After finishing a two-week trial, I have little of nothing left to say. I have just sat at my desk for the last 90 minutes trying to come up with a column for this week. I push forward now only because I have been threatened by the editor should I fail to meet my deadline again this week.
I have read that there’s no such thing as writer’s block. While there is a thing called “bad writing,” writer’s block is all in your head. The trick is to sit down and write, and eventually there will be something to read. That’s what I must do now in order to satisfy my contractual agreement with the publisher.
I cannot believe it’s already October. What happened to September? What happened to the summer? If I’m not careful, I’m going to miss the fall. I was at the front desk today, and noticed that the Christmas cards had been delivered. I haven’t even put all of the Halloween blow ups in the yard, and it’s time to start addressing cards?
I sat in the rain last Saturday and watched “Johnny Football” run all over the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. The Hogs did well under the circumstances, but the show was all Johnny’s. I find it amusing how angry people get that he sold a couple of autographs. He shouldn’t break the rules, but what’s the common man so mad about? I assume most of the people I heard gripe about his signature sales would have gladly taken one if it was offered to them. I know I would have.
I’m now on the back end of a very severe cold. I believe the source of the sickness can be traced back to a member of the staff in the court where I spent the last two weeks. I think the person was referred to as “Patient Zero” by another person suffering from the shared ailment. You can sanitize, you can cover your mouth, you can turn away, but for most of us, it’s inevitable - you’re going to get sick. I wonder how many people I’ve shared this bug with since I caught it.
As I write this, Congress is debating the fate of the government shutdown. By the time you read this, you’ll know whether or not it happened. What will it take to get our country on track, where we can have legislation that comes about after compromise rather than hostage-taking? It’s hard to imagine what it would take to harmonize Uncle Sam and his people, but it sure would be nice to think it could actually happen one day.
October has five Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I read that somewhere and just confirmed it by looking at a calendar. I believe that’s significant, and that it might not happen again for another couple hundred years. I may be off on the years, but I believe it is rare. Rare or not, at least it’s novel. Sometimes, novel is good enough. That’s true for everyone, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com