Today, like most Tuesdays and Thursdays, my alarm goes off at 5:15 am. As I roll over to shut off the radio, my brain clicks into gear, and I remember that it’s my day to blog.

I’m an early-bird and writing my post first thing in the morning ensures that 1) it gets done, 2) I actually have some fresh brain power/energy to devote to it, and 3) I have a finite amount of time I can spend writing and editing (usually an hour) before I get ready for work; otherwise, I would obsess about word choice and grammar and fritter hours away on one single post.

I spend the next 10 minutes in bed intermittently stretching and mentally sketching out the post in my head. Usually, I’ll have gone to bed with a kernel of an idea, some news story that caught my attention in the preceding days or a personal experience to share. In that early morning planning/stretching time, I’ll come up with a few lines of text, maybe even the opening. When I roll out of bed and sit in front of my computer, the blog post practically writes itself.

This morning, I have a whole bunch of idea kernels, but nothing’s popped.

Shall I write about the fact that it’s already August, and I have yet to come up with my annual Summer of Fun list; my failure to proactively plan fun activities will no doubt lead to my lamenting, “Where did the summer go?” when September rolls around.

How about the car salesman from India whose interesting life story we got to know over the past two weekends while car shopping. I could include reflections about how some people so easily reach out and connect with perfect strangers, while I’m the type who sees time with strangers (on airplanes, waiting in lines) as an opportunity to retreat and spend quality time with myself.

Or, about The Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira who wrote about his initial giddiness when people were buzzing about his story after it was featured on the popular blog Gawker. Until Shapira realized that his hours and hours of investigative reporting had been essentially ripped off by a blogger who spent 30 minutes lifting and repackaging the text of the original article (hmmm … could lead to an interesting riff on blog ethics …).

Or, the driving contract we drafted over the weekend for our new teen driver. Or, how healthcare legislation is stalling (kudos to Cindy H. for keeping abreast of this debate in her blog).

You know, while I could write a blog post about any of these topics, no one really excites me this morning. I resist the temptation to look at the clock and grow anxious about the passing time. I let my mind go blank, hoping that the Goddess of Blogs will inspire me.

My eyes open: I know – I’ll write about the process of wrting a blog. OK, quick – what’s the title going to be? The Making Of A Blog Post. Short, sweet, and answers the questions people periodically ask, “How do you come up with your ideas?” and “When do you find time to write?”

I look at the neon numbers by my bedside. It’s 5:35 am. Time to roll out of bed and get cracking!