Sunday, August 11, 2013

Haven't gone fishin'

     Vacations are a good thing. Everybody needs a break, to recharge and refresh.
     But when you title your blog "Every goddamn day," well, there is an implicit promise: no playing hooky. You're going to do the thing every goddamn day. And so far, nearly the past month and a half, I have. To be honest — and other bloggers might hate me for saying this — it's been easy, and fun, something I look forward to. The hardest part is the constant tweeting needed to puff the sails of this little vessel and move it an inch on the vast electronic sea. I'd take a break if I really felt like it, but I really don't. It isn't as if doing this is an eight-hour-a-day job.
    Though when I saw this sign a few days back, "Closed the entire month of August," in a hamburger joint in New Haven, Connecticut, I felt a pang of envy. For the first time I wondered whether perhaps I was making a mistake, whether I was exhibiting what Emerson called "a foolish consistency" by not missing a day on the blog, deliberately, particularly in August, when most normal people take vacations. Nobody ever regrets not working. Even noble Homer dozed.
     And I do reserve that right, should I feel so inclined. In fact, I promise you I will, sooner or later, on general principles. It's bound to happen. I could easily have missed a day this past week, when I've actually been on vacation,  touring Eastern colleges with my older boy. But everywhere we go -- small motels, an oceanside summer home in Massachusetts, a remote mountain cabin in Vermont— has had wi-fi— O brave new world!— and there are always a few moments at the end of the day to prepare a new post. So the streak remains unbroken. Still, it'll happen. Lou Gehrig I am not. I'll miss a day, eventually. Frankly, I'm looking forward to that— not for the day off so much as it will be a relief to get it out of the way, like the first ding in a new car. Otherwise, you're tempted to keep the streak going forever, and then it'll risk becoming a trap. I'd hate to be putting up tired and blunted crap just because I feel compelled, assuming I haven't already.  
     Until then, we plunge forward. In fact, I'd like to shake it up a little, keep it interesting. Starting Monday, I have a special Summer Fiction Week planned—some brief stories I've written, humorous sketches that I've had tucked away for years, and nobody has ever read. Maybe you'll decide that was a good thing. Maybe you'll enjoy reading them. Anyway, I hope you will. I sure enjoyed writing them.  See you tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that, onward toward eternity....

5 comments:

  1. Your blog is a gift to all of us, I love your writing and thanks so very much. I enjoy it every goddamn day.

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  2. If tweeting really is the chore, you might want to use one of the software programs that automatically sends a tweet whenever you post (it'll take the title and/or the first few words, maybe stick "new post" at the beginning)

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  3. I agree with Anonymous: I enjoy your writing and being able to read it every goddamn day

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  4. Take a little break if need be.

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