Le Tour de Chance

Funny title, huh?

Bet you'll never guess what I'm doing as I write this.... :^)

So, why "Le Tour de Chance"?

I've been away from the blogs for a bit (again) and have so many topics I'd love to cover. I'm actually writing this post right in the "new post box" -- not my word processor. See, even I don't know which topic I'm actually going to end up writing about.... So, there's your "chance".

Possible Contendors

I have been toying with writing about the reaction I had to being censored on the Men with Pens blog. Aaach, there's something wrong with their computer. It keeps scrolling "lead, chase, peloton", but not telling me how many seconds separate them. Don't they know that I have to know? There are only 8 k's left! Sorry. I'll try to stay on topic from this point forward. Don't worry -- no spoilers.

...and now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast

I'm back. You probably didn't notice, but I had to stop writing and focus on my TV. Folks needed me to clap and cheer them on, and I kind of needed my hands for that. They've got enough people covering the podiums that they won't miss me, though, so I'll continue typing now. Oh, and before I slander James -- at the risk of killing my punch-line, he didn't really delete my comment. I'll tell the whole tale another time.

Subscribe to frakin' comments

Another story I've been itching to tell involves the blood, sweat, and bleary eyes somebody forced me to put into my blog. I don't think I'll be posting that one too soon, though. If all my posts end up being about James, people might get the wrong idea.

Time management

Part of the reason I've been away from the blog is that I've been trying to re-work my schedule and develop better habits. Yes, I'm attempting better time management. I've got a couple of posts on that -- one I even started putting on "paper" entitled, "Beware the Middle Flame". I can almost safely post that one without raising eyebrows because James isn't in it at all (and I can avoid mentioning Harry).

Before I continue, I should add some explanation for readers who may not be aware. Men with Pens is a blog by two guys -- James and Harry. It's a cool blog. You should check it out.

In my search for efficiency, I attended a webinar about "Information Overload", presented by Shally Steckerl. Shally mentioned one tool that he thinks is great for helping to find out where your time goes, so I went to the web site to check it out. Who do you suppose I found on the front page? ... James. I downloaded "Rescue Time" anyway, and am giving it a try -- because it's been recommended by a few trusted sources, not because James told me to.

"All Hail Hincappie"

That's the title of another post I've written in my head. I'm trying to decide what to do with it, though. It actually has meaning. Posts on this blog are supposed to have NO value added (I kept your caps, Steph.) . Posting something that has value might disrupt the time-space continuum...or at least water down the alcohol. Either one of those events could be bad -- very bad.

So you see my dilemma...

Men with Pens and it's authors seem to be mentioned quite a bit in this post. I didn't plan it that way -- I didn't plan this post at all, remember? They seem to factor pretty heavily (in some way) into most of the topic ideas I have right now. So, what do I do?

I like the Blog that must not be named (again). I actually read several blogs regularly -- when I'm reading blogs regularly. I actually paused in the process of sharpening my nose (read lifted my nose from the grindstone, which I could have said originally, but chose not to for no reason whatsoever) to read and comment on Rogue Ink the other day... and I just suffered a brain cramp and don't remember why I said that.

At any rate, those guys -- Btmnbn(a) -- are popular. The posts that caught my eye and inspired me were written long before I ever started reading their blog. They have people following them. They are not following me...but everywhere I think, there they are.

I am not a cyber-stalker

...at least not on purpose, anyway. Nor do I have some sinister plan to lure Btmnbn(a) to my humble blog by mentioning their names repeatedly -- no matter what it looks like. I mean, Link Love is one thing, but there's probably such a thing as too much love.

The other ideas I've got right now aren't my first choices. Does anybody really care why I called my son Boy when he was little? No, not that "Boy" -- this one's mine and I love him (and he knows it) -- I just got the story idea from the name. Anybody want to read a post on housework, or my favorite shows on SciFi? Should I scramble for other ideas? Write the posts without mentioning Btmnbn(a)? Continue using a stupid acronym until I get ideas that don't include them?

What would you do?

Crossing the finish line

So ends this stage of "Le Tour de Chance". Funny, the podium positions are being shared by "A Ramble About Possible Blog Topics", "James", and "When Other Bloggers Show Up in Your Post". Oh well, no clapping and cheering on this one -- the real stage ended much, much better. Maybe I should consider having my own cheering section. I think it was an episode of Designing Women that had a character create a special "music" box. When the lid was lifted, the box played a clapping, cheering crowd for the listener. Bet I could create an mp3....

Life With No Morals

This post has been written several times today, changing each time I had a conversation or read another blog. Unfortunately, all of those versions were in my head, not in my computer. I can and will and believe that I am not putting inspirational posts on my blog. :)

Oh, I might accidentally write something that has deep meaning for someone somewhere, but I'm intentionally nursing my glass of Laphroig and telling tales from my life, my random thoughts, and my serious musings. You may laugh; you may groan; you may shake your head in disbelief and click away, but you probably won't reevaluate your life -- and that's the way it should be. I'm not aiming for maudlin or contrary at the moment, I've just been evaluating my purpose and making some decisions (again).

A lot of the posts that I've been reading lately are...inspirational. There's nothing wrong with that, and I have actually enjoyed the posts and commentary, but they made me think. My blog isn't geared for inspiration. I read all of my posts again just to be sure; there's not an inspiring word in the bunch (or the few, depending on how you look at it). Am I adding any value to the blogosphere? Should I get more inspirational? On one of the inspirational posts, titled "Participant", one comment (by Friar) included the line, "Is there anyone left (beside me) who isn’t currently self-actualizing on a journey of spiritual discovery?"

I could have written that line. So I thought about it and made my decision. This is my pub, a place to goof off, a place to be in time out from the "happy bubble" (Karen's, from the same post in response to Friar). I'm going to continue talking to myself in cyberspace about whatever strikes my fancy -- just life: no inspiration, no morals -- and probably no value added. I figure ice cream and alcohol don't add any real nutritional value to our diets, but that wouldn't cause me to remove them from my food chain.

Eating Is Good For You...Who Knew?

Dave Navarro's post on sleeping was the first thing I saw in my reader this morning. I thought about it, processed the parts that don't apply to me, and made a mental note to come back for the parts that did apply. I thought about folks I know who might benefit from the series, and then went on with my day.

I've been dragging a good part of the day, no matter how I tried to ignore it. I even planned (sort of) a post that tied in to Dave's, with an age aspect built in because I've been told that I'm old a few times today. I had all these one-liners and quirky commentary ready to go, but when I sat to write, nothing made sense.

My first thought was, "Sleep now, write tomorrow," but too many people have been telling me lately that I can and will if I believe, that I quit too soon, that I need to exceed my expectations, tell myself to shut up, and so on, and so on, ad nauseum. All I wanted to do was go to bed, people! Cut me some slack already. So I try to re-think instead of retreating, and my internal editor puts in her two cents, You're not really tired. Now I'm ready to tell her to shut up. I've already told myself that I'm not really tired (even though I'm sleepy). I don't need her telling me again.

You're not really sleepy. I can't fight everything at once, so I listen. What did you eat today? Taken aback, I stopped to think. What did I eat today? I got up at 6 and waited on my son. I played the good mommy when he got up at 10; he wouldn't normally get French toast on a weekday, but it's the first week of summer break at home. He went to a friend's; I went to the store for dinner ingredients. He did dinner at friend's house and I.... So it's 21:45 (my dad was military, "There's only one 9:45 in a day.") and my total food intake for the day was two slices of French toast. I hate it when that witch is right.

I went off to forage and came back to write. There has been some improvement in brain function, but I'm not sure how much. In future posts, I'll tell you about the dangers of the middle flame; how youth can age you; and how to make the perfect barbecue sauce. That's for the future, though, so, here's the recap for now: sleep deprivation is bad; getting up early to get more done after having slept enough is good; taking in too few calories can wipe you out no matter how much sleep you've had.

I've still got 10 minutes to make this post "today". It's 10 minutes to midnight, so I'm not quitting too soon, but I'm shortchanging myself on sleep tonight -- I'll be up at 6 tomorrow. Oh well, maybe I'll fire on all cylinders next time. I forgot about the hyperlinks...more time burned.