And yet again my blog saves my bacon

And you all know how I love me some bacon!

I kind of dashed off that letter to Emma earlier this week about her grandfather's VW. And after I read through it, I thought hey! I could turn this one into a column! So I did. Just ripped myself off and lifted whole meaty word chunks straight from one page to another.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: one of the useful things about keeping a blog if you're a writer is that it can act as "an artist's sketchbook" for the other writing you have to do.

I know! Awesome-ness!

Yeah, I'm old like that

You know how old people always go, "Well, back in MY day"? I had that kind of moment when Al was out here visiting this summer. We were talking about how the Obama campaign has decided to go after Romney by making him look weird (I heard this on MSNBC so it must true, okay?). Specifically, they're gonna bring up the fact that the Romneys used to put the dog carrier (with the dog inside) on top of the family car whenever they went on trips. (Discuss amongst yourselves--on a Weirdness Scale from 1-10, how weird is this really? I will say when I was a kid I would have much rather been in a dog carrier on top of the car then in the back seat with my brother, John, who put his scary bare feet all over me for torture purposes.)

Anyway. Al and I--animal lovers both--discussed how some people are a leetle crazy when it comes to their pets. Then I went on to say and YEAH, some people are also a leetle crazy when it comes to their kids, too. Like, they don't let their kids go outside unless they're wearing goggles and helmets and have 911 on speed dial and so forth. What's wrong with parents these days?

What I didn't notice is that I was the only one having this conversation. Finally, Al said, something like oh RIGHT, Mom, it's a really bad idea for parents to protect their children, isn't it?

Okay. Point well-taken.

Meanwhile, Al and his adorable wife Randi write a very funny blogthemselves. I especially love the Skymall post, and I sprayed Dr. Pepper through my nose when I read about "Wunchiesville."

Blogging

Thanks for your responses, guys, (and, Radagast, thanks for the question that took us all down this road).

I came to the whole blogging thing kind of late, actually--which is my usual m.o. when technology is involved. In fact, Lisa B. was the one who inspired me to start one of my own. And I'm glad I did. I use my blog as a sketchbook--capturing ideas and impressions as they flit past my brain. Occasionally I've taken these posts and turned them into columns. Mostly it's just been fun to get stuff down and to hear your responses.

Here's what else I've enjoyed--visiting YOUR blogs. I feel like we're engaging in "morning talk"--the kind of funny, chatty, intimate, nothing's-off-limits conversations you have when you're out walking with a best friend at the crack of dawn. A blog is a natural venue for this kind of fresh,off-the-cuff writing, right?

I do think fb and Twitter have siphoned off some of the energy that has gone into blogging. And who knows? Maybe in ten years blogs will have disappeared from our popular cultural landscape, not unlike eight-track tapes. I hope not, though. Truly.

Here's what I want to say today

That I think you people who read this blog are fabulous.

Here's why. I've been visiting YOUR blogs and wow. I'm smitten. And humbled by how clever and funny and artful your writing is. It occurs to me that while it's true I have some talent and while it's also true that I work (kinda) hard at the whole writing thing, I've also been lucky. Really. There's no reason why YOU shouldn't be the ones doing the columns.

Some of you, I know, are working toward the goal of publication. And I applaud that. It's something I've worked for, too--something I still work for. Please know that I'm over here at my house pulling for you and cheering you on.

While eating, of course.


(Keep it up.)