Read Write Read Write

When I was really young, I would sit around and I'd draw all day.  Draw, draw, draw, that's all I ever seemed to do.  My parents encouraged me, and even sent me to drawing, painting, and pottery classes to inspire me.  With the zeal inherent in our family genes, of course, they did not enroll me in some silly sort of arts-and-crafts-y style kids workshop.  They enrolled my 6-year-old butt in community college classes!

As I got older, it was read, read, read.  All I ever did was read.  I got teased for reading.  I read all the books assigned to me in class (at least, all the ones I hadn't already read!), then I would read more books.  And if the books ran out, I'd read magazines.  It didn't matter what type.  I was just as happy reading Popular Mechanics as I was reading People.

As I got even older, I got teased even more about the reading.  "What, you are reading that ON PURPOSE?" people would say.  Family wondered if I didn't already have enough to do.  But inside, a storm was brewing, and it lead me to write.

At first I'd write in secret.  I had journals with chicken scratches of ideas for stories, chronicles of dreams I remembered, half-written songs or poems.  Stuffed into the journal were scraps of paper with even more notes, scribbled on pieces of paper bag or fast food napkins, from all the times an idea would strike me when I was not at home.

The ideas piled up, and eventually some of them became little outlines in MS Word that I stored in a well-hidden folder on my computer.  It was entitled "DOCS" and was stuffed inside another folder called "Other" on my desktop.  But none of these outlines ever seemed to flourish into a novel or a play…  Although a few did morph into some really terrible songs!

Then one day, a friend said I had to start writing down some of my funny stories, and I dug through my secret stash of ideas again.  Slowly, a few essays or articles started blooming.  And slowly, I gained the courage to post these as Notes on my favorite social networking site.

Now, I sit around and do two of my favorite things all day.  It's up in the morning and read, read, read…  Then write, write, write.  One would think I'd get tired of all this reading and writing.  Perhaps if I get bored, I can turn to the other thing I love -- arithmetic (just kidding!)?  But I feel like I'm just goofing off, having a grand time day in and day out.

I worry sometimes that I'm going to burn out.  I could suffer from writer's block, or just come to be tired of these things I so love to do.  But one thing I can count on is that people will keep doing silly, funny, interesting, or enlightening things that I just can't help but have an opinion about.

So, I just keep putting it all down with the virtual pen and paper I have come to see as a natural extension of my being.  And if I'm lucky, I'm entertaining someone, somewhere, at least some of the time!