Roll the dice

Tweet

Not all posts are created equal. Some take flight on mighty wings, while others disappear into the Black Lagoon of obscurity. I'm not sure why this is, but I suspect it has little to do with what we find genuinely interesting. Sometimes it has more to do with timing, at others it's clear that people are responding to the singer and not the song, and at times beyond that, it's simply a matter of adding your name to an already lengthy discussion so that other people know you're up and active. With all that in mind, here is my blatant grab for comments. It's a soup post with a little added spice. The idea is to roll a dice and respond to the corresponding snippet. I'm hoping that this will a) gently coerce my readers into tackling a variety of topics rather than the same one or two, b) con them into responding more than once so they can tackle the one they really want to, and c) abbreviate the amount anyone has to read, which is always a problem with my wordy drivel. Are you game? (If not, just cheat.) 1. What is it about being behind the wheel that brings out the best and worst of human emotions? We hear about road rage all the time, but what about road happiness? I confess to feeling great contentment when a fellow driver gives way without needing to, or is courteous in some other way. 2. Toward the end of his life, Beethoven was nearly deaf but could still hear beautiful music in his head. If you suddenly lost your hearing, what tunes or songs would still be clear in your memory's playlist? 3. I love collective nouns such as a murder of crows, a sneak of weasels and my own personal favorite, a neverthriving of jugglers. What would be a good collective noun for online writers? 4. Australia has recently faced its critics at a special UN gathering on human rights. While it is true that their treatment of Aborigines, women and refugees is far from perfect, it does seem a bit rich to hear that among the nations which took Australia to task were Iran, Bangladesh and North Korea. Is advice about your own shortcomings still valuable when it comes from someone who is worse than you? 5. My 19-year-old daughter has been "friends" with the same young man for more than a year and it seems likely that if things stay as they are, they'll probably get married. My wife and I really like Eric, but I know not all parents are so supportive of their child's choice of partner. Have you experienced this problem with your own child or parents? 6. If you can't think of something to post here, don't post anything. Go for a walk, read a book, dig in the garden, but don't force your emptiness on others. Not being able to find the right words is something we all struggle with at times, and there are lots of good reasons for it. But not having anything to say isn't writer's block: it's a failure of the imagination, and suggesting topics is not necessarily the right way to cure it.