28th April 2004, and Dave, perhaps a little distracted at work, decides to start a blog.
“Minnellium” is a word I’d started to use for a music project back in 1999, as I’d worked on a Millennium Commission-funded project and numerous times people had got tongue-twisted and it made me smile, for some reason.
Initially, this was on Google’s Blogger platform, but I got interested in WordPress (an interest that 3 years later would lead me to a career-change) and I wanted the ‘ownership’ of something on my domain, so moved it from its old “blogspot” address to minnellium.com in 2005.
I’m definitely an uncomfortable and inconsistent blogger. Not an avid writer, just someone who enjoys writing when the mood takes me. In recent years it has definitely become more a diary than a source of opinion or reportage. If anything, the ebbing and flowing of what minnellium.com is / was / will be is its constant. If I was being grandiose about it, I could imply some tie-in with my ebbing and flowing life since April 2004. It’s been a busy ten years.
… but I think the ebbing and flowing of minnellium.com is not necessarily tied in with an ebbing and flowing life.. it’s just that sometimes I can be bothered to write, sometimes I can make the time to write, and other times, I just can’t.
It’s tempting to pick highlights. That’s going to be tough… and there are too many risks of missing some bits, so here’s a few random posts…. picked to show the diversity, I guess. A few words as to why I picked them
- The unlikely adrenaline hub of the world: Rossendale, Lancashire
Life was changed. They built some amazing trails within a ride of my house, the weather was dry, and my interest in mountainbiking was dramatically rekindled - Elsie is Born
The blog ‘missed’ the birth of my first daughter in 2002. It was lovely to have my own personal media-frenzy when our second daughter was born. - Fell Running Results
A very simple post – just a list of the year’s results, but I do wish I’d kept a better diary of things like that – the blog has come and gone as a diary like that, I should have done better - Kitchen – Work in progress – house extension rebuild
Possibly the biggest moment of stress in the last ten years. We knew when we bought our home that the extension needed ripping down and radically rebuilding. It was always on the plan. But with a three year old girl, a cold winter, and a muppet as a builder, things got pretty hard. To get the kitchen installed – even in ‘bare bones’ mode, was just a massive relief. - A broken collarbone and 7 lug stitches
A low, yet somehow I like looking back at that time. I had a mega crash – my first ambulance visit – a real knock to confidence – a real load of pain. But it made me stronger, definitely. - 2009 Three Peaks Cyclocross
The race I love the most and I reached the top ten at long last – I was, and still am, made up. - CD: Metamusic
The only CD I released in the life of this blog. I spent a load of time on creating 5 CDs worth of music in the late 90s and early noughties. I learnt a whole lot about music including the very important lesson that I do not have the time, talent or mental discipline to do it properly, but I do enjoy it whenever I get the chance to!
There’s more … there’s always more. Have a look