Wandered around a fancy hotel trying to get into a ALEC conference… but no, I'm not allowed in until Wednesday. I was turned away at the door and sent to the press room.

The press room was empty.

Well, not empty. It had hard candies and Dentine-brand gum in little bowls. I took some, considered it fair payment for the hour of my life I'd wasted fishing for a story there, and left.

There was a meeting of master chefs on the ground floor. I really wish people wanted a story on really good chefs. There were about a hundred chefs in this one conference room, watching their keynote speaker cook. Chefs always seem happy.

But, back in the real world, the conference was a bust. And so I have nothing to write (until Wednesday, when I interview a former governor) and no Hargrove to send me off somewhere else. And it's only five, so I don't really want to leave the office quite yet.

So I've been reading stories from A.L. Daily and the Wire. It's mildly exciting to read breaking news before it's printed, but I could turn on MSNBC and get the same coverage, so it's not that big of deal.

I've been inspired by this article about the blog Back-to-Iraq.com.

There is a culture, a living breathing literate culture out there, and I want to contribute to that culture before I die. (I die in a tragic auto accident at the age of 24; which means I don't have too much time.)

So, I may, at the very least, try to retool my blog into something more… significant. Or I may try to write something fictional, seeing as my nonfiction-oriented job isn't providing me with much to do at the moment. But I want to do something, and that's the point here. Inspiration is 1% of success.