How I Write

I am continually trying to come up with things to write about. For a bunch of reasons, boredom being one of them. But primarily because I want to record some of my thoughts. I'm getting déjà vu; I've written about this before.

It shouldn't surprise me (or you) that when the ideas run thin, I might look to writing about writing. How many sitcoms have been about making a sitcom? Entire series have been created. And of course there was that period of Seinfeld where they covered everything from the idea for a TV show, to pitching the show, to writing the show, to casting the show, to rehearsing the show, to filming the show, to watching the show, to having the show canceled. I forgot about George negotiating the contract and Jerry's response, "Lemme see if I understand this. In other words, you held out for...less money."

So while I would like to have something more to say, allow me to describe the words you are reading.

All of these words are being written in a new message window in my Gmail. I do this because Google docs, my other go-to, doesn't seem to accommodate the auto-fill function of my on-screen keyboard. Yes, further, I use a mouse and touchscreen keyboard to type. And as you have likely experienced texting, auto-fill is a huge timesaver.

My laptop sits atop a shoebox on the desk to decrease the strain on my neck. Still, it could be higher; I'm a bit hunched over.

I sit in a cherry mission-style dining room chair and try to maintain decent posture, arching my back a bit as I lean forward. Sometimes I sit back and stare blankly, left hand still on the mouse as I consider the next thought. I've meant to buy a desk chair, but I always think I'll be disappointed, and I don't want to roll around on the hardwood.

Often I wear headphones, alternating between music and silence, both of which are less distracting than the sound of a conversation or the TV from the other room. I sit beside a pair of massive windows, taking up most of the south-facing wall. The door is open so I can easily come and go as I please, and at this time of year, to let in heat from the wood stove.

Lastly, resting atop a couple of file cabinets, the desk is in fact a 10x2½ slab of either pine or Nordic cherry. Just kidding, I don't remember what it is.

At 5:25 there’s still daylight. Cheers to that.