The time has come to begin a blog and stop demanding that the ears of my long-suffering friends play audience to my observations, musings and experiences. This is not to say they will no longer be called upon to absorb countless niblets of commentary - certainly I hope some will read and contribute to this blog - but I can at least try to create a more user-generated experience for them. More importantly, I hope to be able to discuss issues with a wider range of people, so the more responses to posts I can get the better it will be.