Going to war with writer’s block and a ticking deadline

So, we meet again, my old nemesis! The blank page and the deadline – archenemies of writers everywhere across all time.

It has been a while since we’ve clashed. Life has been very interesting since I last stared at an empty sheet with no earthly idea what I want to say. I’ve spent a lot of time lately talking about sports, so I want to give that a rest this week. I could talk about politics, but that’s been too wrapped up in sports or vice versa.

So here we sit – me with my fog-addled brain and you with your stinking, blinking cursor. Since you absolutely refuse to make words on your own I must do all the heavy lifting myself. Speaking of heavy lifting, I spent Sunday at the Texas Renaissance Festival with my son Colton. I’m working on a story about the men of iron who entertain us each week in the jousting arena. We took advantage of the day to celebrate my wife’s birthday.

Actually, it wasn’t much of a celebration. Sandy and our two oldest sons, Wesley and Luke, work at the Renaissance Festival, so the best we could do was pop in and out every once and a while and say hi. The celebration will come sometime this week. For now, it was enough for us to be there.

I did something Sunday I’ve never done in all the years I’ve been attending TRF – I wore my Lone Ranger costume. Now wait, before you get on my case about the Lone Ranger not being a renaissance period character, keep in mind that it was the first ever Heroes and Villains weekend at TRF. There were many more costumes much more modern than mine.

Even the jousters got into the superhero act with Superman, Wonder Woman and Thor taking on Doctor Doom, the Terminator and the Count of Monte Cristo. If you want to know how it turns out you’ll have to read my story next week. There will be no spoilers here!

Speaking of spoilers, that reminds me that we have a new Star Wars movie coming out in about a month. Honestly, I’ve got a bad feeling about this one. I don’t like what I’ve seen in the movie trailers so far. They hint at Luke turning to the Dark Side. The imagery and tone are very different than any Star Wars movie before it. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m going in with very low expectations for The Last Jedi. (More on that next month.)

So, that leads me back to this blank page and desperately needing a topic before I run out of time. It’s been my experience that nothing pushes a writer (or husband) better than a deadline. I bought Sandy’s gift the day before her birthday. I usually buy her Christmas gifts a day or two before Dec. 25. Here I am trying to write a column the night before it’s due. I’m tired, my brain is fried and I just can’t think of something profound to pontificate about.

Quite often at this time of year I get upset about the premature presence of Christmas and the over-commercialism of the holiday. While that is a perennial issue with me, I have to admit that this year, for the first time in a very long time, I’m actually looking forward to Christmas. I can’t explain why my mood and attitude have changed, they just have.

My mood may yet sour, however, if I can’t find anything to write about this week. I’m rapidly running out of time and I just can’t take a week off. I’ve got to write about something. I guess I could hang up a “gone fishing” sign, but I went fishing two weekends ago.

My lifelong friend, Kevin McConnell, invited me to join him and some of his buddies on his boat on Sabine Lake. We had a blast catching redfish. It just didn’t feel right throwing back fish that were too big to keep (they had to be under 28 inches). I caught the biggest fish of my life and had to let them go. Still, we easily caught our limit and had an amazing time doing it.

So, that brings me back to this blasted blank page. As much as I want to stay away from sports, it’s tempting to welcome Pete Incaviglia as the new manager of the Sugar Land Skeeters. I met him last week and I really like him. From what I’ve learned about him, I think Skeeters fans can expect to see an aggressive and fun brand of baseball this spring.

Thinking of the Skeeters, the Star teamed up with the Skeeters in the 8^th annual Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee to benefit the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County. In the bee, teams of three players compete. We made it to the second round, which is further than the Skeeters did last year. It’s also further than I have ever gone in a spelling bee. I was in one once in elementary school and went out on the first word. It was one of my greatest Charlie Brown moments!

It’s safe to say the Achilles heel of this journalist is most definitely spelling. Thank God for spell check features on computers! How I made it through the pre-spell check era of newspapers I’ll never know. I can tell you I’ve thoroughly worn out a couple paperback dictionaries.

Alas, that brings me back to this blank page. Seeing how my time is up, I’m going to have to submit this for publication. I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time getting to this point. In the meantime, if you have any topic ideas, please feel free to share them with me.