It's a strange thing, but last night I woke in the small hours and wondered what I should be putting in my blog. How sad is that! What is even sadder is that today I cannot remember what it was that I was going to write about, and I had it all worked out so carefully in my mind, with all the arguments beautifully and logically laid out so that there could be no doubt and everyone would agree with me.

So now I am having a rethink. Some of my ramblings of late have become a bit disjointed and I recognise that I need a bit of structure. A theme that takes my fancy right now is to take an alphabetical journey which should occupy me for a few weeks at least.

The letter A poses the first problem. There are so many possibilities, but in the end I have decided that Alexander, one of my own names, should be the first; Alexander the Great of course. Many myths, some of which may be truths, have been written about him, including "Was he a left-handed epileptic cat-hater?" Many of these stories have originated on the web and may or may not have been correct. A good place for browsing is Alexander the Great on the Web where it is possible to sort out the fact from the fiction. With a name like Alexander, I had always gone along with the view of greatness, but it seems that even this is called into question. Maybe I should quit while I'm still ahead.

The Albatros is a bird with some strange stories attached to it, and I trust that this blog will not become a proverbial albatros to myself. Like Alexander they are prone to roam, but mostly at sea where they spend much of there lives. They are also great, in terms of size, being one of the largest flying birds, and I just discovered there are 24 species of them. Have a look at Albatros.

I shall endeavour not to wake too early tomorrow and try to think of a few Bs if I do. Perhaps I might even remember them.