zero creativity

Just when I need imagination to kick in - this very day - there is nothing, nada, zero.

Even I tried to trick you, the only things coming to this dull head are too, well, guess-able.  For example,

After five weeks of really putting her heart and soul (and body) into losing a few pounds, your mom weighed in this very day to discover she had... lost... four pounds!

After dropping hints throughout the past five Augusts while teaching "American culture" to groups of Chinese government officials, this very day I heard the director of the program admit that my visiting the China training center next July does merit serious consideration.

During recent months of deepening student frustration as the second busiest and costliest [re]construction phase in Duke's history continues to impede normal university life, the Board of Trustees decided to close the campus entirely directly after the May graduation.  The fall semester has been cancelled with hopes that productivity of research, study, teaching and entrepreneurial advances in the sciences, business and medicine shall resume by January 1, 2016.  However, the fall 2015 football schedule will be the only vital part of the university's existence that shall not be affected.

After years of enduring annoying squirrel activity in our small yard - digging up bulbs, unearthing freshly planted grass seed, excavating bird cadavers - we just today discovered what is certainly a twig of a pear tree gaining vitality immediately adjacent to, of all places, the McManuses' garage.  Amazing.

After postponing for 35 years the re-painting and re-configuring of the second floor hall linen closet, my energy returned sufficiently to tackle the task.  Unlike when I pealed old wall paper and re-painted the pass-through closet upstairs to discover nothing of sentimental or financial worth, this time I was lucky.  Instead and thus far, I have found a 1941 silver dollar, a front page spread of the old Durham Morning Herald dated December 8, 1941 and - get this - the pledge of my college mates ' (calling ourselves "The Association") loyalty to one another.  You remember the latter as a "paddle" or some such.  I am greatly relieved that such a valuable item was not slyly recycled by unsuspecting young children in a previous era.

See what I mean?  Nothing.

Wait 'til next year! (as loyal fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers used to chime; I was one of those fans.)