Yes, back from the un-dead. It’s me. Revived by my annual strange-yet-wonderful breakfast in bed, showering of home made thingbobs and a day of the sort of domestic ordinariness that is a blessing to a mummy like me. Yes, this Mother’s Day I have taken my mummy-glory and run with it. And now the little angels are asleep, I’ve painted my nails, and I’ve ditched the prep for a fix of blogging and messing around on the internet. Because…er…I’m worth it. Actually, I’m blogging defiantly, if a little purposelessly (can you tell?). Because I can. Because the internet is a wonderful and crazy place and I want to shout a bit and blow off steam. And because some people would rather I shut up, stopped the blogging and curled up in a corner (*waves*). And that makes me want to do. the. opposite (I can almost see my own mother rolling her eyes, that is so much like me). So people. Tonight I don’t have much in particular to say, but I’m going to say it anyway. Ya-boo. So…that internet. Ace isn’t it? This weekend in our house we’ve turned to the interwebs to find out how to crochet (not very successfully yet, but we’re working on it), to find out the name of that actor in that film, to amuse ourselves with hilarious conspiracy theories, to chat to long lost friends, to book a hotel, and to educated ourselves about encopresis (thank you Children’s Hospital Colorado, one 6 y/o watched your video “The Poo in You” absolutely rapt – fingers crossed). The 6 y/o is googling every question known to woman and acquiring knowledge at a superhuman rate and later this week I shall rely upon it to save my bacon in the birthday present buying rush. And of course, I caught up on the blogosphere. In particular I read a really thought provoking post on the ICLR blog : Trappists v Spinners : shaping the legal discourse, posing the vexed question “How should judges communicate with the public?”, which has led me to two most fascinating lectures, the first delivered in November last by Sir Alan Moses : WEARING THE MOURNING ROBES OF OUR ILLUSIONS: JUSTICE IN A SPIN – something which I’ll warrant has been on the bedside stand of a certain Munby P, and which in short delivers a well aimed bovver boot up the bum of the judiciary to rouse them out of their silent reveries on the rule of law and to remind them of their positive duty to explain the law and what they do and to break down misconceptions. The second lecture, also delivered last November by Lord Dyson (Master of the Rolls) : CRITICISING JUDGES: FAIR GAME OR OFF – LIMITS?reaches I think slightly different conclusions about the mechanism through which that duty should be discharged by the judiciary (in short, through an institutional response via the Judicial Press Office) than that of Sir Alan Moses – but both appear to be acutely aware of the need to engage with public debate and education in the modern digital society. However, in spite of all this significant rumination on the topic, as far as I can tell the guidance issued in August 2012 regarding judicial blogging and use of social media (about which I blogged here : Judgment without opinion remains current. Yes, blog readers, it’s a complicated, messy world and people do sometimes talk a lot of poop about “stuff”, especially on the internet, which has a tendency to give them keyboard diarrhoea. But, as the Children’s Hospital Colorado has taught us through the power of You Tube, not pooping is not a long term option. Brava. Exits on a cryptic poo metaphor. Job done. *air punch*