I ask that as I stare at the clock, hoping to write a post before midnight so I can say I actually got a post written today. Is it fair to write for that reason alone?

I’m a big fan of writing when it moves you. Let the words flow. Tell your story. Put your thoughts on paper. Don’t force it. It’ll come.

However, if I did that, there would be days on end that I wouldn’t blog at all. I’m either too busy or inspiration just doesn’t exist. A lack of inspiration can span upwards of a week (or more!). Not even writing prompts can get me motivated to write when I’m just not feeling it.

I’m battling that tonight. So I sit here wondering… do I write for the sake of writing? Or do I just let the day go? I, obviously, opted to write… because sometimes you just have to make it happen. Much like those days you just don’t want to get out of bed, you have to just do it. The reward of the day makes it worth it.

The reward of writing in general — something I do deeply enjoy doing — is worth it.

I’m crazy busy right now between work, helping put together a benefit for this weekend, getting ready to head to Texas for tax season, early Aggie Muster planning, and just keeping up with both mine and my husband’s schedules. So, in that respect, the blog being down was perhaps an odd blessing in disguise. (And the irony of it being down on what I called “SOPA Day” was not lost on me.)

I saw a post on BlogHer that fit this time perfectly, and I thought I’d share it with all of my readers.

The Stages of Blog Failure Emotions by Rachel at Grasping for Objectivity

Read that. Giggle. And know that I was doing several of those for awhile myself.

But all is well! I am back! HUGE thanks to Chalise for working to make sure this came back up for me. Your support and help keeping this blog going on the technical end (not to mention a great cheerleader!) are forever appreciated and never taken for granted.

So when I am stumped for a writing topic, I finally take time to bop around and visit some of my favorite blogs and check in on all my fellow bloggers.  Of course, I visit BlogHer, an amazing place to get lots of posts on countless topics all in one place, but I will pick random blogs out of my blogroll and peek in on them.

If you’ll scroll down this page… okay, wayyy down on this page… you’ll find my Blogroll in the right column. I need to update it a bit — delete a few that have quit posting and add some new blog-loves — but its a great place to go for blogs that I love. Today I invite you to pick one or a few and give them a visit! You might find something you like, too!

This week, I received a Facebook message inviting me out to network and sample the new 3 Musketeers bar. Not only was I going, “Free chocolate? Uhm, YEAH!” but it happened to land on my birthday, a day I was lamenting I had no plans for at that time.  Double YEAH!

So yesterday, I got dressed up and headed down to the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. You know, I’d driven by that hotel 489,567 times and never noticed it. Had no idea it was so fancy!! SUPER nice!

I pulled in and decided to just valet the truck. The price between self-park and valet was not enough to make me want to bother with trying to find a spot. I got my valet receipt, and I went inside. I had no idea where to go, so I just started to walk.

I noticed a woman and a teenager asking an employee something, and I squinted. Sure enough, it was a woman I’d followed on Twitter for about two years, and had friended on Facebook almost that long. I called her by name and I think I startled her. I’ve had it happen to me! People I know just from online approach me and there’s that brief moment of, “Who are you and how do you know me and why are you talking to me oh my word are you a stalker please don’t kill me.” I introduced myself and sure enough, they were heading to the meet-up as well. WHEW! Already a familiar face!

 She had asked where the meeting room was, so I walked with her and her daughter to the room. As we got name tags and checked our coats,  pulled out my camera and dug for my phone. And dug for my phone. And verbally went, to no one in particular, “Oh I did NOT just do that!”

I’d left my phone in the truck. The truck I’d just valeted. So with a sigh, I walked back to the valet booth. The man who had parked my truck was standing there and I explained what happened. He just grinned and went, “I’ll go get it for you.” I heard a laugh behind me, and a man went, “I did the same thing.”

So while we waited for the valet to come back, the man and I made small talk. He was from New Orleans, but come to find out he has family in Bryan, TX and Marlin, TX. I laughed and went, “I attended Texas A&M and my first job was the newspaper in Marlin.” He laughed and we both couldn’t believe the small world nature of our discussion.

The valet returned and handed me the phone, and I handed him a tip. I dashed back inside to the meet up.

 I snapped a few photos, and then hit the open bar. Yes, folks, an open bar. The night just got even better. Chocolate AND liquor… free… somebody hold me. I think I hear angels singing.

Most of the people were drinking wine, and while I love wine, it tends to make me super sleepy. So I decided I did NOT need wine. I noticed a bottle of Jack Daniels on the bar, so I requested a Jack and Coke. Its safe. The bartender asked if I had ever tried Jack and Ginger. I told him I hadn’t, but I knew a lot of people who liked it. I told him to go for it… lets try it. Glad I did! YUMMY! (Side note, I loved their bartender. He was SO nice and an absolute hoot to me! And he poured one heck of a drink!)

Finger food was circulating. Delicious little finger foods. My favorite was the pulled pork on a soft cracker, followed by the mushroom stuff on top of a little biscuit. Truth be told, had it not been rude, I might have chased the guy with those plates and tackled him. But, first impressions and all that. I will save it for the next meet up.

I mingled and got to meet several fabulous women! I finally met in person Malia, who I “met” through Lotus‘ Weekly Winners. I was able to talk in length with Liz of Red Hot and 40 Plus and Kasandria of Southern Bella’s Ways To Save. A moment I found particularly funny was when we all exchanged business cards, and I found myself mentally naming the fonts used on the cards instead of actually reading them.

Yes, folks, I am a nerd. What’s it to ya?

They had these rich, delicious chocolate desserts in shot glasses made with the new 3 Musketeers bar in mind. SO rich, but SO good.

Which, at this time, I’d like to take a moment to say the new 3 Musketeers bars are quite good! VERY rich, though. I can see myself buying them in mini form versus the whole bar in the future. One bite of its chocolatey, soft goodness and I’m good for awhile. Which, personally, I like. Because it’ll help me keep from over indulging on the sugar and calories all at once.

There was a giveaway of a spa package, $200 towards American Airlines tickets and a box full of chocolates. I was ONE NUMBER off from the winner of the airlines tickets. I was bummed. We could really, really use that to get to Oregon for Christmas. Pooh. Oh well.

The meet up came to an end, and it made me just giddy for the next one. Whenever it may be. Wherever it may be. I’m ready! Meeting and networking is such a boost! And I am more than ever determined to make it to the Blissdom Conference this coming February.

Thank you, 3 Musketeers for hosting this wonderful meet-up!!

Disclaimer: I was not asked to blog about the meet-up or the product. I simply chose to do so on my own!!!

1. I have a ton of photos to edit from today, and I’d rather be doing that.
2. Even though I’m on a total different schedule than the rest of the world, I recognize its late and, as such, would rather do just about anything except what I should be doing.
3. I’m getting tired.
4. The interesting things that happened to me yesterday are things I already wrote about. In depth. A few times.
5. I feel like I’ve had some really awesome posts lately, and I want to keep it up. So nothing seems like a good enough topic.
6. I’ve stared at the “Add New Post” page so long that I think I’m seeing double.
7. There’s nothing for me to rant about! I’m in a good mood!
8. My birthday is coming up, and I kinda want to wallow bask in that fact.
9. Daylight Savings Time ended.
10. I’m bored and thus feel boring.

Why do YOU get blog-block, or writer’s block, or just a big case of the “I don’t wannas?”

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am no where near as bad of an over-thinker as I once was. I don’t live in my head as much as I did even just five years ago. I’m less introverted as I was then (although I think I’d still consider myself more introvert than extrovert… but that’s a post for another day.)

That being said, I often find myself with so many ideas that I am left with no idea what to write. So, I spend hours reading other blogs, looking for inspiration. Hoping something will silence the thoughts in my head and make them focus down into one solid blog post.

That didn’t happen today.

No, my biggest problem today is that the ideas I have for posts are good ideas! I just have to write them very carefully with a solid respect for my audience. I’m not opposed to being “controversial” — but I AM opposed to knowingly offending. Or, worse yet, getting someone, who is just an innocent bystander, in trouble.

So, instead, I vent my feelings and thoughts without censorship in a personal journal. Hoping that “getting it out” will help me take a more neutral approach to the issue at hand. It’s helped me focus my energy and organize my thoughts countless times. I often wonder if other bloggers use this technique as well, or am I just making more work for myself?

No matter what, it didn’t help, either.

I’m still sitting here, stewing over thoughts I don’t dare yet let see the light of day until I can correctly organize them and present them in the proper fashion. Perhaps I am still over thinking them. I am sure of it, in fact. However, if I were to write without thought and care, I’d be less likely to be able to sleep peacefully than I am if I continue stewing over things!

So here I am writing a blog post to tell you I don’t have a blog post today… and why.

Here’s hoping something strikes my fancy soon, or I am able to finally organize the train-wreck of thoughts going on in my mind. I’ll take either one at this point!

I finally did it.

I bought a web cam today. Yesterday’s vlog was so well received that it finally pushed me over the edge I’ve been standing on for about three years.

Help us all, I have a web cam, and I plan to use it.

I decided to go middle of the road, with a slight leaning towards better quality. I’m sure I’ll be happy with it, no matter what. Heck, I’m down right excited!!

It’ll be nice to video chat with hubby when he’s on the road now. Not to mention family in Texas and Oregon! And vlogs! I just might start doing those periodically. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to go crazy with it. It’ll just be nice to be able to add it to my bag of tricks.

But first… time to figure out how to make it work.

Wish me luck.

First step… how do I get the box open…

This weekend’s Gospel was about being fishers of men, and the homily was about how we help one another. With faith that things will work out, we reach out and help our fellow man and as such, we become fisher’s of men in God’s name. That probably isn’t as clear as I mean for it to be, but I think the idea is still there.

A pastor I had through high school pushed using your “time, talents and treasures” to help others. Tonight’s homily made me think of that, and I felt like it went hand in hand with that idea.

I’ve found ideas I have when I’m in church tend to be ones I need to run with… God speaks a little clearer when you’re in a church, after all. I’ve been wanting to write more on faith with a heavier hand toward religion for awhile. After all, writing about it would be using my time, talents and treasures! I really haven’t wanted to do that in this blog, though, and I’ve also felt a lot of fear towards doing it.

However, I’ve decided to start a second blog strictly for my thoughts on God and religion and faith. Like I said, I’ve felt fear about this. It is going to be a big step out of my comfort zone. I’ve sworn for a long time that I wouldn’t talk too much about religion since its so personal to each individual. Its so personal to me, that’s for sure! However, I will strive to keep the blog open and uplifting, but in the same breath be honest and (somewhat) blunt.

It’s a new goal for me! It’ll also be a new challenge… one I am most certainly ready to attempt.

Top Search Terms

• musician’s widow*
• nashville tn*
• cameron yoeman football*
• aggie bonfire
• bob perks
• printers alley nashville flood
• nashville flood
• view from backstage
• bewbs
• musicians widow denise mattox
• christmas stage
• groupie stories
• our boys will shine tonight fight song
• addressing christmas cards
• school supplies

* multiple versions of this search omitted

Top Posts & Pages

• Home page
• About Denise
• What is a Musician’s Widow?
• Nashville
• Battle of the Bell — Cameron vs. Rockdale
• Come hell or high water…
• Music business techniques that can be applied in other businesses
• 25 Things About Me
• RIP Sully
• Texas
• Lesson from a child
• Imperfections perceived
• Pushing boundaries
• My version of the 12 days of Christmas
• School dress codes

Page Loads by Month

• January – 245
• February – 273
• March – 506
• April – 393
• May – 638
• June – 573
• July – 754
• August – 1,083
• September – 1,281
• October – 1,006
• November – 1,061
• December – 958

The jump in hits goes hand in hand with my participate in NaBloPoMo. Even though its technically a self-imposed challenge, I take it seriously. And it seems to help!

It’s interesting how many hits I have are related to my hometown and then to Nashville. Makes me think I should focus on those topics a bit more. I also find my most honest (and “daring”) topics also get the most hits. So I need to also stop filtering myself so hard, and let it all just flow.

I plan to continue my Weekly Winners participation, and I would like to continue Road/Show stories at least once a month. I also really like Wordless Wednesday. Usually by mid-week, my writing creativity is pretty spent. So perhaps if I participate there more often, it’ll give me a day to re-start the brain for the last half of the week’s writing.

Excited for 2011 and the possibilities for this blog. My goal is to have 1,000+ hits every month, with the goal of 2,000+ by year’s end. No reason why I can’t do that!  Just takes some dedication… which I have and will give! Thank you to my many readers, and please do continue to join me!

As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved books. I devoured books. The best Christmas gifts ever usually came in the form of… you guessed it… books. By second grade I was reading chapter books. Boxcar Children was my series, thanks to my teacher reading the first book of the series to us in class. (My addiction to series books later morphed into Baby-Sitters Club and the various Sweet Valley series.)

In 3rd grade, I started competing in writing competitions. Every year I’d enter. And every year, until 7th grade, I couldn’t win to save my soul. But it never stopped me from trying. I enjoyed learning how to write descriptively, or how to write a how to paper. I never minded the writing portions of tests (often accused of not even knowing how to write “short answers” because they’d always end up too detailed), and I would often “write” stories in my mind as I fell asleep at night. (Usually based on whatever book I was reading at the time.)

I hit high school, and I took journalism as “an easy A” and I discovered a talent for the writing style. So I pursued it all the way through college. I went into my first newspaper job, and I found what I loved was my column writing. Free form writing again. No journalistic rules (outside of, of course, making sure I was being honest and not slandering anyone). Just write whatever was on my mind. And I even won an award for one of my columns!

Even when I wasn’t in a writing job, I’d write. Fan fiction became a new outlet for me. Then just writing daily in my private journal. I have always been writing. It’s become like breathing for me. I have to do it to clear my thoughts. I have to to it to share with the world. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll mean something to someone else.

I was recently asked to put a price tag on my blog. I came up with some sort of arbitrary number, even as I wanted to scream, “PRICELESS!” Its like being asked to put a price tag on oxygen for me. If I didn’t have this blog, I’d have another one. I have to write. I need to write. I love to write.

Maybe some day I’ll actually make a little money doing it…