I asked my writer friend Nichole how she feels when she reads something by someone who can clearly write better than she can. She said the first thing she thinks is, "I wish I could write like that", and then her thought process jumps to, "What was their process, their discipline, etc." When she told me this, I admired her clarity and her ability to genuflect. I possess no such ability.

Yesterday I read this brilliant article on Gilbert Arenas (title not withstanding) and my thought process was in sharp contract to Nichole's. The first thing I did is take issue with the title. Then I tried to be very critical of various things in the article, but I wasn't successful...not even close. Then, I beat myself up for not digging deep in my brief journalism career, and writing an article like this for the world to see. After all, the story was told using the same format I use in my blog. Humor, personal reflection, a splash of sports knowledge, etc. Then, after about 30 minutes, I stopped being antagonistic towards this piece, and I read it in a more appreciative state of mind. And it was at that point, that I realized that this article is nothing to "hate" on, but something to appreciate. I will write something like this or better one day, but I haven't thus far. So this blog entry is part mission statement, part genuflection, part f**k the author, part "I-gotta-step-my-game-up."

And in other news, someone recently asked me if I missed playing the trumpet, and my answer was hell no. But I do miss the ability to play some sort of instrument. I think it would the discipline involved, would only raise my ceiling as a writer. Plus, if I gain full custody of my son, that would something cool for us to do together. Just thinking out loud here forgive me...

And now, a song from 1990 that has been in my head for the past 12 hours