I don't know why I've chosen to write this on my tablet, but I am doing that. This is one of the blights of the modern age. You buy toys without really knowing how you are going to use them, and then feel obliged to make use of them, whether you wanted to or not. In this case, I've turned off my noisy loud laptop, and I'm using my tablet - The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - to write a blog entry, mainly because I can.

Writing is a muscle, and it's important to flex it. Because you can. Everyone could write if they wanted to, you only need to use the same bit of brain as you use for speaking and type the words you hear in your head. Seriously, anyone could do it. The hard part is the editing, and I don't just mean making the words make sense after you've written them. Most people self-edit too much. They start to be so self-conscious that their words will be wrong, that they don't form complete sentences. Having the filter on is a really good way to stifle creativity. I feel the same way when I'm speaking to people for whom English is not their first language and I feel the need to try to simplify my vocabulary to words I believe that I would know if I were speaking in my second language. Boom! No more meaning... for anyone.

So, I have a toy to play with and so I'm playing. I think sometimes the reason I do many of the things I do is because I can. I am in the process of organising something big, and the reason I'm doing it is because I can. As a result, I bloody well will! That's not the most sound of reasons. However, good things happen when people actually get out there and do stuff. It's back to the idea of self-editing. If you worry too much about whether you'll do it perfectly, then you don't get to do anything. You don't get to play and the fun stuff doesn't happen. If the world were a toy, then you'd just have fun with it. I reckon that you can play with the world, so long as it's in a way which doesn't harm others, or at least doesn't harm the innocent or righteous.

Note: innocence and righteousness are in the secular context here, not the religious. I have just watched a Doctor Who episode in which there were lots of clerics, and in which a fellow stand-up plays a character who gets beheaded (no prizes for guessing the episode), but that hasn't inspired me to take up some sort of religion. If it had, I'd be in the religion with the glowing swords. Easy.

Back slightly to the point, and if I'm honest there isn't really a huge point behind this blether, the reason I'm sitting and writing is because I can. There are lots of reasons why I can. The work I did on my desk over the weekend, constructing this:

probably helped. Now I can work.

Yes, that is an Aqua CD on the desk.

Enjoy!