The birth of the blog

For months young Fabwyck and I have been discussing the setting up of a blog, with increasing enthusiasm bordering almost on that of the evangelical. We have whipped ourselves into a frenzy of blogging lust, a positive fever of frenetic anticipation - talk of 'The Blog' has constituted the major part of many a conversation becoming more animated with every emptied glass of wine. Finally the time arrived, the birthing process, if you will, began, and trusty Fabwyck taking both horns and bulls dived in at the deep end and procreated 'The Blog'. And then like so many things, there is sat, empty, unloved, unvisited. Suddenly, once it had arrived the list of other things to do seemed endless, there just was NO time to be blogging, but by God we had one. So here we are, January has almost past and 'The Blog' remains sadly desolate, a creature born of love and tossed aside, not dissimilar to other January ideas such as frequenting the gym (along with every other person in the country), drinking and eating less and being a BETTER person. BUT all that is to change, well not all, I still have no intention of going to the gym or rationing food or booze, I might try to be a better person, but only if everyone around me is conducive to it, but I will be attempting to blog a little more.

The whole blog creation in the strange world of Fabwcyk and McKinky has led me to consider why it is that the virtual or perceived idea of something is sometimes so much more satisfying than the actuality (I am not of course dismissing 'The Blog'). Virtual dating springs to mind (bad smells, bad habits and bad personal hygiene all nicely concealed behind the LED screen) but then the twenty-first century is fast becoming a virtual world, shopping, conversing, doing business - its all virtual. Which makes me wonder are the galloping technological advancements a natural evolution of scientific enquiry, or is it more that the virtual world and life on-line allows the mind to fabricate a better alternative to reality and it is this that has driven the Internet take over?

There are some things that nearly always supersede the virtual though, sex obviously springs to mind, unless it is truly terrible then virtual would be better. Curry is another. Although the mere thought of curry is often enough to cause instant salivation (sex rarely does this), the actual magical moment of the first mouthful can rarely be beaten. And another is Rome. Rome is a repeating theme in the world of Fabwyck and Mckinky, and particularly at the moment, having spent three glorious days there over New Year. I think perhaps no one does New Year better than the Italians in Rome - breathtaking lights, magical surroundings, crystal clear skies, chilled Prosecco and belly warming pasta. What a place, what character, what beauty and what people.