As so often, slow on the uptake, I‘ve – or rather, this blog has – been tagged with a couple of blog memes*, and I really ought to respond. Hey, if I can find time to help Dr Charles Soludo transfer his funds**, I can find time for this.

Thinking Bloggers

Creative technologist David Bausola, of Zero Influence, tagged me with a Thinking Blogger Award, “because of the dedication given to liberating freedom from the design of engagement”, which was very kind.

Here goes, then, 5 Blogs That Make Me Think:

Future Perfect (Jan Chipchase)
It’s the combination of travelogue, stream-of-consciousness photographs and, most importantly, the questions he asks, which make Jan’s blog so thought-provoking.

Bad Science (Ben Goldacre)
For being almost the lone voice of scientific journalism in the mainstream UK news media, and for tirelessly exposing the wilful deceit of millions by quack ‘health practitioners’.

Copyrighteous (Benjamin Mako Hill)
Along with his blog, Mako’s vast involvement with so much in free software and free culture are both inspiring (this especially so) and have an intense clarity of principle.

Musings & Meanderings (Vera Bass)
Vera’s thoughts and reflections encompass such a wide scope of themes and ideas; whenever I read, I’m reminded of just how our often narrow field categorisations can limit our ability to learn from others.

Paul Graham
Not really a blogger, but one of the most interesting writers/essayists on technology, business and the way people do things. Paul’s articles really do make me think.

Of course there are many, many more than these 5, and I feel bad for not including them. But, to practise what I’ve just preached, consider this type of arbitrary ‘choose 5’ exercise one of the ‘second type’ of judgements.

Eight random facts about myself

Thanks to designer-surfer David George for tagging me with this. As Jack Yan said earlier this year, though, I’m not going to tag more people; if you want to feel tagged, consider yourself tagged:

I don’t know about this tagging, and from what I read… people are getting a bit wary of it. So I won’t pass the tag. Instead, if you want to play, feel free to record on your own blogs your [eight] things.

I did have what I thought was quite a clever list of eight facts but there was a WordPress error when I submitted the post, so I’ve had to go back to an unfinished version of this post. So here, very briefly, are some facts:

1/2/3/4. I have embarrassingly many unfinished projects, from British Petrol Stations: Design & Branding History to further development of the Precision Glue Gun, to GrafSpray (‘stencil T-shirts that come with the stencil’) to Severn Beach, a novel about multi-level marketing, get-rich-quick schemes, and escape. As Alex Moulton said, “One is capable of pursuing two main avenues of research simultaneously, but no more”.

5/6/7. I’m currently typing this listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Before that, it was the Slits’ version of the same track. Next, it will be Danny Baker‘s show on BBC London.

8. Later this afternoon, I will be walking down to the River Thames to test a modified radio-controlled prototype product for a client.

Hope that’s adequate: it’s not deep or heartfelt, but I’m flagging from all this tagging.

*Though I’m a little uncomfortable with this usage of the term meme in this way, as ideas spreading – partially at least – through a sense of obligation to the previous tagger do not really seem to be memes in the sense I’ve always understood it.

**Not really!