Six Months of TrennaMahney.com

By Greg

9 March – 9 September 2022

This website has now been live for six months so I thought it about time to make some comments about how it has been going, how it has evolved, and what I hope for the future.

I would greatly appreciate constructive feedback, either by commenting on this post, below, or by using the Contact Greg form.

A Story Well Told

Around the time I was starting the website I was enjoying a superb homemade, wood fired pizza at my friend Paul’s place and he was letting me sample his home brews. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

Anyway, I told him what I had planned and he told me about discussions he had with others about the concept of “A story well told”. In essence, what he was saying, and I’m paraphrasing here, “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story”.

I think it is good advice for entertaining reading. But, I can’t do it!

There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I want to stay true to Tren. The other reason is that I did study a couple of years of History at university, and recording accurate history seems like something worthwhile to me.

Overwhelmingly, the stories that appear on these web pages are exactly as they happened – or at least to the extent the authors’ memories allow.

Having said that, occasionally I need a piece of information or a detail to include in a story. In those cases I’ll do my best to find an accurate source to fill in the detail. And I’ll spend a lot of time and effort on it. But, if I can’t, …. well, ….. I might fudge it a LITTLE bit.

Goals of the Website

If you research “how to start a website”, a key piece of advice is to have a clear objective – “what are you trying to achieve with your site?” Sell something? Get people to join your protest movement? Show off your special skills? etc

It’s sound advice (as was Paul’s) but I just haven’t been able to distill down my purpose to one thing.

To me, ALL of these objectives (which are in no particular order) are important:

• To publish the oral histories Trenna recorded
• To do justice to, and give additional life and utility to her amazing record keeping
• To make use of her meticulous scanning, captioning and ordering of her photo collection, that spans her entire life, and all of our life together.
• To provide a creative outlet for myself, and to keep my mind active
• To help me in the grieving process – at least I think it does that
• To help people get to know her – yes, I really want that
• To entertain
• To document growing up in Perth from 1957 – maybe the biggest thing Trenna and I had in common And to provide some historical and sociological insights into that period
• To provide some insights into the medical issues that Trenna encountered, (particularly Marfan Syndrome) to perhaps reassure people that they are not alone when they have very challenging health issues
• To provide some inspiration for those who might appreciate it – Trenna’s disabilities and disadvantaged background stoped her doing a number of things, but I do hope that hearing and seeing Trenna going to University, Trenna in Paris, Trenna helping medical students, Trenna in New York, Trenna watching Black Sabbath, Trenna camping, Trenna at music festivals, Trenna in London, Germany, Austria, Tokyo, New Zealand, and of course, Trenna in the Tongue Pit at the Rolling Stones will all serve to inspire those who find getting things done, tough.

What I’ve Found Doing The Website

As I embarked on this project I wondered what it would be like. Not everyone writes, A LOT, about their wife. I was delighted to find that I really enjoy it. Of course, there are a few sad moments, but there are a lot of joyful ones too.

It makes me feel like I am a bit more in touch with her. I DON’T mean in a sense of a spirit, or an angel looking down from heaven. I’m fine with people having those sorts of views, they just aren’t mine. But it does constantly give me renewed memories of Trenna, and I feel a bit of a warm glow in my heart.

Each post takes quite a bit of time, writing or transcribing, proof reading, researching, inserting subheadings, and then finding interesting and relevant links and photos. Sometimes I do get a bit absorbed in it and big chunks of time just disappear.

I have also accumulated a list of places away from home that have good places to sit and have free Wi-Fi. It is good to get out of the house, writing, editing etc.

What The Future Holds For The Website

I can’t see this stopping any time soon. I still have a tonne of material I would like to publish.

Ultimately I would like to publish the vast majority of the photo collection. I don’t want to do it too soon as I like being able to add a photo or two that most people haven’t already seen to each post.

In the very near future I will be publishing Trenna’s Travel Diary of spending six months touring around the USA when she was about 23 years old.

I also have lots more medical records – probably more interesting for people with similar health issues – though most are written with her dry, cynical wit! Hundreds of Menu Diaries – please read them, there are lots of stories and insights in each one, and further instalments in The Darwin Letters and The 1973 Diaries,

As you might have guessed, that is NO WHERE NEAR all of it!

I’ve also written notes to myself about dozens and dozens of stories that fit in with the 10 objectives I listed earlier. It will keep me busy for quite a while.

Your Ongoing Role

Well, that’s what I’m doing, and have been doing for the last six months.

You can play your part in helping meet some of the objectives by sharing parts of the website with family, friends and your social media contacts. From my point of view the more who read it the better.

Also, I do love comments and contact with people who have read stuff and want to get something off their chest. I love hearing from readers.

I also welcome, indeed would like more, feedback on the types of posts you would like to see more of, and also on how you find navigating around the site with such a diversity of stories and “series”.

Stats and Output

In these first six months I’ve managed to put out 90 posts, or about one every 2 days.

There have been approximately 174,000 words posted on the site, the majority of those came from Trenna’s mouth.

And that’s a good thing!

Thanks for reading.

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