Get on with it

Ok, so several months later and I've got to get this thing kicked off. Writing, blogging, whatever you want to call it, however you want to describe the act of expression, is the complement to intake, and must be done to let the brain develop. I suffer from recall problems - I can rarely recall what I've read, and very rarely describe in sufficient detail the nuances of a storyline or a political analysis. I subscribe to probably 10 magazines and 3 or 4 journals, and read only two (The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books) with any regularity. I read the others when I can - mostly when I fly - but I'm loathe to give up the subscriptions. The Economist is that breed of magazines that so frustrates the masses - a weekly newspaper, with 100 pages if not more, oft cited, oft referenced, oft linked in Facebook and Twitter feeds. But who is reading it? Who can make it through the random articles about inflation in Malaysia or the manufacturing sector in Germany? It takes a discipline I've never really had, but intend to attain.

So here is the deal - I'm going to write about the Finance and Economics sections, possibly about the business section, but there are some rules in play. I intend to comment on occasion about development economics, about the Middle East, and probably about US Foreign Policy. I also have a list of blogs I follow, including Bill Easterly's blog, a blog about fashion, etc. I may also write from time to time on other articles in The Economist or in other publications as I see fit. Gradually, I expect this experiment to accrue to my little brain the talents of recall and synthesis.

I also don't have a structure in place yet - I intend to over time develop a more coherent, a more deliberate architecture. I have learned that stream of concsiousness, as I am doing here, is hard to follow, adds little value to the reader, and is a bad and undisciplined characteristic of the writer. But I haven't come up with what that will be yet. Will I go so far as to outline? Probably not.

As my only follower, I can say, get on with it!