When I was 16 I started a fanzine (that should give you some idea of how long it's been since I was 16!). It was called 'Venus', and reflected my major preoccupations at the time: music, charity shop clothes (this was pre-'vintage'), music, bad poetry, music, books, music, A-Levels and music. The tagline for Venus was 'Please understand. We don't want no trouble. We just want the right to be different. That's all'. A plea (taken from a Pulp song) that I now find heartbreaking in what it reveals about life as an indie kid growing up in Bradford.Anyway, I left Bradford for university and Venus (which by then had become 'V', after I belatedly realised that phoning up record companies to blag gig tickets with the words, "Hi it's Janet from Venus" could easily be misconstrued!) sort of petered out. Technology moved on and fanzines became, if not totally obsolete, then certainly a dying breed. Blogs took over. I wasn't interested.
But... I've been reading so many great blogs lately, ones that inspire me in all sorts of ways: the music I listen to, the crafts I make, the outfits I wear, the books I read. So I thought maybe it was time to start writing again.
It turns out that 15 years later, my interests are still music, books, charity shops (now vintage) and A-Levels (I'm a teacher). And with the addition of a newly-rediscovered love of crafting, that's pretty much what this blog will be about. I'm looking forward to exploring the world of blogging. If it's as much of a blast as the fanzine world, I'm in for a good ride.
