Woodpecker

It's probably true that some blogs are popular because of their narrow focus and deep examination of specific subjects. I must suppose that what I write is not attractive in that way.

One mode of writing I've seen a lot of, however, is the faintly elevated 'Oxbridge' form. Some of my family members write that way when provoked or being provocative. It is spiced with the kind of allusions that are meant for only those of the same crowd. This spice is in turn concealed by the assertion that anyone who's had a proper education, whether at such gleaming (oops, dreaming) spires or not, should appreciate such.

I don't know. To me it sometimes seems as if, having earnt their MAs or PhDs, such people are locked into a death struggle with the material, like two spent swimmers who do choke their art (haha). It has become too much of a defining influence.

At the same time, there is the tang of the arch and deliberately layered kind of irony and wit. This faint aromatic component is yet another in-crowd thing. It makes me itch, because it reminds me that I know enough to identify it, and thus must partake of some of the characteristics of that crowd.

Some days, it is like watching Wodehouse duke it out with Wilde, or Eastwood pull a gun on Torchwood under the malign influence of Wildwood. Ach, one must not take such things too seriously.