Grugger’s Way

Being “RETIRED” means I often find myself searching for things to do to keep myself busy, you know, to keep my mind active. That means doing something other than picking up dog poo in the yard, washing dishes, doing laundry, and vacuuming a little.

Quite some time ago I wrote about my efforts to find CREATIVE things to keep my mind active. Here is a post from the Archive entitled “Joys of Retirement - Creative Time.”

When I begin this blog nearly one year ago, the internet blogger braggers claimed that there were about 77 million blogs online.   Now, the latest number claims over 100 million blogs.  How much more room is there in cyberspace for people to claim as their own?

As you may have discovered, a search of blogs will reveal that someone, somewhere, is blogging about every conceivable subject, animal, sport, hobby, medical condition, and disease.  Virtually every charitable function is publicized, every charity drive, every charity fund, and everything else that we could contribute money to support.

I even did it myself, by recently soliciting contributions via a Paypal Donate button to repair my broken front tooth. I received $64 from seven contributors, all of whom I thanked with an e-mail.  One person commented that I was just like every other “liberal,” in America, just trying to get a hand-out. 

And how much more advertising money is available to support our blogging habits?  Most of the advertising on my blogs (not this one) is from other bloggers promoting their blogs or from home crafters selling their jewelry.  This “business” has become self-perpetuating, with bloggers selling ads to obtain a few dollars to use in advertising on other blogs.  

Will it go on forever?  Well, I don’t know what “forever” means, but what I see are thousands of folks joining the blogging world and thousands leaving as well. Most of us find out that this is a lot of work too.  Some of the time it is fun and rewarding, and other times…..well, it just feels like a job.  

That might mean it is time to move on to doing yard work instead. 

For the past FIFTY Years, my day has begun with the Daily Newspaper

I love the smell of the printed newspaper. I eagerly anticipate the morning headlines.  I always read the comics page.

This has been part of my lifestyle since I was TEN years old.  I think I began with the comics pages and then progressed to the Front Page, the Sports Page, and then the remaining sections.  When I was a kid we also had an “evening” paper in our town; it’s most distinguishing feature was the Orange paper used for the front and back page sheet.  It was called the “Leader.”   The Leader was eventually purchased by the morning paper and soon ended publication.  That seems to be the fate of so many daily newspapers around the country.  I find it to be a sad development–first laying off some workers to cut expenses and then eventually just ending publication.

I don’t think the daily newspaper is dead, but its “hey-day” has certainly passed.  I used to read several newspapers from around the United States and the World when I would visit the library during my high school and college years.  The most popular papers were on those wood rod newspaper “rollers” that would each hold one paper.

I’m sorry to see so many newspaper reporters being laid off during economic hard times.  Television and now the internet has proven to be just too much competition.  Only the largest papers in each city are likely to survive.  Editorial cartoonists are having a rough time keeping their positions too.  Syndication seems to be the only way to maintain a job as an editorial cartoonist anymore.  Nationally syndicated columnists also seem to be pushing aside the “local” columnists and contributing writers.

I read a lot of newspapers on the internet now.  I would hope that the internet will eventually be the salvation of local newspapers, adding enough advertising revenue to survive while becoming accessible to a larger geographical area.

I personally still like having the newspaper in my hands, with the morning coffee.  These are two very familiar and satisfying smells that the internet can never replace.

Why Didn’t I Write the Great American Novel? 

Well, perhaps I still have it in me.  That must be where it resides, because it surely does not exist on paper anywhere, or in the hard drive of my computer.

I have often wondered what stopped me from pursuing a “serious” writing career.  I know that I aspired to write SOMETHING great, if not a novel, since about 7th or 8th grade.  I was too lazy when it came to writing stuff out on paper.  Why would I try to write MORE when I was too lazy to write the stuff that was “required” in school.  I found it much easier to READ novels than to write them.

In later years, I was preoccupied with career and family….so THAT was my excuse.  I used that excuse for thirty years at least.  

Frankly, I don’t have a real good answer to my header question.  Perhaps I was afraid of failure. Perhaps I was afraid of success.  Success puts a lot of pressure on you, while failure just means you aren’t much good.

Last year, 2007, I wrote over 50,000 words towards a novel during the National Novel Writing Month, which is November of each year.  NaNoWriMo, as it is known, is a terrific organization with lots of support for aspiring writers.  My “novel” from last year languishes while I try to figure out how to re-write it into something worthwhile.  I plan to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year, and I am already four days behind schedule.  (1667 words per day is what it takes.)  I read that 125,000 people in the USA and a few foreign countries will be participating this year.   I highly recommend it.  I know MANY MANY fellow bloggers who are participating. 

Perhaps someday I will overcome the fear of failure and actually publish.  Someday.

Tomorrow:  Why Didn’t I become a Cowboy?
Yesterday: Why Didn’t I Learn to Play a Musical Instrument?