There are four books in my lap. #3: No One Cares What You Had for Lunch
Sunday, 11 April, 2010 at 8:00 PM 
When I decided to tell you about the four books fighting for my attention (and with my laptop for space in front of me,) I began over here with this book by SARK. For you linear types, go ahead. Click the link. Start at the beginning. We'll wait for you.
Now I want to tell you about quite a different kind of book. Long-time readers of my blog will remember, perhaps, when I first read No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog, by Maggie Mason. I say this because I blogged about it back then, over here.
It was time to pull this book out because I'm trying to win a fight with my blog. A fight that goes something like this:
Blog: You have to write in me today.
Me: I do not.
Blog: Yes, you do. If you don't write in me, you'll feel like a big fat loser who can't follow through on your commitments.
Me: I'm busy and I've been writing in you for more than 5 years. I think that's a huge commitment, thank you very much.
Blog: Look at all the blogs you read. Those writers seem to have no trouble at all with their commitments. What kind of writer are you if you can't even manage a measley little blog?
Me: Blogging isn't measley anything, and it's not little either. It takes a lot more time than people realize.
Blog: I know that. But you still have to do it. What's the big deal? People refer to you as creative. What kind of creative writer chick are you if you won't just sit down and write?
Me: Maybe I'll just turn you off. There's nobody who says I have to have a blog, anyway. Plus, 5+ years is a nice long run.
Blog: No. Not that. Anything but that. Where would you be without me? I'm all wrapped up in your life now. Your identity, even. You're a blogger! I make that happen. You should be thanking me, not thinking about killing me.
Me: Shut up. I'll blog when I feel like it.
What I needed was fresh perspective. Blogging isn't supposed to be a war, or even a battle. So I picked this book up once more. And today I read:
30. Be Yourself
Things I like: music, dogs, reading, movies, hanging out with friends.
Honey, who doesn't? As long as you're writing one of those ubiquitous list de likes, at least make it worth reading. Your readers don't care whether you love kittens, they care about the quirky things you love, the things only you love. Say something surprising.
Brittney Gilbert (http://brittney.typepad.com) writes:
When I cook eggs, I can't just toss the shell without first crushing it in my palm. I like the prickly sensation of the broken, jagged shell in my skin.
Now you have our attention.
Although it seems this particular blogger has taken a hiatus, Maggie Mason's highlighting of Gilbert's words got my attention, too.
And so I sat and sat, trying to figure out what on earth it is I might have to say at this particular moment, that would be more interesting than "I'm blogging about four books tonight, while drinking inexpensive red wine, listening to Howlin' Wolf sing the blues, and mentally wracking my brain for a word to describe the sound of rain on the roof which is not at all staccato but I love the word so much it keeps coming to mind?" Truly I want to tell you something you might not have read in any number of other blogs lately, and so I've decided I'll tell you this:
When I was 23 or so, I went with my friend Sean to a fabric store. There he picked out a piece of cotton fabric, primarily a reddish orange, on which was printed yellow dinosaurs riding skateboards and playing basketball. We then bought a pattern, and headed back to my place. Where I sewed for him a pair of Hammer Pants because he wanted them. Which he subsequently wore, one day, to the office. Because we were young and carefree like that. Everyone wasn't as amused by his wardrobe as we were. It was an office that took itself very, V E R Y seriously. I wonder what ever became of those pants?
I also wonder if I can drum up for my blog other tidbits that stand out from the pack. Thank you, Ms. Mason. I'm gonna' try and do better going forward.
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Reader Comments (2)
Edgar Alan Poe used the word "tintinnabulation" in his work "The Bells". Rain on a tin roof might sound like that. At least the word sort of does. Rather Poe-etic don't you think?
I kept thinking I was going to find a way to work "tintinnabulation" into my vocabulary, only I can't even get it right when I'm reading it aloud, much less to pronounce casually as I talk. But you're right about rain on the roof. :) Very Poe-etic...