[pictures from the National Museum of Korea in Seoul]

I’ve recently felt the overwhelming urge to shun the blog & go back to the do-nothing boring little existence of my utterly unknown life.

[here the phrase 'utterly unknown' is meant to describe how little known I am anyway]

I’ve lost my creative writing spark. I cringe at the thought of having to come up with something to blog about every day.

But worst of all, I don’t want to share stories anymore.

I know I’ve left you hanging with Spa Girl & the Fourth, but I just can’t bear to make myself finish them.

The problem is that I’ve discovered that…shall we say…”a certain someone” is reading my blog.

Someone from a past life. Someone I had never hoped to run into again. Someone who I’d rather not have reading the blog.

Someone who seems to have this craptastic super power over me – zapping me of my creative energy & making me want to go screaming from my computer.

Let’s call them, Captain Critical.

So yeah, I’ve been battling Captain Critical and their faceless, evil-minioned Should Army for weeks now.

Have you ever fought the faceless, evil-minioned Should Army before?

They’re dangerous…let me tell ya.

Throwing “you should do this” and lobbing “you should do that” constantly at you can break anyone of their steeled determination.

And that’s how I feel.

Pummeled.

Pummeled into submission. Pummeled into silence.

And it’s not fair, I tell you! It’s not fair at all.

I want to scream at them,

“Go sit & spin! You yellow-bellied lint licker!”

I want to shove my thumbs in my ears, wiggle my fingers & shout,

“Nanny-nanny-boo-boo. You can’t get me.”

[but they can]

And that’s the kicker.

They can get me, my dog, my cat & my husband.

If it was just me…I’d fight the good fight.

But it’s not just me.

And it’s not fair to subject my make-shift little family to the slings & arrows of Captain Critical.

But now I understand all too well how it is that the good guy always gives up, surrendering to the villain, in order to save the one he loves.

And it sucks.

So that’s where I’ve been lately.

Defeated.

I have no fortress of solitude to escape to, no bat cave to go lick my wounds in and no way off this stinkin’ continent any time soon because I could really use a Cherry Limeade & a trip to the Japanese Gardens to center myself.

But I’m not giving up.

[sly grin]

I’m just trying to figure out my next move.