I just gotta tell somebody about my latest problem as a writer type person, so I hope you folks will bear with me while I ramble on for a few minutes.

I guess we all have times when we suffer from 'writer's block'. These are times when we sit down to write and absolutely nothing comes to mind. We can't think of anything funny, nothing sad or anything at all that might cause our fingers to start punching at keys on the keyboard. Well, I am going through a period of time that is just like that, but is made wose by the fact that I can't seem to think of anything but "Once Upon A Time" each time I sit down at the keyboard.

What's the matter with me? I've written hundreds of stories that didn't begin with "Once Upon A Time". Now, I can't think of anything BUT "Once Upon A Time". All morning long, there's been this idea for a story tugging at the back of my mind. It's a story about a date I once had who talked me into crawling out on a shaky old fire escape in return for some kissin' and stuff.

With all the sordid details firmly implanted in my head, I sit down in front of the computer and my mind goes blank. All I can think of is "Once Upon A Time." Whoever heard of a story about kissin' on a fire escape beginning with "Once Upon A Time"? I begin with "My apartment building had a fire escape............" I stop and look at what I have written, hit the <--- key and erase it. I try again. "Once upon a time, there was this fire escape outside my apartment building." Arrrrgggghh! I've done it again.

I spent another hour trying to get beyond the "Once Upon A Time" barrier and finally gave up. Earlier this evening, I tried again. This time, I decided to 'fool' this pathetic excuse for a mind of mine. I began at the end of the story. "When the shaky old fire escape began to creak and groan, I lost interest in kissin' and crawled back through the window. This made my date so mad, she climbed down the fire escape and went home."

I stopped and studied what I had written. Somehow it didn't look right. I started typing again. "Once upon a time" I typed. "I lived in an apartment building." I never did finish the story, but at least my headache has gone away. Maybe tomorrow I'll try again. Maybe I'll tell about the time I used a BB gun to shoot an apple off my litle sister's head.

My little sister wasn't very bright, as you might have gathered . She was pretty good at making up stories though. When her classmates asked why she had this dent in the middle of her forehead, she told 'em it was because she was a princess from India and the dent was where she usually wore her diamond. Kids will believe anything when they are only nine years old.

And that's the truth.......just like it happened "Once Upon A Time".