Caren runs the Ampersand Duck weblog - a fascinating amalgam of all sorts of stuff. She has subtitled it "life, the
universe and letterpress", so designing books is just part of it all.
1. How would you describe your weblog to someone who wasn't at all sure what this
blogging business is about?
Heh, this is something I do on almost a weekly basis, because people seem to be divided into those who Know or those who Don't Know about blogging. There's no in-between, apparently. As with anything I explain to people, my answer depends on what I think they'll relate to. Aunties who read magazines go 'ahhh' when you say blogging is like writing episodes of 'The Middletons' for Woman's Day. Other people understand the concept of diaries/soap operas/group emails, whatever. Often they'll get it, but the next question is almost always 'why?'. My blog seems to be more soap opera than anything else; it seems to be the best way to keep myself interested and satisfied with life, otherwise I'll get bored and cause mischief.
2. Have there been any major changes in your weblog's direction, theme or subject since you started?
No, it had to be a blog that talked about everything, because that's me anytime of the day. I think I've just become more confident. The first few months were fairly tentative, and then I hit my straps and had fun. There's a weird bit at about the 18-month mark when the NLA Pandora project started archiving me and I got the willies about what I'd already said, since for the first 2 years I was pretty much anonymous and that gives a tremendous sense of freedom. Then my father discovered the blog and I had another confidence crisis, but we both survived the experience and I think it improved our relationship immeasurably... at that point I made I made a conscious decision not to go back and edit or censor, but in truth I think the loss of anonymity has made me more circumspect. I write the blog as much for myself as anyone else, but the inclusion of a live audience adds a thrill that keeps me writing. I don't keep a hard copy diary anymore, but I do make handwritten notes about things, unfortunately in fairly random places.
3. Do you have more books in your house than you can possibly read? If so, why?
I have more books in my house than I can possibly shelve, even though we've made nearly every available place into shelving, but I've read most of them. Actually, I'm wrong. About a third of the books belong to my partner, and they're mostly about religion, bizarre cults, political conspiracy theories and cooking, books I don't want to read. I've read most of the books that belong to me. I'd like to say that as they come in I throw others out, but it just doesn't seem to happen.
4. If there were three things you'd like to include in your weblog if you had more time/money, what would they be?
Ah, they'd be the serious posts, the ones that take days to brew and further days to polish. I just don't have that sort of time and energy usually. Time is the limiter, not money. When has blogging ever been about money?
5. How would you eat an elephant?
[You've been hanging out at the Blogger profile page, haven't you?] Stuff it all in my mouth at once and chew. They're made of marshmallow, aren't they?
