Like Nothing Ever Happened

Let it never be said that Ben Stewart misses 12 consecutive days in his commitment to writing every day!

I’m writing this post from Austin, TX. More specifically, I’m sitting in Book People which is my all time favorite book store. Granted, I haven’t visited many independent bookstores, but out of the ones I have visited, this one is the best. I’m sitting in their little cafe on the first floor and there’s a rack of Tshirts for sale to my right… There’s an Ender’s Game shirt eyeballing me and I might have to bring it home with me…

This place is so wonderful it makes me wish there was a place like this back home. There’s Mickey’s in downtown New Albany that’s also wonderful, but it’s not the same. Maybe one day I’ll open a book store? Can’t be a great business decision, but maybe it could be with some cleverness. I bet it would help tremendously if I were to become famous, then people would visit my book store just because it has my name attached to it. Seems like a noble use of fame if I were to ever achieve it in some way. For the record, fame is not my goal with anything I’m currently working toward, but is a notable byproduct of the life I’m pursuing. I’d be naive to think otherwise.

Running: I’m at 77 consecutive days of running at least a 5k. Today I ran 5.23 miles in downtown Austin, TX where they have a great trail system along the Colorado River. It was a little crowded today, lots of bikers, walkers, runners, and people dragging their over-heating dogs around, but it was still a good run. I have committed myself to seeing this streak hit 100 days and the prospects look pretty good. I’ll keep it going for now because I like the work and the benefits it provides.

Writing: Ideas ideas ideas, lots of ideas for stories with very little action taken to CREATE the finished product… I have been negligent where my writing has been concerned, content to write jokes and material for the stage and call it writing, but that’s a separate thing. Related, but separate. Writing material, I think, flexes different creative muscle than long form writing. A long writing session requires much more focus than does jotting down premises and punchlines. In reality, I procrastinate by planning and I’ve planned to write far more than I’ve written… So it goes, but here I am now, at the keyboard letting thoughts flow and putting words on the page. Is any of this good writing? Doubtful. But it is WRITING and I’m DOING IT so it counts for something. Right? RIGHT!?

Alright, I’m getting hungry and that Ender’s Game shirt isn’t going to buy itself.

-Ben