I can't do this

Dear all,

Well I mean to say, wow. Look at you all, blogging away like there's no tomorrow. How very proud of you I am. I'm aware that this challenge was open to all, and much as I would love to accept, I really can't. That's not to say I'm resigning from contributing, far from it. I would love to contribute far more than I already do and have several ideas.

What I lack, is time. I moved on to a daily paper five months ago. While I still lived an hour away from work in the car, this was problematic in itself. Last week I moved house and now seem to be working an insane amount of nights, though I do now have internet after 10 days without.

Currently, my inspiration is job-related and I can't say anything because I'm covering a murder trial and have to be careful not to write anything, anywhere, that would create a substantial risk of serious prejudice to that trial, as defined by the Contempt of Court Act. That's not to say that I would, either here or in print, but I think I'll feel more relaxed generally, if I know there's nothing written outside of work that's going to leave me with cause for concern by its mere existence.

But mostly, my problem is that because I write for a living, it's not something I'm hugely fond of doing as a leisure activity. After making words line up in a coherent, and hopefully interesting, order all day, it's not really what I like to do with my free time. And I find that while I plan blog posts in my head during the day, I get home and they've drifted out of my brain and I can never quite recapture the same elegant turns of phrase I had so carefully thought up earlier.

So I'm afraid I shall have to decline the challenge, Thanks, but no thanks. I shall certainly try and contribute more in future, but I'm wary of setting any yardstick because my job is rather unpredictable and I would almost inevitably fail to meet it. Which would make me sad and demoralised. And no one wants that.

And to anyone who may accuse me of wussing out, I will extend a middle digit in their general direction with this imperative attached: "Swivel."

I have a whole day of shorthand to transcribe. I thank you.