Back in October 2006 I embarked on a little adventure.

I had heard about this “blogging” lark but I hadn’t a clue what it was about.  I had only seen one or two of them and that wasn’t much help.  What was it all about?  I decided to install the software and give it a bash [Linux joke].

It needed a name so I called it “Grumpy Site”.  I stuck a couple of thoughts on it and that was that.

Or so I thought.

Because I hadn’t a clue what the whole game was about, my first two brain-farts were rather pathetic – like a newcomer to a party making the first hesitant steps to strike up a conversation.  However my second fart actually got a reply.  Weird!  I decided to write some more.

After a week or so I began to feel a little embarrassed at the “Grumpy Site” name.  It was shite.  I had to replace it, but what with?  After a very long period [about five minutes] of deep thought I came up with “Head Rambles”.  I have no idea where it came from – it just sort of rambled into my head.  I changed the site to the new name and wrote a couple more farts.

Then it got mentioned in the Irish Times.  I have no idea why, but it did and all hell broke loose.  Then it got mentioned in a couple of magazines and all hell became pure mayhem.

They were the glory days.  There were the various awards, spots on radio, a book offer and a feature in a television programme.  Blogging in Ireland was somewhat wild and it was fun.

Eight years on, things have quietened down a bit.  Actually they have quietened down a lot.  Most of the old sites have gone and there is only a handful of the old crew still around.  Nowadays the scene seems to be just a clatter of cookery, handicraft and fashioney things.  There are a few new sites which almost reflect the early days but they are few and far between.

So here I am, eight years, eight hundred thousand visits and nearly two million page views later, still rambling and still wondering what the fuck it has all been about.  I have gone from being a Wild Boy to being a bit of noise in the background.  Rambles has become a mole on the chin – it’s been there for so long no one notices it any more, and most people are too polite to mention it so they pretend to ignore it.  But mole or not, it still gives me a kick and maybe someday it will develop again into a fully fledged melanoma on the face of this politically correct world?

But if I had known back then that I was starting out on such a long journey, would I have taken that first tentative step?

P.S. Anyone know where I got the title for this?  😉