My friend Charlotte Hume started blogging at exactly the same time I did. My blog is a series of ‘grumpy old man’ rants in the direction of journalism and new media.

Hers was an attempt to engage other parents with the problems of making her 7-year-old son, Freddie, eat his vegetables – an attempt that would run through the vegetable alphabet tracking progress along the way.

It was – it is – a brilliantly simple idea, executed with great panache and charm by Charlotte (and – of course – Freddie and sister Alex). You can see it here. (My own idea –I’ll confiscateyourNintendoDSyoulittlef&*^ker.com didn’t quite get traction.)

She didn’t start it to make a fortune, but its online success has taken her right back to ‘old’ media. You can now catch some of her stuff in the Mail‘s You magazine.

Last night she had her book launch at a chi-chi West London store. My family made it – I missed it. The book is great. Buy a copy. Eat your vegetables. They might inspire you. And, if they don’t, at least they’ll keep you regular.