NaBloPoMo Is Stupid

Not the concept, just that stupid contraction of the name. It annoys me. It makes me angry. It makes me ... happy. Not the contraction, the concept.

I wasn't sure that I'd like the effort of coming up with a new post every day for the entirety of the month (in addition to having to double post a few times to catch up for the days when I didn't know National Blog Posting Month existed.) But instead of struggling for idea and the effort of keeping production up killing the fun, the exact opposite has happened. I'm actually looking forward to writing these posts. I brainstorm during duty at school. I think about possible topics while driving to and from work. Sometimes I'll fire off the first draft of a blog during my break at work, but most of the time I've waited, the idea having stewed for most of the day up in that jumbled mess that I generously refer to as my psyche, until just before bed when I lean back on the couch, laptop actually on my lap helping cells in that region develop the genetic mutations that will one day lead to my testicular cancer, and tick tack a rambling, stream of consciousness commentary on random and unusual thoughts.

There's something therapeutic in all of this, actually. I haven't been the happiest of people with my career decisions since I took my first long-term job and it started rubbing off on my attitude in the past few years. Yet, this month has seemed brighter and brighter and I'm not sure all of it came from the time change that gave me an extra hour of sleep a couple of weeks back.

Now, I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm not the best of writers. I don't have that graceful style my friend Chris does (the loser really should put more effort into his blog and less into his real job, at least for my entertainment). Still, it's been a passion of mine since the sixth grade when I started my first novel that never got past 5 or 6 pages of handwritten prose on college ruled notebook paper in a three ring binder. I never could stand wide ruled paper. Despite writing ideas being a constant presence in my multitracked mind, I never really had the wherewithal or self motivation to do the work of actually getting them down on paper. A teaching writing class I took during my second trip to college was one of the brighter spots of my life and it was because I actually had to write and take it seriously for an extended period. I've saved all of my essays from that class and I'm sure a couple of them will make appearances here before the end of the month. I'm sure everyone wishes to hear about my desire to for time travel to be real solely to make my dream of assassinating Alexander Graham Bell a reality.

I'm not entirely sure why, but this challenge to post something new every day of the month has really become something I'm looking forward to each day. I honestly never realized how much I loved writing until now and I even planned on doing it professionally for large portions of my life. I really hope that I keep up the regularity of my writing even when the calendar is finally opened to the last page and NaBloPoMo is no more. I doubt I'll ever get paid, or at least not enough to live on, for writing what I want to write. Journalism, even when I'm writing about beer, something I'm equally passionate about, never felt so rewarding.

But, somehow, writing of my love for Kim Jong-il and eating sandwiches with Saddam does.