Just Another Brick in the Wall

Each day, I try to think of something to write about. I am not always successful. Let me rephrase that, I am not always successful in writing about what I think up. More often than not, I get a brilliant idea and then I forget it because I fail to write it down or start it before I forget what it was that was so brilliant. Even if I do manage to retain it long enough to start a blog post, I somehow lose the train of thought that it must carry with it.

I didn't used to be this way. I used to be able to keep these things in my head for days. I could conjure up an idea, flesh it out over several days, and then write it down. Of course, while writing it down, almost everything about the initial concept would get changed.

Let me digress a bit... When I say "write down", I really mean type it into (using the 4 to 5 finger poke method) a word processor. Well, not a real word processor, I use WordPad. Don't groan, don't pity, don't try to sell me on something else. It is simple, it is uncluttered, and I don't need all the features of a full blown word processor.

Now, I think of something, and if it gets written down at all, it usually gets a paragraph (maybe two) before the mental thread snaps.

Some examples:

"Define, explain, rationalize the illusion of sanity."

" I notice some things seem to have the opposite effect than what was intended. When I was a teen, I found that dates with girls whose parents were strict and watched over them like hawks was likely to be the most enjoyable. These girls were screaming to do the things their parents said were "wrong." And I was very willing to assist them in their goals."

"The computer wars. They're not like The Terminator movies. No, instead of giant, complex, cyborgs with incredible weapons, it's hordes of geeks glaring at each other and bragging about their computers. It's a bit like arguing about religion or politics. Except those don't leave nearly the animosity and anger behind."

" There are times in one's life where hard decisions, unwanted decisions, have to be made. I went through that period some years ago. It was a period of two years in which I was faced with a number of decisions that I did not want to make."

" It started out, as most catastrophes do, as a great idea. We had developed computer systems to make or operate almost all our machinery. I blame IBM. No, perhaps the Greeks or, even further back, the Sumerians who gave us the abacus. It doesn't matter, the pebble was pushed down the mountain long ago and we are buried under the landslide."

There are plenty more. Sometimes I get much further along than just a paragraph (in fact, a few of the above have three or four paragraphs) but the concept changes while I am fleshing them out and I don't like where they are headed. It's like one of those dates that just go all wrong. They start out full of hope and promise and then, the next thing you know, she's calling a cab (or worse, her rather large brother), and you are left all alone and lying in a gutter somewhere.

Today is one of those days.

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