One of my favorite movies is Stephen King's "The Shining." Jack Nicholson plays a writer who goes insane while holed up in the woods bent over a typewriter trying to write the Great American Novel. As you know, I spend a lot of time holed up in my wooded hideaway here in the Hartsburg Hills. Just like Nicholson's character I also spend a great deal of time fighting writer's block and madness while trying to type something meaningful or entertaining. He used a typewriter, I use a computer. He had a loving wife and a young son. I have a loving wife and a young son. He had an axe. I have an axe. OK, bad analogy. Anyway, the way I see it is that writer's block and extreme seclusion caused Jack to go crazy. Your task is to prevent this from happening to me. Post story ideas on this blog for me to pursue and make sure I get out of the house this winter. The Naughton family is counting on you!
6 comments:
What?! You've run out of ideas already? Jack's a dull boy? I don't believe you've exhuasted all the material to be mined from your usual fare: sports, the outdoors, politics, and that wacky little menagerie you live with. But beyond that, your public is ready to follow you into a cause celebre. Identify with an issue, a people, a place, and exhuast us with its nuances and trivial consequences until we share your loss of perspective on reality. Save a whale. Or hunt whales for blubber. Either way, we're on board to hear all about it.
So what's your issue? You could start with personal identity politics and tackle topics such as unemployment, masculinity in non-traditional roles, the trials of the short-statured, automotive entrepreneurship, etc. Or you could explore the noble, fantastical version of yourself and teach us Tibetan meditation, Old New Orleans jazz, or how to drive a car around a track a few hundred times the fastest.
The truth is, Bethany's a lot stronger than Shelley Duvall, and I suspect any idle-minded rampage would be quickly thwarted. So I'd get a cause and a purpose, fast.
There's always the explanation for: The futility of resistance, what makes Bill Herrin tick, why Peter Pan is your idol, what true wisdom you want to pass on to your son, how you got so lucky as to have married the most wonderfully enabling woman on earth, and why the average guy should not start a car dealership in the woods. (see how helpful family can be.....)
I can't top your mom and brother's suggestions or match their wit, but the retired teacher and proud grandmother in me says you could consider giving Alex a chance to express his ideas and thoughts in your blog. Kid's say the darndest things as your know. Have him dictate a story or an opinion. Seeing his ideas in print is a great motivator to encourage writing skills. Little Big Boy, Big Little Thoughts. Also you are quite artistic. Your could start a weekly cartoon series. What about an advice column? Dear Travy. A recipe book: 100 Ways to Create Delicious Meals with Spam. Whatever you do, as ban says, we're on board. I love your blog and check it daily.
One thing that would help you stay sane: When tailgating at the MU football games, don't actually leave the tailgate and go to the game. I think this will keep you on a more even keel.
My web site is going to be updated soon, and I'm going to have a section that I'm going to use as a kind of guest book and at the same time allow visitors to become Violent Farmers. I'm going to have a small questionaire and let them send a Violent Farmer picture if they want that I'm going to post on the Blog to let everyone know who the newest Violent Farmers are.
So seeing as alot of the stuff you do on here seams oddly similar to my Blog, I thought maybe you could do a a questionaire/interview with some of your loyal readers and friends and post them on your Blog for the entire World Wide Web to see.
I am impressed with the reader response to this post. I will take your ideas to heart (well, some of them,) and get to typing. Thanks, and keep reading.
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