Ugh, you guys. Mr. BFF got me and Mr. J and JG,FE and possibly Mrs. JG,FE sick. Like, legit sick. I'm pretty concerned about Mr. J and it's been a week but I think I'm on the upswing. Of course, I went to the store to do the shopping (which, seriously, should tell you how sick Mr. J is) and came home shaky and oogy. I've been informed, though, that the shakiness might be because I am under the impression that a Luna bar counts as a meal but still. I feel meh. Meh enough that all I want to do is watching English Premier League football and History Channel documentaries about the Revelations.

 

So what do I do when I'm feeling like this and I can't think of anything cool to write about? Well! Let me tell you.

 

1.      I complain to Mr. BFF, who tells me it's okay to phone it in. Every time. Well, first he asks me when the last time I took a week off was but since I've only written about every other week this summer, that's not really an option. Then we get to “You can't hit it out of the park every time, you know.” Which is legit but I love you, nerdlings. I don't want to write crap for you.

 

2.      I think back on what my secret nerd cabal has been chatting about lately. I've known these dudes for years (one of them drew my comic for me) and I'm totally their token girl nerd, not that I wade in on that stuff very often. They frequently question why I'm still talking to them, and I occasionally wonder that myself, but we're good friends. And we talk about all sorts of stuff but, periodically, they talk about things that I can use. This week, there was a brief chat about how Beast is all creepin' over the time-traveled Jean Grey in Marvel NOW! that was pretty interesting. There's some discussion as to whether or not he's actually creepin' or just sulking over not making his move in the past, which led to a greater discussion about group dynamics. Basically, everyone was in love with Jean Grey because there's always one person in every group that everyone is/was in love with in every social situation. We, in the nerd cabal, are all in love with Mr. Beard, for the record. Or Commander Kneisel. One of those two people, we can't decide. We're fickle like that.

 

I check out the internet. I'm fond of The Mary Sue and io9, but I try not to resort to that very much because, you know, it's totally recycling a lot of the time and I think nerd writers are all always talking about the same things. I also like to pay attention to what that nice Laura Hudson is talking about because she and I agree on things more often than not.

 

I hit up one of the digital archives that kindly lets us poke around. We've got pretty good relationships with a few publishing companies that will let us (okay, me) grab digital content. I have to request things in advance but sometimes there's good stuff backed up so I can dig up something to write about.

As an absolute last resort, I cry until JG,FE finds me a guest writer, which is usually he or Mrs. JG,FE. Usually, at that point, he's just like “Jeez, take a week off and come back when you're fresh.” He's as committed to good content as I am and we like to make sure that things we're having you read don't suck, especially since some of you are devoted nerdlings and we love you.

 

So that's how the magic happens when it's not happening. Next week, I should be right as rain and my brain will be all fizzy-poppy again and I will have fascinating things to tell you. This week, I'm going to eat dinner and go to bed. Hope you're all doing better avoiding this lurgy that's going around and I'll see you next week. | Erin Jameson