Someone asked me recently if it is hard to come up with ideas to write about that when written will make interesting reading.  It is not hard.  Every day is chock-a-block with story ideas.  It is the actual writing of those stories that is hard to do.

Let me give you a quick example.  I was planning on writing a couple of essays today.  It is currently 3:23 p.m. on my computer clock and you can witness for yourself how far I have come since the sun came up this morning.  Notably, according to the tool bar, I have written 105 words and you have just read every one of them.

I know why that is.  Is that a positive development, knowing why you have jotted down a pitiful 105 words in seven hours?  Is it like already being on the road to recovery when you finally admit you have an alcohol problem?  I want to think so because I need to be on the road to recovery. 

You see, I have diversions that were not available to authors of old.  Their distractions were limited to refilling their ink pens when they ran dry or changing the ribbon on the typewriter when the black ink disappeared.  With nothing to do but write, before they knew it, they had written some 1,000 page tome about war and peace.  Things are different now.  When I sit down at the computer to write, I cannot only write but I can surf.  Yes sir, click on that icon and voila, instant internet access.  And have I mentioned I have the self-discipline of a two year old?

So instead of pounding out a masterful essay on the habits of my office neighbors, I am absolutely up to speed on Karen Blixen and Denys Fitch Hatton.  Yes, indeedie, and I can't wait to spout everything I know at the next available opportunity, which something tells me won't be very soon.  I'm not quite sure how I got to Karen and Denys today.  It could have had some tie-in to writing.  Or, maybe it didn't.  Maybe more than anything on earth I wanted to have a farm in Africa today.  Or grow coffee, or be swept off my feet by an English safari guide. or go bankrupt.  Whatever the lure, it is the end of another day and what I have to show for it may make me a Trivia Princess but it doesn't lead to a dollar a day keeps starvation away.

Tomorrow during my allotted work hours, I fully intend to buckle down and knock out two fascinating pieces.  That is my firm intention today.  It does bother me some that off in a corner of my mind I am well aware that there is a ravishing 360 degree virtual tour of Versailles on the web.  And, having not too long ago become familiar with the Small Munsterlander, I feel the compulsion to memorize their traits and characteristics.  Come to think of it, I may be one of only four people in the world who knows what a Small Munsterlander is. 

Y'all need to join me on that information highway Al Gore so kindly provided so we can jointly waste our time gathering obscure and mostly useless information.   First one to the ingredients in cotton candy wins!