Just Passing Through?

The routine rarely varies. I sit down at my computer around nine in the morning and start to type. The exercise is good for my fingers but my brain gets a workout too as I try to unravel my previous day’s activities and associate them with words, selectively chosen, rearranged, and then bundled up into this thing I like to call the Richard Madeley Appreciation Society. The whole thing is usually finished in half-an-hour, sometimes an hour. The rest of my day is then my own or Channel 4’s. I divide my time between writing (lately with some difficulty) and hosting the nation’s favourite tea-time talk show.

The only flaw in this usually quite workable plan is my own mood which can sometimes slip from its usually setting of ‘hyperactive, friendly, and all-knowing’ to one that’s described on the label as ‘sullen, unresponsive, and lacking confidence’. This is never more evident when I feel like my Appreciation Society is lacking appreciation; though, I hasten to add, not among my regular readers who I appreciate with a fanatical love and intend to see buried with me in my tomb when that day arrives. I just mean among a small fraction of the web browsing public who occasionally pass through on their way to Facebook, YouTube or Amazon.

If I’m honest, I’m feeling a little glum this morning because I sense that the written word is dead. Is there any room in the world for an old dinosaur like me putting his life into words? I’m lacking inspiration. I feel like I should be doing something more meaningful with my time.

Who really wants to read about my Monday when you can go and watch a video of a dog’s arse wearing a pair of sunglasses?