On Blogging

You know what I did this morning? Well, after my first good night's sleep in a week, I finally got up. This was the first time I arose after 8am in recent memory. Then I made a breakfast of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and oatmeal and sat down and read the paper. This may sound like an ordinary morning to most, but for me it was pure luxury.

Usually, my day goes as follows. I wake up at 2:30 am and fret for one to three hours about what I'm going to blog about the next day. My mind races and typically I come up with bupkus. Frustrated, I toss and turn, and if I can pull my mind into a meditative state, sometimes Morpheus will open his arms and I'll fall back asleep.

In the morning, my first order of business is to tune into CNBC to check out the market. I never eat breakfast...or lunch for that matter. My sole luxury is that Fifi prepares my coffee, enabling me to race right to the computer without interruption. I give my personal inbox a quick once-over to see if there's anything pressing before heading off to scour my financial inbox in search of something that might generate an idea for the day's blog. If I don't find anything that tickles my fancy, I turn to my charting program and begin looking through hot lists of the day's highs and lows, stocks trading on unusual volume, sector lists--you name it. If there's a chart that looks interesting or a trend that I see developing, I note that. Whatever I find to be the most appealing out of all those inputs, I write about. Usually, something will leap out and the topic of the day becomes clear.

Whatever topic I do decide upon is followed by research, and lots of it. When all of the facts have been gathered together and organized, I whip out my quill and inkpot and begin the writing process. One of my previous incarnations was as a freelance journalist and screenwriter. You would think that writing comes naturally to me, but it doesn't. Unlike many of my writer friends who can toss out a 2000 word article in two hours or a feature-length screenplay in three days, I struggle over every word. What would take my esteemed colleagues oh about a half an hour to pen takes me several hours...and I'm still never satisfied with the final result.

What I'm saying is that at least for yours truly, blogging is hard work besides being nearly a full-time job. I also have other responsibilities like managing several portfolios and another part-time job doing financial analysis. Can you blame me for tossing and turning at night?

My goal with this missive is not to whine or complain but to say that sometimes I just get burned out. That happened yesterday. I turned on the computer, went through my usual routine...and nothing. Nothing! I stared at the screen with a blank expression before finally turning it off. I was just burned out. So, I decided to take the day off and become a soccer mom (without the mom part). I window shopped, got my nails done, and took my time at the grocery store which usually I'm rushing through like Mario Andretti at the Indy 500. I came home, put away the groceries, and slipped into my holey sweats and fuzzy socks. Oprah's show had just started and I had a ball sacking out on the couch watching Cher and Tina Turner sing together. (They both still look and sound mahvelous, BTW.) In short, I was a slob and loved every minute of it.

What I'm trying to say is that if I do miss a day or two here and there, you'll know why, barring any real illness. Blogging is a tough and demanding avocation, and in keeping with my philosophy of providing fresh and interesting content, I need the occasional break to recharge my batteries. So forgive me if I'm only human and can't blog every day. I'll do the same and forgive you if you don't read it every day. Deal?

Next week (assuming I don't turn into a soccer mom for good), we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming where we'll be investigating trend trading systems. Ever hear of a guy named Richard Dennis? He was the founder of the famous Turtles, and I'll be giving recipes for his trend-trading algorithm and system of money management. Enjoy your weekend! I'll be sleeping in...hopefully...