The "Bloggin' A Story" Story

It was an ordinary day. Talking with a friend who reads my blog and he asked where I get my stories to write every day and how long does it take to write them. Told him it's kind of like the one episode on the Seifeld show when Jerry says, "What'd you do today," and when the reply was, 'I got up and went to work,' Jerry replied, "That's a story."  Kinda like what I do.  Head to the Chesapeake Bay for lunch and ...... well, that's a story.  Take a day excursion with one of my grandkids,  that's another story.  Well, first of all I enjoy typing stories more than I enjoy watching TV, except when the Phillies or Dancing With The Stars is on.  Some days I type a few stories and keep them 'on ice' until I need one on a day I don't feel like typing. As far as how long it takes to type one, it all depends on what I am typing. When I get items from friends as emails that are interesting and entertaining, I sometimes just turn them right around and use them for a story. They may take a half hour to complete. Then there are some stories that I may take a few days to write. Couple of years ago I did a story on baseball in the Dominican Republic. Took some time to research articles and stats online for that one. Then the one I wrote on Oyster Pond Yacht Club in Sint Maarten a few years ago took several weeks to complete. I made numerous phone calls, sent numerous emails and even wrote a few snail mail letters to people who had some first hand knowledge about the place and had no email address. When our family gets together for a picnic or a party, I usually have my camera ready and take notes when the stories start to fly about ...."do you remember when we did ...". Then I have to go through boxes of old photos to see if I have any that would help tell the story better. I once had someone tell me that they like my blog stories so much better when I put photos in them. I now have a story 'on ice' that I wrote in March of 2011. At the time I was running out of ideas and wrote a farewell story to end the blog. Luckily didn't have to use it yet. As of this moment, I have maybe two dozen stories typed with photos 'on ice', ready for publication. So I could go on vacation for close to a month and not have to do any typing except for adding a new "old" story daily. I do have to make sure that the stories that have a specific date for them are published in a timely manner, or they make no sense at all. So, if I question you from time to time in person about .... "do you remember when" .... I'm probably going to write a story about that, so watch what you say! I also bought a small digital tape recorder that fits in my pocket so I don't have to take notes or try to remember what people mention to me.  So, hang on, since I haven't run out of ideas and stories yet!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - this story took 12 minutes to write, and I have no photos to put with it.  Sorry!