Internet is Killing the Urban Legends (Bummer)
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I was listening to a spooky podcast the other day and they were discussing urban legends. Some I had heard of before and some were new to me. I was enthralled in the stories and loved the detail. Each tale kept my attention and made me want more. Now, I’ve lived long enough to know that much like myths and other legends…there’s always aspects of truth tossed in with a few fibs or embellishments here and there. But…that’s what makes them so good.

Ever heard of the Goatman? Resurrection Mary perhaps? Cry Baby Bridge? The Pigman? Maybe that haunted house down the road? I would bet that no matter what town you live in, there is at least one urban legend that has been told year to year from one person to another. It’s always fun to haze the new kid at school or the latest family in the neighborhood with a spooky tale or two.

I love urban legends because they invoke the imagination. They let people share stories and form bonds over scary rumors and fairytales and can even open the lines of communication that may otherwise be closed. You can’t tell me that when someone starts talking about an urban legend that your ears don’t perk up, and you move a little closer to them…because you are curious. Right?

With the entertainment factor of urban legends being so welcomed by most, what happens when it’s gone? You see, as I listened to the podcast and after each story they discussed, they basically debunked it. And by this, I mean they would state many times “I found this or that on Google” or “I couldn’t find anything on the Web to back up the story” which essentially led me to have a realization and thought out loud…the internet has killed the urban legend! Oh Crap!

Urban legends flourished throughout the world from one generation to the next…because the majority of the time no one could find information to dispute the stories…until that medaling Internet came along! So now, anytime someone starts to capture the imagination of a crowd with a timeless tale everyone’s going to whip out their cell phones and jump on Google. Takes the fun out of it…right?

I’ve told myself many times that “ignorance is bliss” and I still believe this to be true…especially when it comes to the topic of urban legends. I mean, come on, who the Hell wants to know the truth? The truth or the actual reality of a legend is…well…boring. Give me the made up, embellished tall tales that I’m accustomed to. 

Is Trick or Treating in America Dying?
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You know, when I was a kid (yeah, way back in the 70’s and 80’s) I always looked forward to a few things each year; school summer break, Christmas morning and the best of all…Trick or Treating on Halloween night. Sure, Christmas morning was awesome with all the gifts and the baked goods and yes, summer break was always fun being care-free and spending so much time outdoors. However, fall has always been my favorite season for many reasons and Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. And it’s not just because of the candy. Nope, I’m lying. You probably saw right through me on that statement didn’t you?

Of course it’s because of the candy. I mean come on, it’s the one time a year that you get a giant bag full of candy that you didn’t normally get and you got to have it all and eat it all and Ahhhhhh!!! Sorry, got carried away there for a second. Now, I’m sure many people reading this had parents that perhaps monitored your candy or doled out your candy a few pieces at a time making it long and drawn out, but then again, maybe you had parents who just said, “It’s all yours kid, go for it!” I basically had that parent.

My mom let me dump my candy all over the living room floor so I could admire it and see just how much “Treasure” I had acquired. Sometimes I looked at it all and felt like a big time bank robber…”look at all these riches I just got away with” the voice in my head would say. “I’m rich I tell ya! Rich!” HA!! It was a purely magical time when my eyes would fixate on the heaps of Payday, sweet-tarts, Snickers, SlowPoke, candy corn, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way…and yeah sure sometimes there would be an apple or two, or some of my neighbors were famous for their homemade popcorn balls…which usually tasted stale so they got tossed first thing.

While gazing wide-eyed at the candy laid out before me, I would always think “Okay, lets be smart about all this. Lets save most of it so that it will last until next Halloween. I’ll stash some in my sock drawer, some in my toy chest, some in my…” yeah, let’s be real. That lasted about five days and then my candy stash was bone dry. Nothing left. It was certainly sad when that last piece of candy was gone. And then, my mind would think about the next Halloween to come. The next opportunity to go Trick or Treating.

Okay, candy aside, the other things great about being able to go Trick or Treating was dressing up in costume, hanging out with friends and family, visiting neighborhood houses, drinking cider and eating donuts. Let us recall the cheap plastic masks with the rubber band to hold them on that you could barely see or breathe out of. And the thin plastic outfits that ripped open just by breathing. Or perhaps you donned a homemade costume you or one of your parents made…it probably sucked, but it was fun to make and it worked for one night. HA!

The decorations were another favorite aspect of Trick or Treating…not only for the kids, but adults alike. You got to see and experience the neighborhood houses all decked out with paper skeletons, lit up jack o lanterns, scarecrows, black cats and spider webs. And some houses went all out with orange and purple lights, strobe lights, spooky music, fog machines, and life-size monsters and creatures (even if they were plywood painted cutouts).

With all the wonderfulness (I think that’s a word) that comes with Halloween and Trick or Treating through the years, I’ve been noticing changes. Some have been subtle, and some have been fairly major. I kept asking myself…So is it dying? Will Trick or Treating as I knew it as a kid cease to exist in the future?

Good question. It seems in my experience the number of kids ringing my doorbell looking for chocolaty and sugary goodness has, sadly, been dwindling. Five years ago, we had 150 kids, four years ago 100, three years ago 75 and so on. I figure a few things tend to play a factor in all of this.

Now, if it’s snowing on Halloween (Which it has plenty of times here in Michigan) kids are resilient and with lots of candy on the brain, they don’t care. Kids will plow through snow to get free candy.  I remember plenty of Halloween nights walking the neighborhood in sleet, snow, rain, freezing rain and so on. Kids didn’t care about the weather (well many I would say). Parents on the other hand…not so much.

The second factor I believe is safety. Now, I’m certainly one for being safe and keeping the kids safe. No question about it. It seems that more and more parents are concerned about their kids being kidnapped, hit by a car, weather related issues (see previous paragraph) and bad things being put into their candy (Which this topic has long been debated and depending on what you hear or read may or may not have actually happened. Certainly the numbers have been blown out of proportion many times) and the scariest of all…kids going into strangers homes…never to be seen again (Which has also been debated on whether or not this has happened).

So, with these concerns we’ve seen the growth of things like “Trunk or Treat “, where instead of kids walking neighborhoods, they can receive candy from friends and family via the trunk of their car at school or church parking lots. Seems like a good idea, I get it.

And last year, for the first time, I had seen a church with a banner out front that said “Halloween Candy Buffet”…ah…what? So, families could visit the church where inside were a few large tables set up with all kinds of donated candy for the kids to pick and choose from. Fill up a bucket and you’re good-to-go. They stay warm and dry, safe from horrible bad people and still get a bunch of delicious candy. Sounds good too. I get it. …and truth be told, a candy buffet sounds awesome!

Maybe, times they are a chang’n. I guess most things in life must change. Sometimes change is a good thing, and then again…you know what I’m going to say. I’ll be honest, I am usually not a big fan of change, especially if I’m not the one to initiate it or control it. I’m stubborn. Change can be quite scary and especially if you see the change leading down the path of nothing good.

I’m all for keeping our kids safe and sound, but there’s a big part of me that just wants Halloween and Trick or Treating like it was when I was a kid. Does that make me sound selfish? Yeah, probably a little I suspect. I feel that the fun and exciting traditions of Halloween and Trick or Treating are slowly disappearing. I feel like my grandkids or great grandkids may never know how awesome dressing up, running from house to house, knocking on doors or ringing doorbells and yelling “TRICK OR TREAT!” and taking home that big bag full of candy.

So, is Trick or Treating dying in America? Will future generations only read about the fun of Trick or Treating instead of living it? I suppose it also begs the question…will the wonderful fun pastime of Halloween fade in the future? Will there be no spooky decorations, no more amazing costumes, no exciting Halloween parties, no…Honestly the thought frightens me more than any ghost or ghoul. 

My First UFO
As told by Jerrod S. Smelker
Here I am, a 52-year-old man and I saw a UFO today…my very first…I mean, I think it was a UFO. I know what it wasn’t…I think. So, it was Monday, March 13th 2023 and I was driving down Union Lake road towards work at Commerce Township (Michigan). It was about 7:00am-7:10am and the sun was coming up. It was a cold morning, probably around 32 degrees. I was at a complete stop due to a traffic light next to the Kroger store (to my left) and in the front upper left area through the windshield I saw a white light in the shape of a Sharpie marker or cigar. Within a second the light became super bright similar to seeing the arc of a welder. Then in an instant…it was gone. It didn’t move, it just vanished. Blink. Gone.
So, my first thought was that it was an airplane turning to the left towards the airport that I had already passed a few miles back and the sun was reflecting off it. However, after the bright light was gone, there was no airplane in the sky. The sky was very clear with only a few small clouds and it was light enough to see that if anything were in the sky, it would be noticeable.
Then I thought perhaps it was a sunlight reflection off my watch or something within the car…like a water bottle, my Yeti, or…Nope. Maybe it was …yes, I tried several things to de-bunk it and I found nothing. I even drove the same route the next day and the next…cuz it’s the same route I take every day and have for the last four years. And nothing. I have never seen anything like I did that day and haven’t since. However, when I was watching a show a few days later about UFOs, a woman had a photo of a UFO she witnessed and wouldn’t you know…it looked exactly like the one I saw. Exactly.
Truthfully, I have no idea what I saw. The only thing I can say is that it was an unidentifiable object in the sky. Not saying it was from outer space, or aliens, or whatever, but it was something. Something kinda cool.
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NOTE: After a few weeks I decided to report it to the Michigan chapter of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Case # 130114

Cigars and Pipes (2022)
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Recently, because I enjoy a cigar now and then (well, a few times a week I’d say), I became interested in pipes. To be honest, up until I met a friend of mine, we’ll call him Spencer (because his name is Spencer. HA!) a few years ago who is extremely knowledgeable in pipes, I thought they were a thing of the past.

Truth be told, the only thing I had ever seen when it came to pipes is Popeye, a few old Normal Rockwell paintings and my uncle Dave. I remember as a kid always seeing my uncle Dave with a pipe and it smelled so good. He was always smoking something like cherry or something fruity smelling. I was a kid though, so I never really put much thought into it. Other than my uncle, no one I knew or had seen ever smoked a pipe. So, like I said, I had thought it had disappeared.

Well, flash forward a few decades and here I am as a 51-year-old man now involved in cigars and pipes. More involved than I ever thought I would be. Now as of this writing, I have a few pipes, just 3 to be exact (I sold off a few I had keeping only the one’s important to me). One is a Peterson called “Dracula”, One is an Italian that Spencer gave me for my wedding and the other is a B10 Peterson.  I have over 20 jars of pipe tobacco from Crème Brule to Rum and I have two jar humidors filled with cigars (so around 20-30).

Just like any other hobby, sport or collection (yes, I know, cigars and pipes are not sports…just stay with me here for a second) it grows into something bigger and ends up costing more than you probably would imagine. Take a musician for example. A musician doesn’t just purchase a guitar and go…no no, they also have to purchase the guitar, a strap, picks, amplifier, cables, pedals, case, strings, stand, and on and on. What starts out as a $300 purchase quickly becomes a $3000 habit. Did I say habit? I meant hobby. Yeah, hobby.

Well when someone gets into cigars and pipes, the simple $8 cigar or $50 pipe turns into much more; humidors, tobacco, different cigars, pipe tampers, pipe cleaners, humidifying gels, different pipes, cigar cutters, special lighters, pipe racks, special ashtrays, tobacco storage, and on and on. $500-$1000 later and you finally feel like you can be somewhat comfortable in the “realm of the dark leaf”…for now. 

My kids asked me a few weeks ago why I’m into cigars and pipes so much. Good question. Motives to get involved in anything for people are different for each person. Some people get into sports for the love of competition and physical aspects. They get into music for the way each note speaks to them and makes them feel. They get into hunting for the thrill of the chase and the success of bringing down that trophy buck. I suspect many people get into cigars and pipes for a variety of reasons. Here are my thoughts...

Now, my reasons are nothing profound, nothing earth shattering and nothing that will or has changed the world. This is just my little world, my little “slice of heaven” as they say. First and foremost, I would have to say that I am always intrigued by how things start, how things are made and the traditions behind them. I’ve always been enamored by how craft beers are brewed, how whiskey is made, how grapes turn into wine and so on. The “how it’s made” or “how it came to be” is one of the things that intrigued me with cigars and pipes.

Cigars and Pipes, to me, have always been a symbol of sophistication, gentlemanly gatherings, good conversation, great smells, history, stature, confidence, rituals, tradition and relaxation. Many fine people throughout our history have enjoyed fine cigars and pipes, so I always knew I’d be in good company.

There’s a peacefulness and relaxation that comes with enjoying a cigar or pipe from time to time. The way you prep, the items you gather, the way you light them, the way you take in the smells and on and on. It forces you to slow down and focus on just the task at hand.  …It’s completely different than simply lighting up a cigarette.

Cigars and Pipes are not for everyone…and honestly, I’m ok with that. It’s a special club to be a part of. It’s the brotherhood of the dark leaf. I recommend if you ever want to check out a cigar or pipe, partner with someone who knows what they are doing. Don’t let some dufus give you some garbage from a gas station and tell you it’s a top notch cigar (gas station cigars have come a long way and have their place, but come on…). Do some research on the Internet and YouTube…there are some great things out there. Light up and enjoy!
 
…And the answer is yes, yes I am. I’m assuming someone is asking “Is he smoking a pipe or cigar while writing this?” I currently have a nice Isla Del Sol Robusto cigar in my mouth. It’s a pleasant infused cigar with a hint of coffee and sweetness. It’s one of my favorites.
 
NOTE: The uncle I spoke about earlier, Uncle Dave, gave me one of his old pipe tools after we had a conversation about pipes. He purchased it back in the 1950’s and passed it down to me. A simple gesture on his part, but a meaningful moment for me. It’s a treasure I will hold on to for the rest of my life especially since he recently passed away.
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Want to know my favorite cigars, pipes or tobacco? Just ask. Or perhaps I’ll post in another Blog post in the future. 

Document it...easy right?

If you do one thing today go out and buy a notepad or a journal or start a new document on the computer…and start writing…about you.

Why?

No one is going to document your life better than you unless you have some kind of documentary film crew following you around…and I doubt you do.

You’re probably asking…”Well, what’s so important about me?”
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Listen, it’s not about whether you think you’re important or not. It’s not about whether you’re rich or famous or the top scientist or a Nobel Prize winner. It’s about documenting your life for you and the generations to follow. Your daily life, even if it’s boring as Hell, it’s still your life. And it may not seem like much to you right now, but it may in the future, and it may to other’s 100 years from now.

Haven’t you ever wished you had more information about your long-lost relatives? Wondered about the lifestyle of the great ancestors who came from Europe or Mexico or Africa and settled in Michigan, California, Nebraska or wherever? Maybe you saw a photo of your great grandmother posing for a photo in a garden and wondered…where did she get those clothes? Whose garden is that? What town is that? Who took the photo? What did she do before and after the photo was taken?

I know for me; I love history and the history I love the most is my family history. And as far as I know, none of my relatives or ancestors were famous movie stars, no celebrated baseball players, no disease curing scientist…just your every day average people. But I always wanted to know more about them. I saw photos of my grandparents in the mid-40s when they were in their 20’s leaning up against a 1940’s Plymouth truck and wondered…what were they doing that day? Did they go for a ride in the country? Did they eat at some local diner? Were they madly in love?

Census records and other mundane town records give us names and date of birth and perhaps a city or two lived in, but it doesn’t give us the meat and potatoes of who our ancestors really were or what they really did. You may get lucky enough to find a news clipping or two about something they did or maybe listen to the stories handed down from generation to the next. But there’s so much out there…lost…never to be seen or heard again. To me, that’s sad.

If you don’t write it down, if you don’t document the wonderful stories of you, then it will be lost forever. Do it for your kids, your grandkids and future generations because I promise you, they will want to know. 

03/27/22
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Why Are Cornfields So Scary?

Was watching the movie Signs the other day (more on that movie later). And a question popped into my head…”Why are cornfields so damn scary?”

Maybe cornfields aren’t scary to some. I’m sure corn farmers aren’t afraid of their own crops. But come on, just about every horror film out there has some sort of cornfield in them. Not to mention the horrifying scarecrows…which even the “happy” one’s look terrifying. They’re like the scary clown of the farmland. Anyway, the cornfields…I believe that the reason they are so scary is for one good reason…

You can’t see into them…it’s the fear of the unknown. And to quote one of my other favorite movies A Christmas Story…”I mean, my God, there could be anything in there!” Which holds true for those blasted cornfields. What’s the major fear most people have…the unknown.

Many people won’t swim in rivers, lakes or the ocean because they can’t see what’s underneath them…the unknown. Most people are afraid of the dark because they can’t see what’s in front of them…the unknown.

If you look towards a cornfield your mind starts to wander. As you see the stalks moving back and forth and you hear the large leaves rubbing against each other or the ears of corn bumping into each other…your mind conjures up perhaps the worst-case scenarios of what could be lurking in there…is it ghosts? Aliens? Bigfoot? Dogman? Demons? Or perhaps it’s just the wind…or maybe a delicate doe deer just wandering through…no, it’s got to be that menacing scarecrow finally come to life and is out for revenge coming to tear me apart?

I don’t know what is in there…and that’s what is so terrifying.

Stand at the edge of a cornfield sometime and just look. It will only take a minute or so before you start to see things, hear things and get that eerie chill down your spine. And if you take a walk inside a cornfield…those feelings are ten times worse…cuz then you can’t see anything around you except stalk after stalk. And if you ever go in at night…well…forget it…you’re dead.
 
So, back to the movie Signs. It is now one of my favorite films. I watch it about 3-5 times a year, however, when I first saw it, it freaked me out so much I wouldn’t watch it for years…like 15 years. What got me was the cornfields, yes, but the biggest “Scare” or “Popcorn spiller” for me was the scene where the news broadcast is showing the kids birthday party in Brazil. When the alien walks across the little alley way…oh man. I reacted just like Merrell did. It’s a brilliant movie with great bits of humor, suspense and setting. 

What Influenced Writing Scary Stories?

After contemplating this question I believe a reality moment happened today. You see, before I would always say that I never really had any kind of horror or scary related influence because I was never a horror movie fan. Well, I should clarify that I had seen a few scary movies in my youth such as Jaws, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. but I never considered myself a horror movie watcher. I know people who are hardcore horror buffs, but I never thought of myself as such…in fact, not even close. I spent much of my 20’s thru my 40’s never really looking for scary things to watch or read. It honestly never dawned on me until recently that I actually did have quite a bit of influence growing up…
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As a kid, I remember watching shows with my mother like The Munsters, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Tales From The Dark Side, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, and late night weekends watching Elvira. I also remember movies like Dark Night of the Scarecrow (still one of my first favorites), The Lost Boys (one of my all time favorites), and even eating the famous monster cereals Frankenberry, Count Chocula, Yummy Mummy, Fruit Brut and Boo Berry. ..and do you remember Freakies cereal?

I believe honestly I spent a good 20 years of my life in denial when it came to the horror or scary genre of books, movies and shows. Not exactly sure why. In my mid-40’s I got hooked…and I mean hooked…on all the new ghost reality shows that came out; Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Haunted Towns, Haunted Asylums, Paranormal Caught on Camera, My Haunted House, Haunted Woods, and on and on.

Now with all of that, I have to give the biggest credit to my daughter Sadrie. She’s really the one who “jump started” my spooky story writing. It was a night on the screened in porch the fall of 2017. My wife, son and daughter and I had dinner on the porch and somehow we got to talking about scary movies and stories. I think I mentioned something about writing some type of spooky story (never honestly thinking the idea would go any further) but having doubt on whether I could actually pull it off.   And my daughter just says “Why don’t you just write one Dad.” So, I replied, “You know what, why don’t I.” and as if a bolt of lighting hit me (figuratively) I grabbed a notebook and started writing.

When I sat down on the porch to write I heard the train that often goes by our subdivision. A story suddenly and immediately popped into my head and my hand couldn’t write fast enough for my churning brain. My first spooky story “Stone Hollow” was born. And to this day it’s still my favorite of all my stories. 

Some things that have been on my mind lately, so just thought I would share…
 
Travel Channel…please, come on, it’s 2022…don’t you think it’s time to change your name to “Paranormal Channel”? I think any actual travel shows have been long gone. But long live all the awesome paranormal shows!
I really wish everyone would stop referring to their jail, prison, house, asylum, cemetery, church, town, city, village or whatever as “The most haunted in America”. I swear, everyone thinks THEIR place is the “Most Haunted in America”. How do you even prove that? As far as I know, there’s no certification you can apply for or an award you can win for “Most Haunted”.
I don’t care what anyone says….the 2016 Ghostbusters movie with the four ladies….it’s horrible. Hey I have no issues with four females taking the lead roles of Ghostbusters and I like the actors (for the most part), but they are just trying…so…damn…hard. And it just doesn’t work. Over the top, too much fluff, jokes not landing, and a struggle trying to be as great as the first one.  Nope. Not happening. I wish it would just disappear.
I love all the ghost hunting shows on television right now. I really do. I’m hooked on them. But with all of the technology gizmos those groups design, build and use…why can’t someone build a simple “YES” or “NO” gadget that ghosts can use to answer questions. Stop with the flashlights and the EMFs lighting up and so on. Yes or No…simple.  
I find it funny that someone can be an “expert” on bigfoot, aliens, UFOs, ghosts, etc. An expert on things that may or may not exist.  Wouldn’t you be more likely be referred to as a Feasible Authority?
…and hey ghosts…just give us a definitive answer will ya! Stop with the cryptic messages, the lone bang, the footsteps, the disembodied “Help Me” and  stop being so coy….no one really has a photon pack they’re going to suck you up with.
Bigfoot…hey big guy…time for you to come forward. As with the ghosts, stop being coy and come out to say hello. I’m fairly certain many people will embrace you and will want to get to know the real you. Like what’s your favorite food, your favorite game, what do you do for fun? Stuff like that.
Aliens…do they exist? Well, I say absolutely. And I would love to know for sure. I would love to know the truth about Area 51, Roswell, and all the other crazy stuff. However, I do believe in the line from Men In Black…”A person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.” Some people will welcome them, some will fear them, and some will attack them. I fear that even if the aliens do come in peace…there are those people out there who will still attack them because they are scared, ignorant, and perhaps jumping on the band wagon of others. Maybe it’s best we don’t know.
Parents…if your kids come to you (the people they most trust and count on) to tell you they see ghosts, hear noises, feel something bad, see monsters…BELIEVE THEM!! Stop blowing them off as “just being silly” or “You’re just a kid” or “It’s just your imagination”, etc. Stop!  Maybe it’s nothing, but maybe, just maybe it actually IS something.  Just because you’re an adult and a parent doesn’t mean you know everything. Open your mind especially to your kids.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts?

Favorite Holiday: Halloween
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From time to time, while conversing with friends or at get-togethers, this question comes up: What is your favorite holiday? It’s always a bit comforting when you hear other people shout out their favorite and it just so happens to be your favorite as well. Of course, there have been those heated debates that rear their ugly head when people have divided opinions on which is the best holidays (which always amused me because they are after all, just opinions attributed to individual taste, but moving on).
Now, I enjoy all of the holidays and I think Christmas is awesome…I mean, who doesn’t love giving and receiving gifts, the colorful trees and lights, images of Santa and Frosty and the food…oh Lord have mercy…the food (I’m drooling a bit as I write). Christmas is certainly high on my favorite list…it’s a close battle for the number two spot with Christmas and Thanksgiving. But for me, I have and will always put Halloween as my #1 holiday.  
So once I state Halloween as my favorite, the next question is always; Why? Ah, all the candy, Duh! HA!! Okay okay, there’s certainly more to it than just the candy, but come on, honestly, who doesn’t love all the wonderful delish candy come October?
I could go into the long history of Halloween and Trick-or-Treating, but I’ll spare you the history lesson (There are lots of great books and articles on such out there…I highly recommend checking them out).
For me, it’s not just the holiday of Halloween and the art of Trick-or-Treating (Yeah, I said “Art” of Trick-or-Treating…there’s way more to it than just ringing a doorbell, looking cute or scary and begging for candy…but I’m sorry I just don’t have the time to go into right now…perhaps on another blog post). The fact that Halloween is also within the greatest season of Fall is also one of the biggest reasons I love the holiday.
I love the Fall season…it’s hard to describe my feelings on it (which I will post on another date), but a holiday that falls into the Fall season is fantastic. September, October and November here in Michigan is Fall….and I will fight anyone that says different. HA!!
Well, anyway, I love all of the spooky decorations during Halloween as well as the pumpkins, the Jack-o-lanterns, the costumes, parties, haunted attractions, the television and movies about it, as well as the feelings and excitement that surrounds it. Oh and the candy…did I mention the candy?

​Writers Block
I get this question quite a bit…Is Writer’s Block real?
Well I can say without a doubt that it is real for me. I believe it is different for every writer and it affects them different ways. No writers are exactly alike. Some may never get punched in the face with writer’s block, while others get a daily dose of it. I can tell you what it’s like for me.
The official definition:
The condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.
And
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. ... The condition ranges from difficulty in coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce a work for years.
I have a mix of hours, days and weeks where I get overloaded with ideas and I am constantly and frantically writing them down on notepads or typing them into my phone and then I have days where as they say, “The struggle is real” where I have no thoughts or ideas to write down. I have moments where I can sit down at the computer and type for hours and then I have moments where I sit down at the computer, type about 10 words, then get up and walk away…because I have nothing. Literally (and I hate using that word) nothing.
Some writers find ways to break though bouts of WB and have done it successfully. I myself may have done it a time or two. At times you absolutely have to find a way to break through because you may have a deadline to meet. Results can be disastrous at times. You read through what you wrote and think, “What the Hell is all that?” and start all over again.
So I say to you that yes, writer’s block is a real thing and if anyone tells you different, they are either lying or are not writers. Just my opinion of course.  - Jerrod