Some things can't be shortened!

Now, whilst it is true that there are some things that you may never want to shorten (e.g. Your life) whilst other things may greatly benefit from some judicious pruning (e.g. This blog or the Trailwalker distance?), there appears to be a move in society to reduce things to a length that matches the ever decreasing time that people are able to concentrate for....

(...if YOUR mind has already started to wander then your attention span is about 13 seconds!)

Take the "i" - the Independent Newspaper's so called "concise" quality paper.

It's premise is that it is aimed at the proverbial "busy" person who hasn't got time to read a proper newspaper, but who has advanced beyond the red-tops, and basically contains snippets of information that will enable any reader to enter any conversation and be able to say "I read a story about that in the paper"!

(However, if that said individual was questioned about their views on the specific details of the issue/situation so summarised they'd ONLY be able to repeat "I read a story about that in the paper".

We therefore need to act, before the world becomes no more than a collection of soundbites!

In an attempt to counter this move towards an overly abbreviated world and find one that had more "substance", I decided that a dose of culture was required & headed off to the Tate Modern to view the Gabriel Orozco exhibition. Some of the works were thought provoking, some challenged perceptions, and many demonstrated the sense of humour of this renowned artist.

However, there was one exhibit that wasn't a million miles from the "i"'s approach to abbreviated news.

The piece of work in question was called Obituaries, which consisted of a collection of headlines from the obituaries page of the New York Times in which the unnamed dead person’s achievement or notoriety is described in five or six words, without the added detail of to whom the description refers.

So, having initially baulked at the thought of news being "clipped" to the bare minimum, I was now being persuaded that to summarise ones own life in so few words was culturally acceptable.

So, what would I say about my life so far...in no more than say 10 words?

Current thoughts are:

• "Blue Peter badge winner & smartphone inventor before Aged 10!", or
• "Closet stand-up comedian. Couldn't unlock closet!", or
• "(Untidy) marathon runner, skydiver, husband, father, friend" or (after July)
• "Sang about walking 500 miles. Managed 63!"

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