In something of a departure, I’d like to start this week’s Roundup with the Court and Social section,

Huge congratulations to some-time Roundup editor Andrew Reeves who got married on Friday.

Meanwhile, sympathy to Kevin Holdsworth who is mourning the loss of Tilly.

Now to business… so we’ll crack on with the business section.

Craig McGill at Contently Managed discusses relationships in social media (no not that kind)

And, ahem, moving forward Mike Ritchie says buzz off to buzz words.

Media analysis up next.

Other Aberdeen scratches his (or perhaps her) head at the contradictory nature of the news.

Caron muses with great clarity on the reporting of issues around domestic violence.

Nocturnal Emissions complains about the complainers: “People just need to focus their energies in the right places … instead of waiting to leap on to the Offended Bus at the very first opportunity.”

Needless to say the Daily Mail features in his diatribe too.

This brings us neatly to the gender matters section or perhaps it should be “does gender matter?”.

Scot Goes Pop asks: “if gender isn’t an issue for the left, what is?”

Misssy M does an excellent job on Gray, Keys and the truth about banter.

In this section, because I think it’s a gender issue, Kids, Crafts and Chaos learns she’s a good enough mum.

Entertainment - and how entertained were you this week.

The Thumb Cast (see?), among other things,  reviews Boardwalk Empire, The Green Lantern, Black Swan, The Cape and the US version of Being Human.

Scots Whay Hae on why NEDs will confound your expectations.

To the beavers section (I’m in charge today, so this virtual newspaper can have any sections I like).

Suitably Desparing says: “You can have beavers, but only if they’re OUR beavers.”

Sporting matters

The Scottish Football Blog on SPL TV

Politics corner.

Michael Traill opines that Scotland should keep 59 seats in the commons but cut their pay.

Fashion

In A Bundance (AKA me) considers the rise or otherwise of the woolflaps.

Tommy time – (three years since you ask)

Lallands Peat Worrier records Sheridan’s sentencing.

At Better Nation, Catriona MacPhee considers Tango Tam’s place in our history.

And Love and Garbage gives the best incisive analysis I’ve read.

Burns Supper Supplement

Many bloggers were inspired by the Bard this week.

Alba Matters with Burns, baby burns (disco inferno)

A Scotsman in Japan on the other national tipple

Bear Bahoochie has her Burns Night pondering

Bella Caledonia asks what your favourite book on Burns is

And Susan K Mann is moved to her own poetry – Scotland

If you’ve ever stopped by my little corner of the internet you will have noticed that I generally talk about my girls, books, and more than the odd cake baking episode. Being invited to edit this can make you feel like a very small fish in a rather large pond.

Little fish or no, the Scottish blogosphere is making me a better mummy. Really. Honest to goodness. Sometimes the connection is obvious, spending time with so many parents it can be easy to judge the parents and children around you. Softthistle talks this week about being on the other end of that judgement and perhaps we are ignorant of what’s really going on. A fact that Paul Johnston also picks up on and feels the current support for those with Autism needs reviewed. Parenting can be tough, even without the constant peer pressure but it’s no excuse to turn to the bottle as the Burd cogently argues.

If you’ve ever spent more than five minutes with an average 6 year old you will know that awkward questions and statements abound. “Mummy, can a girl love another girl like you love daddy?” Well, that is a tricky one but as Andrew discusses you can love whoever you like and that’s okay, even when you want to go on holiday. How about “Mummy, do you believe in Jesus?” A question, I learned, that has been asked since before the publication of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” as Gordon discovered. And for the hat trick- “What happens when you are dead?”, Jings nothing like facing your mortality before breakfast and Ellen has been thinking similar thoughts about what people will remember of her when she’s gone.

Phew, school run over for another morning! Just time for a quick cuppa and catch up on the papers, the only question this time is my own- what to read? Can any of our press really claim to be clean of the “blagging” that’s brought on the resignation of Andy Coulson, not likely according to Love and Garbage. It’s not even safe for me to turn on the TV as both the Lallands Peat Worrier and my daughter noticed this week, as I harrumphed at our First Minister yet again, the SNP and women have a  complicated relationship.

I sometimes wonder what my children will remember as the event that made them realise that the world was bigger than just their lives, for me that event was Lockerbie, and I wonder if they will still be reading about it- as I am- almost a quarter of a century later as Robert Black QC discusses why the handling of the case continues to be despicable. There is one thing I know my daughters won’t have to think about- what was their dad doing when they were growing up. Luckily for them he’s almost exclusively a stay at home dad and now more new fathers will have the opportunity to give full time parenting a chance as Jeff at Better Nation asks Nick Clegg to stand up and take a bow for tackling a key change in parental rights.

Ah well, best collect them from school. It’s time for yet more of those insightful questions spurred on by a day of learning. “Mummy, we’re learning a poem by Rabbie Burns, he’s the best poet isn’t he?” Now, I know if I wanted a quiet life I’d murmur yes and move on to getting home but that’s not my style (can any blogger leave a blanket statement like that alone?). Well, there’s the new Makar, Liz Lochhead, for one and Scots Whay Hae picks out a couple of her best along with the Burd and Lallands Peat Worrier. However, we’re a lyrical nation- the Happy Poet penned a short verse in praise of Virginia Woolf this week along with Nettie Thomson who posted some stanzas in a Glaswegian dialect on that most common of poetical theme- the rubbish uplift. Rabbie’s good, but the best, we’ll see.

So you can see that the prose and poetry of Scotland has made this suburban mummy a little more knowledgeable and clever with her answers to the next generation of Scots but you also made me snort with laughter, even if I won’t be taking up the dietary advice of Better Oot than In. But after Caron’s post this week I won’t be able to look at Ed Miliband without singing to myself-

“Caron and Ed up a tree… K.I.S.S.I.N.G”

Maybe I should get out more.

Clair

It has been difficult to fit this week’s nominated posts into categories. I like that. You’ve all been so varied this week, so think of this roundup as a Pick ‘n’ Mix stall. No pinching that sneaky extra sweetie as you browse, now!

That Miserable Bastard has a go at the choice of the world’s most miserable cities from what he believes to be a  writer more miserable than he:

“The other day, while browsing through some news reports, I stumbled upon an article entitled ‘World’s rudest cities‘ on MSN news, written by an author named Vivian Song. Wondering which 10 would be chosen and the reasons behind this, I had a little peak in and what I found was pretty much the ramblings of an ignorant woman who ventured slightly on the side of racism.”

Read the full post here.

Caron Muses on breastfeeding.

“When I see a report which undermines breastfeeding, like this one today saying that introducing solids to a baby earlier than the recommended 6 months,  I always look for the connection to the baby food industry. And I have never seen such a study where there is no connection.”

Read the full post here.

The news that Gail Sheridan is to stand for election has Burdz Eye View’s attention.

“During The Trial, while all around me were sympathising with “poor Gail”, I kept stumm.  Hard as it was. I knew, at some point, I’d be writing a blogpost like this, though I had expected to be doing so after Tommy’s sentencing.  Because “poor Gail” nothing. Anyone who saw the footage of Mrs Sheridan immediately after the verdict surely saw what I did.  How could you miss the determined pursing of her lips or the flinty glint in her eyes?  She may be standing by her man but Gail will make sure she gets her share in the process.”

Read the full post here.

Stephen Noon has only been blogging a  week but he’s already come up with an idea to revolutionise voting.

“My own experience of this past week, and knowing the way others in the SNP are using their iPhones or smartphones, has led me to wonder whether Scotland’s election this year could be the UK’s first iPhone election?”

Read the full post here.

The Tucson shooting  is on Jack Deighton’s mind.

“US citizens have a remarkable range of freedoms, not the least of which is that of free speech. They also have the freedom to own and use weapons. Both of these are, I understand, constitutionally guaranteed (or at least people believe they are.) The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords may, however, suggest that these two freedoms may be incompatible.”

Read the full post here.

Dear Scotland links the shooting to violence of a different sort closer to home.

“On Saturday, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson, Arizona by an apparently deranged young man.  Giffords is still alive, but among the six people killed was Christina Green, a girl born on the 11th of September 2001 — a girl whose short life began on a day of terror and ended in a moment of terror.  Since the shooting, the US airwaves have been filled by politicians of all persuasions calling for restraint and a reduction in the aggressive rhetoric that is increasingly today’s norm. Someone in Berwick didn’t get the message: after Celtic’s cup game on Sunday, they threw a bottle at the Celtic bus, breaking a window (no-one was hurt).”

Read the full post here.

Ellen tries to be positive in the face of loss:

“Generally, in both blogland and the real world, I try to adopt a position of merciless positivity. I am convinced there is a silver lining under every cloud even if it’s of the what-doesn’t-bust-you.. variety.”

Read the full post here.

Devolution Matters reports form the Scotland Bill Committee:

“Scott and Hughes-Hallett had emphasised in their written evidence and opening statement that they were concerned only with the bill, not with fiscal autonomy, in their evidence, but this was overlooked by the committee.  The resulting session was clearly highly acrimonious.”

Read the full post here.

The etiquette of space sharing is on Science is the Answer’s mind this week. A post that would be at home on the excellent “Passive Aggressive Notes” website.

“In a shared house notes are often left to pass on information, claim ownership or discourage others from eating your food (see I Lick My Cheese, a brilliant book). In a communal lab, notes are also left to offer instructions as to how the lab should run, pass on info, claim ownership and discourage others from nicking your stuff.”

Read the full post here.

Talking of sharing. When is it time to stop writing about your children without their consent? MisssyM loses one of her muses:

“The day is going to come, sooner than you think, where you will not be able to write about your kids. And sadly it is the point at which they start doing the most bloggable stuff- the teenage years. You can pretty much time it- they will no longer let you write about them as soon as you catch them spraying on deodorant or voluntarily brushing their hair. The day you hear them running a bath for themselves is the day you need to look elsewhere for material.”

Read the full post here.

Pining for the West draws a comparison between Narnia, harsh winters and Tory victory. It’s a convincing argument!

“I caught the back end of one of the Narnia episodes which were on TV during the Christmas holidays, it was the wicked queen doing her stuff. We used to be steeped in Narnia here as Gordon my youngest son was obsessed with the books and videos at one point. It always reminded me of the winters of 1979/80/81 which were terribly cold, worse than anything that I had ever experienced before. When we moved down to Essex the diesel in the removal lorry’s tank froze and the men had to light a fire underneath it to thaw it out, scary stuff. This all coincided with the Conservative party getting into power…”

Read the full post here.

Mike Ritchie’s not keen on buzzwords:

“Apologies for being pedantic, but the “buzzwords” topic should really have been about ridding the world – pronto – of annoying and meaningless phrases or terms that people in business, mainly, have latched on to and use, remorselessly, thinking they sound authoritative, smart or contemporary.”

Read the full post here.

Now for some Photo Blogging and snapshots of Scottish everyday life this week…

Jade’s photos this week are a heady mix of Snow, Innoculations and Going Green

And the Blipfoto blogs of the week are:

DaisyGlaisy’s shot of the Inverurie Youth Orchestra’s first show of 2011

Jelly Cat’s beautiful portrait of her friend’s daughter

David’s shot of Vancouver from “the other side”

In My Life’s view of Bennachie as the snow melts

HollyJuneSmith’s leaving do.

MeesterFeature’s shot of his mandolin player having a rest in the studio.

Day of the Tripods shot of the Australian Classic Rock Show in Aberdeen’s Music Hall

That’s all for this week. Happy blogging.

Editor’s note: There really were a lot of nominations this week, which is great. However,  some of you may be wondering why your blog didn’t make it. I apologise, there were a lot of nominations but a lot of people only sent us in their blog URL and did not nominate an actual post. So I had to be selective. When it came to deciding which posts went in I decided not to trawl through a week’s worth of entries from those who had just nominated their blog wholesale and concentrated on actual post nominations. Editing the Roundup is very time consuming for the volunteers, so make it easy for them and make sure your nomination actually has a chance of going in by nominating an actual post, and not just recommending a full blog. It also means we don’t pick one of your weaker posts and ignore your best ones that you’d rather have in the spotlight. I hope you understand and please nominate a single post for next week and we’ll be sure to include it.

Gillian

I thought the first week back would be a relatively quiet week for blogging with many people taking a break and recovering from the New Year festivities; however, there were plenty of posts worthy of comment this week.

Resolving

It’s always interesting to read the first blog posts of the year, often they mention new motivations or resolutions of some sort or other.

Caron notes how her daughter has forced upon her a sort of resolution, to encourage her to swear less and has created a list of financial penalties for particular swear words. The list drawn up, of course, contains no swear words but instead words which rhymes with them, some of the examples are:

Rhymes with rugger                                            20p
Rhymes with snitch                                             10p
Rhymes with white                                              25p

Kenny mentions that he intends to post a lot more frequently this year and starts off with an interesting article about the relationship between the length of an ad campaign and its success.“Through use of excellent concepts, great media which stretched from Tweets, Facebook, Youtube virals AND replies to user questions on youtube, they brought the meaning of consumer interaction right to the forefront of our mind. Is this what every advertising creative should aim for?”

A Wee Bit of Cooking reflects that the feeling of wanting to hibernate at this time year isn’t really a bad thing, I can agree with that perspective! I posted my own resolutions of the year, inspired by the word minimise.

Opinions and Setting the World to Rights

Perhaps it’s the start of the year but it seems there are a lot of people this week trying to put their opinions forward and get them heard by the right people.

Belinda, at Freedom to Choose (Scotland), posts on the subject of the proposed pylons between Beauly and Denny, having contacted the Minister for Enterprise with her opinions on the matter.

A burdzeyeview discussed his opinion of the recent Eastenders plotline: “Everyone is now talking about the plotline:  it will be a ratings winner, which was the purpose, and no doubt champagne corks will be popping.”

Ellen Arbison looks at the cuts in public libraries and the consequences of shutting more down: “For many people, especially those on low incomes, libraries are the only place to find a steady — and free — supply of nutrition for their brains. Surely as important as five-a-day for the body?”

Michael Traills gives an opinion on the recent hit and run incident involving an off duty police officer in Edinburgh, noting that: “The law applies to everyone regardless of age, sex, location or profession.  Every person should be treated equally and must be entitled to a fair ‘trial’.”

Other Interesting Points

Missy M’s recount of a recent trip to Pets at Home in Aberdeen has made me think twice about visiting the shop in case I run into any of the characters she has experienced.

Nine recounts the journey taken over the past year as she travels indefinitely throughout the world; this week Nine is also interviewed at a new blog Clear Minded Creative.

At The Words of the Lost Penguin, there’s an annual review of documentary films of 2010. Summarising this year’s finds: “If this year’s cinematic documentary offerings had a theme it was blurring the lines. There was a great deal of playing with – and down right manipulating in a few cases – audience perceptions, constructed realities and general blurring of the lines between fact and fiction.”

This week we also have a contribution from a YouTube video from Sandra Harrison showing Images around Scotland with music sung by Sandra Harrison.

I had a notion, seeing as we do tend to get all nostalgic at this time of year, to see what the first Roundup of 2010 had said. I had completely forgotten that I’d written it.. It also dawned on me that next year, the Roundup will actually be published on New Year’s Day itself.

The last week of the year saw articles on subjects as diverse as A Scottish Liberal saying that Westminster should take a leaf out of Holyrood’s book as far as petitions are concerned, Freedom 2 Choose looks at calls for a relaxation of the smoking ban, James over at Better Nation looks at the death of Richard Holbrooke and his reported last words on the war in Afghanistan. and A Rabbit’s Eye View of the Hyperborean North tells of a bid by Caithness MP John Thurso to have some of the Pentland Firth lease revenue turned into a fund to benefit local communities in the north. The Burd, on the other hand, highlights the issue of the Weir Group’s illegal trading with Iraq and calls for those responsible to be named and shamed. A Place to Stand, meanwhile, talks about transport infrastructure proposals.

In terms of the year that’s just gone, Bright Green Scotland wishes your participation in choosing what they charmingly describe as (a word I can’t use or I’ll be contributing even more to the Swear Box my daughter has forced on me and Roundup doesn’t do expenses) of the Year.. In altogether brighter spirit, I list my Women of 2010. I asked on Twitter for people to submit their favourite blog posts of 2010 and this from Mummy Do That, on the problems parents (and particularly mothers) face securing flexible working arrangements was nominated by several people. In case of more snow, you might like to keep Kids, Craft and Chaos’s guide to igloo building close to hand.

People like to make predictions at the start of the year, and the Blogosphere is no exception. Kelvin, after moderate success last year, has had another go at predictions for church and state.. Will, among other things, predicts that whoever forms the Scottish Government in May will try to make a confidence and supply agreement as opposed to a full coalition, but refuses to accept anything as inevitable. SNP candidate Joan McAlpine thinks that the people will make the right choice for Scotland, although it remains to be seen whether they’ll agree with her.

Resolution making is another key feature of the first days of January. The Scottish Ambassador plans to speak Gaelic to the Americans - but not in Utah. In a Bun Dance has a smashing looking bucket list of things to do, although if she’d just keep the going to live in Cumbria one until later, that’d be good. We don’t want to lose her from the Scottish Blogosphere.

In that vain, we have lost a couple of our key players this year. Mr Eugenides stopped because he wasn’t angry enough (and we can’t even read his blog any more), Tom Harris stopped, possibly because maybe he might get too angry with Ed Miliband.

In 2010, Scottish Roundup brought you a smorgesbord of the best of Scottish blogging, covering everything from political drama and intrigue, to sporting tantrums and musical marvels. Whatever 2011 may have in store, you can be sure that we’ll continue to do the same. Thank you for all the support you have given us in terms of supplying nominations from such a wide range of blogs. We are always keen to expand the range of blogs and topics we cover, so if you can add to that, or if you fancy editing a Roundup yourself, let us know.

But we’re still officially on holiday, so enjoy a dram or several, finish all the festive treats and put your feet up until Wednesday. Happy New Year from all of us.