Picking up the pieces

When I started this blog, early last year, there was hardly any regular activity in the blogosphere from and/or about Malta. Five months into the adventure I blogged about the other Maltese blogs I had discovered. Since then a small number of blogs have entered the scene, making blogging something that is now also becoming quite Maltese.

Take in the first instance what is by far the most active blog of all Maltese blogs: Wired Temples. This blog belongs to an old schoolmate of mine; most people know him as one of the 2004 MEP candidates from the Malta Labour Party. Robert Micallef and I went to secondary school together between 1978 and 1983. I have fond memories of him at school because he managed to get me expelled during my first year at St. Paul's Missionary College. Perhaps I'll blog about that some other day.

Robert's blog is a very ambitious blog, but it is quite refreshing to see someone so committed to blogging daily about things that are neither too personal nor of little interest to a larger public. He has even mentioned my blog a couple of times, so indubitably this is what I would classify as a good blog.

I'm pleased to see that there are also Maltese blogs by non-Maltese bloggers. The best example of this category I've seen so far is the Maltese Vagabond by Jess, an American college student spending her junior year in Malta. This blog reads mostly like a personal journal or diary. Quite different from this other blog.

I was also very pleased to receive messages from a couple of other Maltese bloggers to alert me to their blogs or tell me that they've done something or other to/with their blog. From among these bloggers I'd like to point out Maria Calleja and Owen Cutajar, two people I know only through their blogs.

Maria remains one of the most active Maltese bloggers. I mentioned her first blog in my previous entry, but since then she's moved on to other adventures. She abandoned her first blog, and now blogs regularly about her globetrotting adventures at maria.nomadlife.org.

Owen's blog is mostly about technology, but he blogs about other things too. His blog is called Ugh!!'s GreyMatter Honeypot, but I think the subtitle (Distracting the mind with information overload) really captures the spirit of his blog. What I find most interesting in this blog are glimpses into Owen's life as a Maltese man in the UK.

There are other blogs I've been looking at recently. These include Immanuel Mifsud's blog (probably the very first Maltese blog!) alond with its extraordinary Maltese edition and the anonymous Malta, 9 Thermidor (sadly not as active as it used to be until last November...the last post mentions my ramblings about the Budget for 2005). Speaking of ramblings, there's also Diverse Ramblings from Maltagirl: a very bloggy blog that's not a blog in blogger; I can't believe she pays to host her blog.

Have you had enough yet? Well, there's lots more where all this came from...and to throw another cliché into the mix: you ain't seen nothin' yet! My prediction is that blogging will become extremely popular with Maltese people in and out of Malta in 2005. This time next year remember you heard it here first.