I Gotta Tell Ya

 First, I want to thank you for dropping by here to read what I have to say. Write. Can you still be saying when you're writing? 

Thank you was where I was going with that. Because I have what some might suggest is a compulsive need to tell stories. As I have grown older, I have caught myself chomping at the bit when someone else begins to spin a tale of their own. Story Time! I'm next! I'm next!

But I don't have to be. There are plenty of folks out there who can spin a yarn every bit as interesting and amusing as I can. It's not a competition. 

But it has been. In the past I have had a habit of barely listening to those around me once I have readied my own lengthy response to the amusing anecdote that seems to be just going on and on. Whatever, whatever, whatever, "Which reminds me of this time..." and I'm off to the races. 

A couple of horse analogies in there, but I'll spare you the story of how I used to ride a pony to school. For now. Because I have become worried, as I grow older, that I might be missing out on other's experiences. Not being fully present in a conversation is a nasty habit that I would rather not be accused of having. 

Another secret: I'm reasonably certain that not all of my stories are all that interesting. Sure, I get points for having tangential experience that I keep carefully catalogued for just such an emergency, but that doesn't mean that they make for captivating listening. I did study at the feet of a master: my father. He could talk with just about anyone about everything and make you feel good about it. He was a salesman who fully embraced the idea that the first thing he had to sell was himself. 

In a good way. 

And I am also assailed by the voice of Laurie Anderson, who once insisted that life would be much more interesting if we had better editors. There are far too many establishing shots, and fearful amounts of exposition. The love scenes could use a little trimming, and the action sequences really should build to something besides a visit to the emergency room. 

So I'm working that out here, if you don't mind. This has been my relatively infrequent meta-blog in which I ponder the reason for me to keep doing this thing. 

And now, back to our story...