24 – Not Jack Bower

On the 31^st of July 2008 I’ll be stepping (more likely sleeping) into my mid-twenties. People older than me might yell, “Oh, I wish I was twenty-four again.” - because of hearing difficulties. And people younger may send me text message which reads, “oh I cnt w8 2 b 24” . . . even though they are standing right next to me. I on the other hand will just be glad not to be twenty-three anymore; I really don’t like the number in terms of age. There’s nothing about 23 screams milestone*, and I’m in need of milestones at this stage of my life.

In recognition of one of my most recognisable feats to date (turning 24 and hitting my mid-twenties) I’ll be setting up a one-year blogging project that will kick off from July 31^st. I know it may seem greedy of me to want two blogs, but there really is enough room in this town for more of me (I mean us, for more of us).

The New Blog Site

The objective of the new site is to document my life through quotes from other people. By capturing interesting quotes from friends, family, news and entertainment etc. I plan to open up readers to my personality, points of view and activities in a more personal way than A Darker Shade Of Black. What is more, I aim to exhibit how other people’s involvement in my life affects the aforementioned.

I’m wrestling between ideas of writing styles to apply; for me blogging has always been an exercise in creative writing and self-expression. A standard ‘dear diary’ approach may be too unadventurous, whereas applying myself to the blog as the third person and using novel techniques may distance readers from the reality of the project. Consistency is key to this project, as it will run across a limited time and I don’t want to find my niche after six months of guess work. Positive changes will of course be embraced with open arms, but more so if a strong foundation is laid to work on.

What To Call The New Site?

Here is a shortlist of suitable names for the new site:

24 – Not Jack Bower

Loads of people love 24, and may be cajoled into reading with hopes that there will be references to the show . . . which there wont be, hence the Not Jack Bower bit.

Chapter 24

Insinuates a novel-like quality while informing them that they haven’t started reading from the beginning.

The 24^th

Simple, quick and informative once you begin reading the posts.

My Life, Your Voice

Lame.

With less than a month to go there isn’t time for me to thoroughly plan the project. Kinks must be ironed out and the site must be set up in good time for its official launch. My one man PR team will spread the word and alert the blog sphere of the next piece of meat to be slapped on to the BBQ.

We’ll see how it goes. A Darker Shade Of Black will remain active; hopefully the two blogs can interlink and feed off of each other generating more appeal. Overall I hope it’s fun, enthralling and read worthy.

A to the . . .

*Other ages I’ve found to not have that milestone feel include:

9, 12, 14, 19, 22 and 23