I said I was writing, but I’ve spent most of the last day and a half just staring at my materials. Making occasional jottings in the margins, on a blank sheets of paper, or on the computer. Revising and restarting various sections. Thinking of what the audience — a real, live, listening audience — will need to know as background and need to hear as guideposts. This paper is so short, and my materials and story are so straightforward (in a way), that I’m at a loss to understand my incapacity to just hammer out (and BS my way through) nine coherent pages. WTF? Dain bramage? Anyhow, I’m now straightening out my handout — which may or may not have the elements in the same order I will eventually present them in. Not sure yet. I just want to say: to hell with anyone who gives me a hard time for having a lame paper. (That should, I suppose, include me, too.)
