Seriously bad blogger...

I have been far too busy of late, it seems, to have time to post more than 140 characters. Quite pathetic. I've had several things arrive that have taken a great deal of research and cataloguing time. Partially drafted posts notwithstanding, I apologize, loyal readers. As I now have a dozen emails along the lines of "are you dead or just lazy?", I thought I should throw up a missive.

Substantive posting will recommence momentarily. Also embarking on long travel jaunt with Thing 1 and Thing 2 with a heavy biblio/museum component. Should be highly entertaining for me and properly torturous for the boys. More to follow....really...

George Orwell Blogging From Beyond the Grave

The Orwell Trust (together with Political Quarterly and the Media Standards Trust) has begun posting daily entries from George Orwell's diaries exactly 70 years after he wrote them. Thus, the first entry was August 9th, 1938 ("Caught a large snake in the herbaceous border beside the drive..."). The entries are annotated and tagged. It is quite brilliant.

NPR has a nice bit about it and the geeks are pleased, too.

From the site's announcement post:

From 9th August 2008, you will be able to gather your own impression of Orwell’s face from reading his most strongly individual piece of writing: his diaries. The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you to follow Orwell’s recuperation in Morocco, his return to the UK, and his opinions on the descent of Europe into war in real time. The diaries end in 1942, three years into the conflict.