Erin Albert's Blog

I was going to try and be cute, right-brained and reword lyrics for the song “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” and replace it with “Daniel Pink is Coming To Town” but I’m just not that creative tonight.  Anyway, you get my drift…the writer of A Whole New Mind, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko and Free Agent Nation will be at Butler University on Wed., Oct 29th at 7:30 PM at Clowes Hall.  Best part?  The tix are free! (Limit two.)  Tickets are available to the public Sept 19th at 10 am at the Clowes box office.  If you want to learn about how to stay competitive in a global economy, this is a talk you CANNOT miss. Don’t wait to get your tickets, either…they will go fast.  Stuff your right-brained stockings!!!

One of the ideas I love to play with in my own head (which at times is an interesting place) is the concept that one never really grows up.  So, this afternoon with a shout out to reverse thinking, I pondered what my favorite cartoon characters might have grown up to do.  Here are my ideas:

Snoopy:  CEO of a consumer products company (think dog food, seed, cereal, etc).
Charlie Brown:  Middle management in a utility company
Lucy:  Head of a think tank in Washington DC after political science work at Harvard
Linus:  Professor of English literature at a small liberal arts college
Schroeder:  Nuclear physicist
Peppermint Patty:  Attorney working for the ACLU
Jonny Quest:  IRL driver
Hadji:  Billionaire after selling out an internet start up 
Scooby:  Scooby, just older
Shaggy:  Professional surfer who mysteriously disappeared during a typhoon while trying to ride a tasty wave
Daphne:  Became a hollywood actress, then advocate for children
Velma:  Physician and researcher at Johns Hopkins
Fred:  Married Daphne and continued to look for the “bad guys” with her…
Shmoo:  Working as an advocate against global warming at the EPA

Yes, my head is a strange place.

So one of my friends has his blackberry and his iPhone in his kitchen cabinet, awaiting a 9 month creation of the best of both, what he terms, “the iBerry.”  I started thinking about this, and it isn’t a bad idea.  If there could be an all in one with a thumb keyboard, a battery that lasts 12 hours, and the ability to dump about 10 email accounts into the device, I think I would be all over that. The mp3 player and the headphone/mic set on the device would be great. This has nothing to do with writing, other than it matches my writing mission:  to create a better world through ideas on paper, or in this case, digital media.

I’ve been playing with two different ideas this week, as I embark upon my own law school journey. First is the idea of panic. Panic must always preceed change, I think. So, I am trying to embrace that feeling of “I don’t know what I’m doing” (aka panic), because I know that new ideas and ways of thinking are just around the corner. The second idea is the concept of where great ideas come from…and why do they always happen just when I’m waking up or while I’m in the shower?  (Always convenient times when I have no writing utensils.) Well, I just read an article in the July 28th New Yorker (yes I’m behind on my periodical reading) and found that insight or the epiphanies only come during relaxation periods. Most are relaxed during the shower or just after rising in the morning, so perhaps that is better explained. However, it is interesting that law schools tend to utilize the Socratic method to teach students, which is really a more stressful environment in which to learn; therefore, is it the best way to learn?

I’ll get back to the panic.

The internet is crazy.  I never thought I would have yet another website up and running; however, as I’m finished with my 4th book and currently cooking on 5 & 6, I’m starting to get asked the ‘How do I write a book?’ question.  That, coupled with the fact that my writing has never been warehoused in one place before, became the genesis of this site.  So, welcome to erinalbert.com, which will now be home to my musings and half-baked attempts at writing.

Let me set up a disclaimer or two here:  First, I am not a professional writer. Second, I am not, nor have I ever been an English major either.  Disclaimers aside, here is my most sage advice about writing…ready?  Just do it. As cliche as it sounds, just make some time, sit down, and start writing.  Pick a time. Pick a subject.  Start small, but think big.  Someone once said everyone has at least one great book in them.  Why not share yours with the world?  Books and ideas are meant to be shared.  And by sharing, we will in turn make the world a better place.