Yesterday, in the spirit of the last week and a half, which has been mainly spent re-acquainting myself with the recent past - dropping in at my old school, going back to the pub where I work, etc. - I went to Brighton. Nothing too heavy, just a little light clothes-shopping, but enough to retread my usual paths. It got me thinking about how misrepresented the city is, quite possibly through my own doing. In the first term, whenever anyone asked where I was from, I’d say “Brighton,” or “near Brighton,” which makes the majority of people immediately think “gay”. Not of me, necessarily, but the place - it does, of course, have its reputation. But seeing it again yesterday made me realise just how skewed that notoriety is - the whole gay thing is just a part of what I see as the main quality of Brighton: that the whole place radiates an arty, alternative, free-spirited vibe that I’m yet to find in any other city in this country. Just driving in and out, as I did yesterday, you pass so many little places - galleries, studios, tattoo and piercing shops, record shops, skate shops, crazy clothes shops - for the most part independent, unique places with more than just a facade, places you could get lost in. It might have its rough spots, it might be full of chavs, but there’s that something about it which you can’t really describe, you have to be there. That is why I will keep defending it, not because it’s my home town (it isn’t) but because it has that quality that makes it the place where revolutions start, where ideas happen, where creativity is encouraged and supported. Not something that can be said of Coventry.

Alright. Dim the lights, strike up the band - it’s time to usher in the next Act in the crazy play that is BigglesZX.com.

For some time now I’ve been trying to think of ways to focus this site, and to focus the content that appears on it, and this is the result. “Fear and Loathing on the Learning Curve” is the new title for 2006 for BigglesZX.com - a new label for new writing: what will hopefully turn out to be a new flavour of meatier, more analytical writing. Previous incarnations of this site have tried to do too much at once - tried to present everything of interest about me in one place - which I have come to realise is not the best approach. It results in diluted, generalised writing that lacks a central topic (besides “my life”), meaning less allure for potential readers, and less motivation for me to maintain it.

Most of the topics I have been thinking about writing about of late have centred around my current experiences “on the learning curve,” both in the academic and experience-gaining, self-improving sense - hence the ambiguity in the title. Had I previously sat down and written about these things, and posted them here, they would have looked out of place - weighty articles in amongst trivialities like my latest impulse purchase; my last cinema visit. Henceforth, when I say something, I want to say something.

Shrewd readers will note the disappearance of the Chatbox in this new version - this omission is for both aesthetic and societal reasons: in the short time I spent developing this new theme, I didn’t come up with a way of neatly slotting the Chatbox in to the new design; but more importantly, I hope that leaving it out might encourage readers to comment on posts using the commenting functions instead of the less involved, more cursory Chatbox mechanism. It may make a return in the not-too-distant future, as might the much-loved BOFHcam (which is still accessible here, though it hasn’t been updated for a week or two). For those interested, you can read all about the conception of the new theme here.

So there you have it. I hope to update this every few days, depending on how much free time I have (currently: lots) and how much material I can think to write about. Please comment as you see fit, especially if you’re going to say something constructive. Unconstructive comments are not discouraged, but the former is preferred :-). If you want to swap links, contact me or leave a comment. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the site!