thanks for all your expertise, clearly there is software out there to do this, I just did not know how to find it. I'd not really thought in terms of a wiki, but really all I am looking for is a way to sort and nest data, and that is pretty much what a wiki does.
I've downloaded the free versions of MacJournal, Voodoopad, and Mori, and I'll play about with them and see which I like best. I'm not sure whether I would want to upload all my thoughts to a blog/wiki, the Voodoopad ability to upload to an iPod certainly sounds intriguing.
I'll play around with these applications a bit more, as well as TiddlyTagWiki, but thanks for putting me on the right track with this,
best wishes
tallmanbaby
http://tallmanbaby.livejournal.com/