The hardest thing about this website is not the actual writing of the posts, it’s brainstorming the topics about which to write. I read recently in a technical writing blog that all blogs should have a “mission statement” upon which all of the posts can “rally around,” to enhance the audience’s comprehension as well as facilitate the writing process by providing focus. Although I loath the use of corporate lingo to describe non-corporate activities, I must concede that rallying around a mission statement would enhance and facilitate this goddamn blog.
I’ve thought about this before: “For now on, I’m only going to write: Fiction and poetry! Reviews of perfume samples! Satirical news stories! About bread!” But I’m reluctant to pigeonhole myself into one subject area. What would happen if I only wrote reviews of Boston-area freshly baked bread, and I cultivated an audience of people who were interested solely in Boston-area freshly baked bread, and one day I wanted to rant about some Lance Armstrong wannabe nut on the bike path?
So I don’t want a mission statement, but I do have a mental list of verboten topics. These are topics that I refrain from writing about on this website, mostly to spare you and myself from the inherent boredom that these topics inspire. Like the weather. Seriously, I could write all day long about the weather, but how sucky would that be?
For the past 3 days there have been no posts because all I want to write about are these topics. So I figured, why fight it? Why not just group all of the verboten topics together, write a bunch of boring shit, and get them the hell out of my system so I can focus on a more substantive topic… like a review of a perfume sample?
Verboten Topic #1: The Weather
Truly Boston only has 10 days a year of good weather. These 10 good weather days feature blue skies with no or minimal clouds, temperatures between 68 and 78 degrees, still or breezy winds, and not a trace of humidity. Bostonians treasure these days because the other 355 days, we are either freezing in gelid winter or sweating in humid summer.
For the past 3 days, Boston has erupted into an elated springtime euphoria over a bout of unseasonably sunny, warm weather. It was not perfect weather. Friday was pleasant but windy, Saturday was pleasant but hot, and today was downright torrid. Yet I loved this peculiar warmness, because it is April, because it occurred over a weekend, and because it reminded me that I need to get a pedicure.
Verboten Topic #2: Dreams (of the Nighttime Varietal)
Did you know that a woman is more likely to have vivid dreams and nightmares during the second half of her monthly cycle, when the hormone progesterone surges through her body? My acupuncturist calls them “progesterone dreams.” On Friday night, I had 3 nightmares in a row. The first one involved a vague threat that I defended myself against by grabbing knives from a long wooden block. The second one I was trying to flee a brick building with my sister but all of the entrances were blocked. The last one I woke up trying to scream, convinced that someone was breaking into the house. My screams came out in whispery yelps that failed to stir my husband, and even though it was only 5:30am I gave up on sleep, for it was obviously not a place where my brain wanted to be.
Verboten Topic #3: That Nice Walk I Took Today (with pictures)
Given the spate of good weather (see Verboten Topic #1), I took 3 nice walks this weekend.
On Friday, Mr. P and I enjoyed the evening warmth by walking around Spy Pond (shown below) and watching youth baseball games (does this look like a woman who is about to have 3 horrible nightmares, see Verboten Topic #2?):
On Saturday, I joined the crowds on the local bike path and then took a solitary hike through the meadows (shown below):
And today, Mr. P ran the James Joyce Ramble 10K (shown below at finish line — no, the time on the clock was not his time) and I walked the corresponding 4.5 mile walk, which features James Joyce readings by costumed actors (shown below, a very demure woman):
