"To be or not to be," he blogged.

       I'm beginning to wonder if the blogging life is for me.

       For one thing, you'll notice I've had to put my first name in the masthead. A woman from Maine, I think, has had "The Daily Bailey" as a title since April, 2009, and she'll get all the hits because she's prettier than I am.

       For another, I'm constantly blogging in my mind. The notebook I used to carry around in case I had an idea for a class, or a commercial, is now filled with notes for this blog.

       Right now I'm in a Starbucks in Santa Monica and instead of reading The New York Times, I'm writing a blog and getting maple oat scone crumbs on everything. I sprained my ankle last night looking at an art construction on my friend Arnold's lawn, so I should be home with my leg elevated, but I'm here blogging.

     My first real mentor in  advertising (and life) was Tom Murray. He used to tell about people who would come to him and say they couldn't decide whether to be  copywriters or art directors. Tom would answer fiercely. "Become an art director! Writers know they have to write."

       I think that's true and an important career lesson. I'm not happy on a day when I haven't written something, and blogging helps.

       In advertising and marketing, you learn to condense, simplify, shorten, and eliminate, and I might be over-trained. If I had to write my autobiography, it would probably turn out to be no longer than six paragraphs and end in a preposition. The history of Western civilization? Give me 30 seconds.

       As you can see, blogging can be more leisurely, and they say stretching is good for you. I tell myself  that I'm writing these blogs to encourage my students when the next quarter begins, but the truth is, writing is fun. I suggest you get a thick notebook and write your own blog.

       Soon I'll start putting ads to critique on here and I won't even have time for the scone.