In the beginning - Yn y dechreuad...

Annwyl bawb, Dear all - Welcome, Croeso

Dear all - Welcome

After several years of resisting, I have finally decided to start writing a 'blog' despite the term's inherent ugliness (in my opinion). My hope is that this blog will serve several purposes, giving me a chance to have my say on the day's hot topic (catch!), letting friends keep abreast of what's going on in my life, and acting as a sort of diary of my life from er, today. (the Welsh section will also be a nice opportunity to write in Welsh again, having not really done so since 2003).

I think the main reason why I've refrained from writing a blog before now has been the impression gleaned from reading certain blogs that the author has been granted some sort of higher authority to comment on affairs, and that the author's opinion is worth listening to. This is sometimes the case, but I am still very uncomfortable with blogs being presented as legitimate and authoratitive sources. They are ultimately merely the musings of one private individual after all. That is not to say that individuals don't have the right to express their opinion, I just sometimes feel that the media in particular pay too much attention to the views of some individuals, simply because those views are published online. Having said that, the temptation to have a few rants of my own finally prevailed, so I've started this blog! The turning point came quite recently after reading a blog written by a mother from the US South describing Hilary Clinton as a 'socialist'. If there is room for writing like this in the 'blogosphere' (and morover that there is an audience for it), then I feel no harm, and perhaps some good can come from committing my own two-bob to digital text.

This blog will be written bilingually in both Welsh and English, alternating which comes first each post - (another of my gripes - Welsh speaking bloggers who choose to write exclusively in English, particularly those who should really try harder. Welsh Assembly members, take note)

So, fully admitting my own flaws, biases and pretensions, here goes...

Huw