Who reads old blog posts?

When I come across a blog that interests me, I tend at first to read as far back as I can and then keep revisiting.

But I have some observations and caveats to that ... and I will use examples from my link list and some others to try and explain.

a) Some have been running for years and always interest me ... Drs Rant and Crippen and Tom Reynolds of the London Ambulance Service are visited daily and I am disappointed when I don't see a new post. Obviously, the UK National Health Service and its superb treatment of our daughter Kezia are prime interests and the depressing views of our medics are important to me. I think Dr Z., FtM Doctor, who I only found last week, will fall into this category.

b) Cancer patient and carer blogs - well, I've posted on this subject before. The best I have found will not fail to talk about things other than cancer - there is more to our lives than cancer. Christian/Potentilla at auspiciciousdragon.net is a great inspiration, and now she is dead I find it sad her partner, Colin no longer writes but just posts his rather wonderful photos. Cass of Cancergiggles was marvellous and I found it much too late. It is a shame his partner/family have not really kept it up. But grieving might explain both. Lucia is a great inspiration - for getting on with life but making her leukaemia positive (she has just become a rep. on the board of governors of the Central Manchester and Manchester Universities Childrens Hospitals Foundation Trust) as is the dying Adrian Sudbury. Rob and Lauren follow the same mold.

The Whites in NZ I find a bit heavy on the treatment and leukaemia experience - but they write well. The occasional insights into the NZ health system really need expanding.

A link to Sophie's Diary (a girl much of Kezia's age) I included - even though it's probaably written by proxy parents, it does draw aattention to the fact that small children are more interested in Mars Bars and Playstations than their own leukaemia.

MiltCentral I included in my links as he is just as interested in young adult things as Sophie is interested in young child things.

I can't say I've visited either of their blogs in months ...

I admire all these and would hope that, if I were back un the UK, I would be helping out on leukaemia and cancer issues a bit more than the little I can do via this blog. However, the slight emphasis on news about cancer in Africa is perhaps rare in the cancer blogosphere ... ,

c) Blogs that have disappeared ...

Soj was an American in Romania who would almost everyday review news events from around the world, as reported by local media - those stories of (mainly) tragedies that readers or viewers of the BBC, CNN etc never hear about. I haven't linked to as her entire blog diasppeared when she all-of-a-sudden returned to the USA.

The Head Heeb, seemingly a lawyer in the US was another internationaal current affairs commentator, who has stopped posing since his partner died site, I leave the link up as some of its archives may still be interesting.

Although The Grand Rounds go from strength to strength, the Paediatric Grand Rounds have unfortunately died a death (although the archives are still there ...).

d) Blogs I read (past tense) alot but now only occasionally visit ... Alex Harrowell and Kathyrn Cramer. We had common interests in the international arms dealer, Viktor Bout, some of whose planes were apparently registered here, who chartered planes and bought arms for both the Taleban and the US government and many other dubious outfits over the years ... Another common interest was internet censorship and the role of European/US companies in providing hard/software to repressive regimes to stop people reading our blogs. Kathryn is a big name in the US science-fiction community and is very much into her family. Alex works in the mobile telephone industry but blogs about international arms trading, IT security and the issues surrounding it, Rugby League and much more. (Viktor Bout is in a Thailandese prison (we think) from which the US claims they want to extradite him, though it rather seems they want him to languish there so he cannot reveal too much about US involvement in contracting him to provide air--cargo services into various places including Iraq).

e) Jon's Jail Journal and Cziskereda Musings.

Jon, real name Shawn Atwood, was a Brit high-flying stock trader in the US organising rave events (with their associated drugs) and got busted. He served time in one of the worst prisons in the US but eventually got parole and deportation back to the UK just before Christmas. He got on well with the the weird and wonderful prison community, the mass murderers, the gang members etc etc there and is still in touch with them ... his descriptions of their hardened personalties, their kindness to him, the protection they gave him, their friendliness and hospitality continues to be a story of our humanty. He has made some real friends.

Andy at Cziskereda Musings lives in Cziskereda, Romania and for a long time we followed a similar career path to the extent we worked at the same insitition in Portugal although two years apart. He ended up in Cziskereda where he met his spouse, already with a daughter, and a year or so ago they had a daughter together. He writes mostly about Romania, his family, and the places his work takes him.

f) Boing Boing: I love it - just too much to read.

And strangely most of the visits I receive have nothing to do with leukaemia, the NHS etc ... but my posts on using the BBC iPlayer overseas.

All links on the right.