I did some more clearing of the office junk room yesterday.

It’s a very slow job as there are piles of crap, but also some important items such as instruction manuals and certificates.

Under a pile of books I found a copy of a book I had completely forgotten about.

Homepages – Tales From The Irish Blogosphere was a project back in 2008. The idea was simple – get submissions from the cream of Irish ‘blogging’ to create an anthology in aid of Focus which is a charity for the homeless.

To quote from the back cover –

Homepages is a unique collection of stories and photographs, the first of its kind in Ireland. The nations best bloggers hold forth on the theme of “home” , covering everything from pets and expat life to parenting and Kellogg’s Variety Pack. By turn hilarious, heartbreaking and thought-provoking, it promises a captivating read and showcases some of Ireland’s best undiscovered writing talent..

All proceeds from the sale of this book, compiled on an entirely voluntary basis , go directly to Focus Ireland, who provide services and support for people who are homeless across Ireland.

What struck me from just a quick flick through it was the number of great writers who have now disappeared off the scene. Writers such as ‘Primal Sneeze’, Twenty Major’ and even ‘K8 the Gr8’ all of whom have vanished without trace [except of course K8 the Gr8 who just asked me to do some child minding this afternoon!].

There is even a poor piece from Yours Truly which I don’t ever remember writing. I published it here way back in October that year.

Sadly I think it would be very difficult to repeat the exercise. There are very few who write on general topics – most have descended into the cesspit of fashion, make-up and the odd drop of parenting.

Leastwise I shall read through the book again and revive memories of times when Irish ‘blogging’ was fun, and writers didn’t all want to become ‘influencers’ or professional at the game.

Those were the days.