Sunday, January 23, 2011

Don't get it right, just get it written.

If the title of this post sounds familiar, it's because I stole it from James Thurber -- the famous American writer, cartoonist, and all-around wit.  When we left off in November, I was contemplating the end of this blog.  My posts (at least from my perspective) seemed to be getting stale and formulaic and I convinced myself that I wasn't enjoying the writing.

As it turns out, the hiatus was good for me.  I discovered that I really missed talking to you guys and upon reflection, it wasn't the writing that was boring me.  Rather, it was the fact that I was in a constant state of worry that my entries wouldn't be entertaining, well-received, or, quite frankly, any good.  Sigh.  Ego is a terrible thing, isn't it?

Anyway, I learned on the break that like my friend Byron, (yes, I still read poetry), if I don't write, I go a little nutty.  I mean, let's face it, I am not currently engaged in a profession where being creative is a core competency of my role.  And, while I am a great fan of "the arts," my attempts at painting might be mistaken for cave drawings from prehistoric France.  As for music, well, it was a good thing I broke my arm in the tenth grade and had to give up my budding career as a tenor saxophonist.  Did I mention that my parents issued earplugs to the entire neighbourhood? Um, yeah.

So, that leaves me with my love of words.   To satiate this desire, I went on a bit of a reading bender over the last couple of months and I'm not sure that I will be able to catch up.  In the comments area of this entry, I'll post a list of the books that I did read and if you want me to do a retroactive review of any of them, just let me know.

Finally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who reached out and asked me to come back.  I honestly had no idea that so many of you regularly read this blog and use it to make your own book selections. Your kind (and sometimes pleading) words are very much appreciated. Thank you.

DES