Boring as bat shit...

...that's me I know, I've been told on numerous occasions.

I've had fleeting thoughts and ideas of something to write over the last week or so but none substantial enough to warrant an entry, and maybe I shouldn't have started this one either...

So I've noticed around and about the place (well was shown actually) this idea of "One Day Blog Silence" as some symbol for the victims at Virginia Tech and other victims of violence. With all due respect to the dead, injured and their families, this kind of struck me as odd and rather pointless. Seems to me part of the problem could be the silence of people to begin with. There are always warning signs in varying degrees and forms to these types of violent acts. Perhaps if more people paid attention to those around them and spoke up when something felt wrong, when someone was in need or if changes were necessary.. then some of the violence could possibly be averted.

Aside from that point, what is achieved by a bunch of bloggers not blogging for one day and are they really giving up that much? So okay those who post several times a day may get a little bored but c'mon who really cares if you blog today or wait until tomorrow? Wouldn't it be better to show your feelings by something more productive, like spending the day you're not blogging and going to donate blood which may just save the life of the next victim of violence. Or getting together and coming up with some realistic and reasonable reforms that may help stop these things from happening again and putting them forward to the powers that be. Now I'm not claiming to have any answers and I'm not putting my hand up to say what I do or don't do is any different or better than the next person, but this particular "trend" for today struck me as an attention seeking device for the individual blogger rather than something truly constructive or respectful.

The use of the line "Silence can say more than a thousand words" may have a small point, but then a thousand words is not much use anyway if it's all talk and no action. If you really want to make a statement or show respect, doing something that makes a difference doesn't have to be hard. Giving of yourself to those around you in ways big or small shows more compassion, respect and gratitude for life than sitting down and shutting up.