When I decided that I wanted to blog, I put in quite a bit of thought on what it would be about. Initially I had the notion of doing a cooking blog. I have a deep interest in cooking, so much so that I have become the primary food preparer in our household. My wife can put together a pretty tasty meal when she has to, but for the most part she runs around telling people that the kitchen belongs to me. Most of the TV programs I watch are about food, and cooking, and most of my nonfiction reading is about food, although I read very few recipe, or cook books. So should the blog be only about cooking, or should it be about cooking, and the several other things that interest me, such as photography, music, or dogs, particularly, our dog Miles, or should I have multiple blogs, one for each subject? Well when I finally set up and started the blog, the first few posts were indeed about kitchen subjects, but by than I had discovered that the subject of my blog was the least of my worries.
It turns out that no matter what a blog is about, it is also about writing. Yes, writing, and if the blog is to be of interest to anyone, enough for them to come back for more, and than come back, for even more, the writing has to be constant, and interesting. For me the word constant is primary. You see, I have found that sitting down and writing until something is finished, and posted, and than starting something new that will soon be finished, and posted over, and over again, is not for the procrastinator. I said all that to say this, “I am a procrastinator”. My goal therefor is to change that to, “I am a recovering procrastinator.” I have to write using one of the greatest tools of procrastination man has devised, a computer connected to the Internet. I sit down to write, and before I know it I'm Googleing, Yahooing, and Binging, every little thought that pops into my mind, and precious little of it having to do with what I’m trying to write about. I decided that, part of the solution is to do as little of the writing as possible, at the computer. Pen to paper is the answer. Processing ideas, and writing first, second, and maybe a third draft with pen, and paper, and nothing going on, except some non-distracting music, and going to the word processor only for final editing, and posting.
Since I’m the kind of writer who has to write a lot to get a little, I’m going through notebooks like crazy. My favorite being the “Mead Five Star” spiral notebooks. They are sturdy, and hold up to a lot of dragging around, and being stuffed into pockets, glove compartments, and a little leather man bag. They come in various sizes, but the 7 x 5 in. spiral with 100 pages, and one page with pockets, and the 6 x 9 in. spiral with 100 pages are my choices, both of which can be found at Wal-Mart for $1.79. I have stockpiled a few for fear of that great price going away. I would buy them even if I had to pay the three dollars, and change they go for at other places. I recommend them. My other favorite writing tool is the Sharpie Pen. It has a very fine felt tip, the ink dries immediately, and does not soak through paper, (don’t confuse it with the fine tip marker) and the lid stays on in my pocket. I buy the ten packs at Sams Club, and BJs Whole Sale Clubs, for ten dollars, and some change. Hopefully I have made it clear why this is the first post in over a month, and that things are about to change. Am I just talking through my keester? We’ll see. See you next week.We’ll see.
