train. I had a notebook that I took with me and wrote down things that I saw and liked. (might bring back a things I saw and liked sometime soon). I wrote down ideas or information I wanted to look up on the internet when I got home. And other than that, I just sat there, being me. I miss it. Maybe I miss myself.

I've been thinking about the language we're using around art, writing, music and beauty. The idea of viewing content as something to be consumed. Like feeding a fire or a hoard of voracious grasshoppers. It makes me want to tear off my clothes and run away screaming into the hills. I’m realising I’m not fit for consumption. Anna Goldsworthy puts words around these feelings, so beautifully. You can listen HERE

I'm locked into a scroll cycle that I don’t think I remember signing up for and can’t stop. I’m way too inconsistent and lazy to really succeed at #content #creation, not fit enough to keep up with the algorithm.

But I don't want to disappear entirely either. so where does that leave me? You guessed it, blogtown.

Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of pros to social media that I don’t have the attention span or patience to spell out here for you. In fact, why don’t you write me an essay on that.

But yes, I managed to support myself through a global pandemic with online shows largely shared on platforms like instagram. I'm awed by this fact.

Back in 2010, when I first came across blogs I was just as hungry as I am now for information and ideas but had no clue how to find them. Sometimes I used to just whack search terms like "fashion" into an engine and hope something great would come out. Usually it was a disappointment. But one made me become a florist. After an hour or so I felt like I'd exhausted the internet, which seems laughable now. Then I went outside and lived my life.

The crux of my feelings on social media is pretty basic and definitely not a hot take but that doesn't make it any simpler to grapple with. I'm so hungry for something more than an endless inhaling of content that barely even registers in my awareness as I scroll. I miss savouring, engaging, waiting. The serendipity of an algorithm free discovery. Word of mouth. I miss having patience.

No guarantees any of these posts will be good, at least one of them’s gonna be a sausage based recommendation. Which means at least one of them is going to be Fucking great! I’ve decided it’s better to give something a go, even if it’s a bit shit to start with.

~

Did you ever hear about a new album, then wait for it to land in the CD shop - shout out Sanity - save up to buy it and then listen many times, deeply engaging and listening?
Taking a risk on a piece of art, only to find that you don't really like it but listening to it several times anyway. And still finding it has something to offer, if only to help you form a sense of your own taste. Maybe you won’t like this blog but maybe you’ll discover something anyway.

Albums I bought and didn't like but don't regret buying:

The Whitlams - Eternal Nightcap

Ben Harper - Fight For Your Mind

Augie March - Strange Bird

The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy

Would love to hear what yours were.

xx

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