Who put the lettuce in Kosovo?

So, the first day of blogging for me on the recommendation of now fellow blogger and former (and perhaps future) colleague Adam Gee. As I write I wonder why I am doing it - knowing that I never have any time and that by tomorrow night I will probably regret it. But I can think of 4 very good reasons:

1.Cynical. To give free publicity to my BBC Books.
2.Personal. My frequent loneliness means I need to talk to someone even if I don't know who you are.
3.Giving.Perhaps someone out there will interested in what I write?
4.Splenetic.I want to get the good and bad that exists in me out in the open. So each day I will try to gripe only once and to celebrate something at least once but hopefully more so.

I am currently in Pristina, the capital of future statelet Kosovo for two weeks before I travel on to Macedonia. As I eat my salad (washed down with Kosovar white white accompanied by tincture of rotten cork) I wonder why it is that nearly every country in the world insists in covering salads with inedible and indigestible 'dressing'. Why do we want to make salad taste of anything but salad? Gripe over.

So what happened today that made me happy? A nice mail from partner en France Caroline looking forward to a bottle of wine on our one day together between September 14 and Christmas. A cheerful farewell from receptionist at the Hotel Afa as I left this morning 'Mr Douglas, Don't work too hard' (no danger of that). A meeting with Stuart Moran of United Nations whose travels around the world make my trips to near European former war zones seem so insignificant. And the fact that I cannot now get CNN on my hotel TV means I do not have to expose myself to another helping of Iraqi slaughter. The break is good for me.

To finish this evening's jot I am reminded of a great quote from crashing snob, society host and gloriously ego-centric diarist Henry 'Chips' Channon:

'What is the point of a discrete diary. One may as well have a discreet soul'. Bloggers take note! I hope I can live up to the aspiration.

Song for the day: 'Oh Girl' - The Chi-lites.