Ok, so I know you’ve heard this speech from me before. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s been almost 2 months and not a blog in sight. I am just as disappointed as you are. I cannot even tell you what I have been doing. First came the holidays, then my birthday, followed by a blur of uneventful days. I looked back at my calendar to see what I had scheduled for the month of January and this is what I found:
January 15th: Haircut – If you’re wondering where, why it’s only the best salon in Mankato – Raydiance http://www.raydiancesalon.com/
January 27th: Anniversary – yes that’s right, I put a reminder for my wedding anniversary on my calendar. This was done after I kept getting the date wrong (for some reason I kept thinking it was the 25th) and had to resort to looking at a photo album where our wedding date is engraved on the front. It’s been six years; you’d think I’d know by now. This event was celebrated at one of my fave restaurants in Mankato, Pappa George Restaurant & Bar.
January 28th: I had a reminder on my calendar to get my driver’s license renewed. This day was devastating, not only because I was reminded once again that I am getting older, but I also had to have my picture taken (my previous pic was soooo good). Do you realize how hard it is to get a good DL pic? I have since received my new one in the mail and I seriously look like a man. I had to check to make sure they didn’t actually put the letter M under Sex.
Before this turns into a page from Bridget Jones’ diary (too late), I’d like to get to the meaning of the title of this blog entry. I’ve decided I need to challenge myself more when it comes to writing. I thought starting a blog would do that but then I ran into the problem of not having much to write about. Well, friends, family, countrymen, I’ve found something that may work. Three words: This American Life. I am a HUGE fan of the radio show and of Ira Glass. As you may know, each week they choose a theme and report on stories that tie into that theme. Well I’ve decided to start a This American Life blog challenge. Challenge accepted! As of late, while I’m working I have been going through the archives and listening to past episodes on their website. My plan is to start from the first theme listed in the archives and go from there. Coincidentally, the first show is titled New Beginnings. I decided that my last blog entry could fall into that category as can this entry. I’m will try my best to have a new entry every week but would eventually like to reach a point where I’m blogging daily. We’ll see how it goes as some of the themes may prove to be a little challenging to come up with subject matter for. This is where family and friends come in as I may need to interview people for their stories if I am unable to pull from my own life.
In college I had the luxury of a professor giving me ideas and themes to ignite a writing spark. I was amazed at what came out of some very basic ideas, words, and themes. I’m hoping to recreate that with this challenge. I feel that I’ve been so busy with the day to day things that I’ve neglected the one thing I’ve been passionate about all my life: writing. I’ve made so many excuses as to why I am not doing it more that I’ve run out of excuses. I figure I can either look back and fret over all the “wrong” choices I made that have brought me to the undesirable job I am now working, or I can move forward and remind myself “it’s never too late”.
I am inspired daily by my seven year old son, whose wild imagination continues to amaze me with each story he writes and picture he draws. Even his journal entries are a delight as they enable me to see the world through his eyes. He writes more often than I do!
Let the blogging begin…