On April 3rd I was listening to The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor on NPR  and he briefly mentioned that it was Herb Caen's birthday. I'll admit that I don't know anything about Herb Caen and I've never read any of his columns. He passed away a year and a half before I moved to San Francisco. Garrison Keillor said, "He started publishing his column "It's News to Me" in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1938, the year after the Golden Gate Bridge opened. He was only 22 years old, and he continued writing 1,000 words a day, six days a week, for almost 60 years — becoming the longest-running columnist in American history."

It’s the “1,000 words a day, six days a week, for almost 60 years” that really caught my attention.  That’s roughly 312,000 words a year and more than 18.7 million by the time he wrote his last column.

When I worked for TechTV/G4, I’m guesstimating that I written around 400,000 words, maybe 500,000.  That took me five years and when my days at TechTV/G4 came to an end, I was tired.  I felt like I’d written everything I’d ever wanted to say and then some.  I had no more words.  

Focusing on the video format with InDigital rejuvenated me for a while, but even then I started getting bored.  Once digital cameras hit the 5MP mark, everything beyond felt like more megapixels purely for the sake of having more and not to take better pictures.  All digital media players and cell phones were the same in my eyes.  I was burnt out on technology.

When I heard about Herb Caen, I started wondering where my words went.  Where did he get his inspiration day in and day out?  Had I really run out of things to say?  My friends and family would say, “impossible”.  And perhaps they’re right.

The other day, while shopping at Fry’s, three different people asked me if a hard drive was a good buy.  Even my sister began wondering if I worked there.  At that moment I started to miss it, throwing my opinion out there.  Even when viewers and readers disagreed with me, I liked it because it meant they were as passionate about it as I was.  I don’t know if I have 18 million words in me, whether it in print, online, or in video, but I’m sure I have several million more.  Perhaps I just needed some time away to really appreciate it…

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