The dance continues...

Tonight, we attended a surprise party in honour of Spokes' old pal, Tom.

Tom's lived in Liverpool for 23 years but in a couple of days he'll be returning to his ancestral homeland - Ballybunion, County Kerry - where he's planning to establish a new centre for people with mental health and addiction problems. Although he's also due to go to Burundi in April to work on a farm project that he's had a long involvement with. Not only is he a man with a lot of energy and commitment but he's also a thoroughly lovely person and very much loved by his friends, of whom there are many. 

So it was great to gather together for food and celebration of Tom in words, music and comedy! Highlights included Minna's very moving speech (not a dry eye in the house!), Tayo's rendition of Wonderful World and... I like to think... an all-singing, all-dancing comedy routine by me and Spokes appearing as our alter egos, Eamon and Damon (see my previous, beardy, blip if you want to imagine what we looked like!). We were SO nervous about the performance but it seemed to go down well!

Thanks to Sallyann for throwing her flat open to everyone and to her and Robin for doing all the organising of tonight's shindig!

And so to Blip matters...

Having had a couple of weeks to ponder the new design and a couple of days in which to ponder the whole Polaroid bombshell, I've decided to carry on blipping despite my reservations.

The music fan in me feels that I'm going through that dilemma you have when your favourite Indie band signs to a major label and 'takes the corporate shilling'. One of the main selling points for me about Blip has always been its indie-ethos, style and panache in a world of corporate blandness. And, of course, the associated sense of fellow-feeling and community amongst Blippers.

I still feel that the site's relaunch and the relationship with Polaroid has been very clumsily handled and I wish more time had been taken to consult with the community and to explain what the proposed changes would be - and why they were deemed necessary. I truly hope the glitches will be sorted out soon. Reading Joe's Q&A session this morning has reassured me on a couple of points but I'm not sure that everything's been adequately explained and some things still sit uneasily with me. For now though, I will keep the faith. I've made some wonderful connections and friendships through this community and I think it's up to us, the Blippers, to maintain that sense of community, whatever's going on elsewhere.

To continue the music analogy, there are examples of bands - REM spring to mind - who were able to make the move from respected/credible indie acts to global chartbusters whilst retaining their personal and artistic integrity and control over 'product'. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a similar thing will happen for this site.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has left comments, stars or hearts over the last couple of weeks, I appreciate them all despite my ongoing inability to engage with you! 

As I suspected, the new Blip app doesn't work on my 1st generation iPad and I remain unable to post journal entries or comment on other journals unless I have access to a PC. It's beyond frustrating... So, I've made a decision to raid my piggy bank and invest in a new iPad in the next week or so, so that I can reconnect with my Blip compadres!

I also want to acknowledge that a few Blippers with whom I've been in touch over the last couple of years have recently left, either because of the redesign or the Polaroid link, and I very much respect their decisions - and have some sympathy with them. I'll miss them.