At long last, my blog is back.

For months, I’ve been saying I was going to start writing again. First, I said as soon as I got a job. Then it was at the first of the year. Then by my birthday. Then I ran out of deadlines, but I still didn’t write.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s been stopping me. After all, I really like to write, and I’ve been told by many people that I’m good at it. By the end of my time in Sweden, I had a big following on my journal. I’ve even been told several times that I should pursue writing as a career.

Truth be told, I’m not sure I’ll ever be a professional writer, but I do really enjoy writing. It helps me communicate a lot of things I couldn’t otherwise, because I’ve never been much of a phone talker or conversationalist in general. I have things to say, but I need time to think them through and organize them before I can say them. Writing allows me to do that.

So, why have I been unable to cajole myself into writing for months and months? Because writing is hard. Writing challenges me and keeps me thinking. Finding interesting things to write about forces me to observe the world around me and see humor, opportunity, and kindness where otherwise I would see nothing. Writing makes me pay attention. That’s what makes it such a satisfying pastime, but also what makes it a difficult one.

The reason I haven’t been writing is because I’ve struggled for a long time coming up with a topic that I thought was worthwhile. But thinking back on the reasons I started writing in my Sweden journal, I was reminded that the point of writing is to realize how many of the experiences I have every day are worthwhile. I’ve been trying too hard to think of something earth-shattering to say, when my best writings have always been about the smaller things.

So, to get myself started again, I’ve decided to write about the most mundane thing I did today: I went to Walgreens. It doesn’t sound like there’s much of a story there, does there? But, in every ordinary errand, there is something worth telling. Here goes.

I walked in knowing I needed two things: a new shower cap, and cat litter. I walked into the health and beauty section, and suddenly realized I had no idea where to look for a shower cap. So, I started wandering up and down the aisles, looking for anything in little hanging packages, as opposed to the shelves and shelves of bottles that fill the health and beauty section. There is a large wall at the back of the store filled with such hanging packages, so I headed there. Whoops, turns out this wall is actually full of nylons and cheap underwear. I scan the wall, just in case, and notice a package that says “Bag o’Briefs.” After a beat, this strikes me as hysterically funny.

So, I’m feeling the urge to laugh out loud, which is horrendously inappropriate for several reasons: 1) It’s fourth grade humor to think that’s funny in the first place, 2) There was another customer standing there seriously considering purchasing the Bag o’Briefs, and 3) I was alone, and no one wants to be the crazy lady laughing by herself in a Walgreens.

In an effort not to actually laugh, I did an about face to look at the hanging packages behind me. It’s at this point that I saw a package of bibs that is not advertised, as one would expect, as Bag o’Bibs, but instead as Bag O’Babies. Naturally, I picture three small children being purchased in a three-for-one sale at Walgreens, and I can’t hold it in any more. I walked away, hoping no one would notice there was a crazy lady laughing by herself in Walgreens and call the police.

You’ll be relieved to hear that I did eventually find the shower caps. After a lengthy internal debate, I chose to go with the $2.99 flowered one instead of the boring, ugly $0.99 version. (Thanks, GWB stimulus check!) Then I picked up some cat litter, was pathetically taken in by the three-for-a-dollar jelly bean sale, paid for my purchases, and walked out.

So, there it is. My triumphant return features a ridiculous story about a drug store visit. Not exactly my finest hour, but I’m going to post this anyway, because I really need to get myself rolling again. I post this, and finally, for real, the blog is back. And I hope it stays back.

For all the reasons I talked about earlier, I think the biggest struggle will be to come up with interesting topics to talk about. That’s where I need your help. Post comments and let me know what you’d like me to write about. Do you want to hear about city life? About commuting on the train and bus? About the various unhealthy ways I handle huge crowds during rush hour? How about graduate school? Want to know my opinions on the twisted world of academia? The politics of sharing an office with PhD students while I was a MA student? Or is there some decision I’ve made that you never understood? Want to know why I played crash cymbals in college, or why I chose to go to Sweden, or why I wore a watch to bed for over ten years? (Actually, many of you probably didn’t know I did that.) You may ask me anything – about my own life or about my opinions about anything else. I reserve the right not to answer, but promise to have good reasons for refusing.

So, post some ideas. If you don’t, I’ll continue writing about shower caps. And friends don’t let friends write about shower caps twice.