I just finished the first draft of the next youth novel yesterday and today I begin the first rewrite before offering the manuscript to my agent, Jennifer.
But I had to take notice of two events that unfolded yesterday and that, I think, have something in common.
One is the suspension of a football coach. The other is a political "gaffe" by one of Mitt Romney's top aides.
Sean Peyton was suspended from the NFL for a year because his team paid its defensive players a bounty for injuring members of opposing teams.
Eric Fehrnstrom, in a television interview, compared retooling the Romney campaign for the November election to changing the picture on an Etch-A-Sketch.
What do these two things have in common?
They are the truth about two very public endeavors but a truth that is seldom admitted.
What I find particularly humorous is the fact that so many people -- other political candidates on the one hand and football fans on the other -- behave like these are shocking revelations.
Gee whiz, the fans seem to say, we thought all those football players spent so much time in the weight room so they could harmlessly shove opponents this way or that. You mean they need the muscles so they can crush bones and tear cartilage?
Or,
My goodness, our campaign brings the same message from January through December. Shame on those guys for thinking that after the primary, they need to appeal to a broader audience.
If you have had one of these responses to the two news items, perhaps it is time to remove your head from that dark, damp, odiferous place where you've had it shoved.