AROUND THE BLOCK

i sit down once more at my argos computer desk
in the poky L-shaped box room
filled with too much stuff
unhinged cupboards
overburdened shelving
overstuffed bookcase
a big fat laser printer perched on a cheap coffee table
mischellaneous guitars n pedals scattered around
a dusty keyboard with plastic ivories that never get tinkled
a wobbly music stand
an ungainly mike stand
little containers of keys n coins n busynesscards
walls covered in flyers n postcards n maps n legends
all the clutter i am destined to live with
i sit down and begin to write
a rite to perform
a wright ready to put the world to rights?
or maybe write a few wrongs
but what do i write?
sometimes it aint so easy writing to order
writing to earn one's blogging crust
a crust paid for by you dear readers
who keep me in blogging clover
you who earn me my online commission
you might not have realised
but i get a pound for every art of living hit
another pound for a hit to my fireseed profile
(a quick click on the pink all-seeing eye)
a fiver whenever you hang around here
for more than a desultory couple of seconds
(on the assumption that you're actually reading the aol
rather than searching for porn or online betting or something)
ten quid if you leave a comment
a ten quid bonus if one of my little posties gets five comments
unfortunately like winning the lottery
this is a once in a blue mooner
[ed: never say never]
fireseed:who asked you?
i'll say whatever i want
it's my blogge!
so writing to order
is it a skill?
a knack?
a walk in the park?
well
i'd say the 10% inspiration 90% perspiration motto
holds pretty true
sometimes ya gotta work hard to summon the muse
sometimes ya gotta defy the muse
[muse: i will not be defied]
wanna bet baby?
i guess there are blogs and there are blogs
it's like writing a song
oftentimes i sit down with a preconceived idea
a bee in my bonnet
at least a title
ready to bang out a cyber soliloquy
and i'm away
composing
improvising
often rambling
usually editing
then there's the other times
when i'll sit down with nothing to say
like sharing a park bench
with a complete stranger
'mmm...what nice/awful weather we're having'
no inspiration
no motivation
not an original thought in my head
to be honest this can be a little scary
the weight of expectation
pushing down on fireseede's narrow shoulders
[muse] nothing to say fireseed?
pull yerself together you egit!
there's a whole universe of inspiration out there
if you'd only bother to open your eyes
just look through any window
what do you see?
fireseed: i thought i told you...
the crucial thing is to avoid making excuses
the worst one being
i aint gonna turn up for blogging today
cos i aint got nothing to say
i'm just gonna roll over and have a lion
'i haven't got where i am today
with that attitude reggie'
cj's right of course
there's always a way of unblocking the flow
if you wanna walk
you gotta get up and make the first step
if you wanna paint
you gotta slap some oil on the canvas
get yer brush dirty
if you wanna songwrite
you gotta start humming
or whistling
or strumming
or tinkling
or tapping out a rhythm
if you wanna blog
you gotta start typing
the rest will come
we are conduits
to a great force
let it do its work
and may the foreskin be with you...