A Bit About The Writing ,,,

Weekend postings are where I normally like to kick back a bit, focus on the less serious aspects of life, and let my fingers do the talking (doing so makes it easier for me to keep my foot out of my mouth). Even writing nonsense however, is something that requires effort (and heavy doses of spell check) to do well.  

The problem is that I take every writing effort seriously. This is not to say that I take myself seriously. I clearly understand that my opinion and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee in most convenience stores (I think it's still $5 at Starbucks, sorry). Some of the subjects that I touch on are deadly serious however, and I believe that my particular form of ADD allows me to connect what would normally be considered disparate things in a way that may not normally be found out there. 

I was thinking about this as I finish up the work on my next column for the Toledo Free Press. It is one of those pieces in which I attempt to stretch myself. It is an effort at a George F. Will / Dennis Miller type piece that manages to come out of my keyboard from time to time, and that attempts (in my own poor way) to create the type of word pictures that these two genius wordsmiths do on a consistent and regular basis. Its goal is to intrigue and inform, and to do so in a way that might force one to the Merriam-Webster.com website in the process. 

I do this not out of a sense of intellectual superiority (oh, far from it), but with a sense of humor at my own normal discomfort with the efforts of my writing heroes, and from a gut feeling that we all need to be challenged on a regular basis. If everything that we are exposed to comes easy for us, if every idea that we are exposed to can be absorbed like a sponge, we will become intellectually as well as physically lazy (and on that, I may be considered more than a bit of an expert). It is only when we set the bar a bit out of reach that we realize how much is within our grasp, only when we set ourselves a goal that even we are doubtful of reaching that we achieve something worthwhile. 

Likewise, it is only when we place this effort in our consciousness that discover that we are able of making the effort required and likewise what we are truly capable of achieving. In my own particular case, I believe that I am still learning as a person and growing as a writer, and that I have a long way to go. I am humbled by that challenge, but convinced that the goal is something attainable some day (though I may be very old indeed when it occurs). 

Meanwhile, I hope that you enjoy and are entertained by the effort expended each week. It takes considerable time, good cigars, and often a fair amount of brain lubricant (CnH2n+1OH or alcohol for those unfamiliar with the chemistry) to produce the particular brand of nonsense that I call my own. And though I don't say it often enough, thanks for hanging out and humoring me in these efforts.