Writer's Blo...

Hello again, friendly readers. If you check the date stamp on the last essay to grace these pages, you'll no doubt note that it's been almost a month since last I wrote. It's not for lack of trying, or even a lack of interesting potential topics. In my own life alone there was a fall on Thanksgiving that dislocated my right elbow [and I'm right-handed, of course; otherwise there's no joke there] and the holidays came and went [usually good for a posting or two].

On the news front, the US Presidential race is gearing up, Britney went bonkers [AGAIN! (In connection with this latest melt-down, let it be noted that abuse of Oxycontin, known in the legal trade as "hillbilly heroin", is being thrown around as a possible cause. Between Britney and her newly-knocked-up sister Jamie Lynn, am I the only person who sees any story about the Spears family tagged "trailer trash"? I didn't think so...)] and the writer's strike continues [turning the People's Choice Awards broadcast into a highlights show, and the Golden Globes into a news conference (albeit a well-staged one)].

Nothing. Like the old vaudevillian, I can start 'em, but I've got no ending, I tells ya. There's a pile of "stubs" in my files, desperately waiting for an ending. Any ending. Even "Then everybody left" [Alright, maybe not that ending, but you know what I mean]. So I'm thinking, maybe a column of quotes on writer's block. Start it off with an illustration of wb in action [I chose this picture after noting how much he looks like me. Except the hair. He has some, I don't. Call it my "fantasy me".]. Then some well-researched quotes on writer's block. Only problem with that is, most of them run along the lines of, "Writer's block is to swordfish, as...as...well, er, it's a real pain!" It doesn't seem worth my time to write it, or yours to read it.

So here we sit, broken-hearted. Tried to write, but...no, that's not going to help, EITHER! Now what? Well, look at the bright side. This may not be the best post I've ever written. But I do have a finish, finally -

Good Night, Everybody!

-Mike Riley