where the ideas come from

so last night i'm telling the wife that i'm starting a new blog, and i tell her that this time it's going to be different, and i'm going to write what i want to write, and sometimes it might be "creative" writing and therefore not what she's used to ... even adult, sometimes.

"well then i guess i'll tell blonde-headed friend not to read it."

blonde-headed friend (henceforth, BHF) has been one of my most faithful readers at my old site. she's the wife's best friend -- they talk 10 times a day -- and she is the "little old lady" whose tastes are most representative of most people ... when i was writing, i'd think "what would BHF think of this?" and whatever answer i got would govern what i wrote.

anyway. i say all this to illustrate that, sometimes, ideas come from places you'd never expect, and sometimes, the idea is harder to explain before it's written.

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for example: this morning, in the shower, i was thinking about a dinner party we'd had the other night. another one of the wife's friends -- let's call her S. -- was talking about how much she loved her macintosh laptop. she asked me if i knew how to "make a movie" on it, and i started showing her some of the cool things the ilife suite could do -- including make a professionally printed book out of iphoto.

she was amazed, and S. asked me if i could help her make a movie of her young son. i said i'd be happy to, in exchange for a home-cooked meal, because S. is quite the cook.

so in the shower this morning, i'm thinking about quitting my job -- i'm always thinking about quitting my job -- and starting a business specializing in editing and compiling movies for rich people. and as the fantasy goes on, an idea pops into my head:

what if one of the rich couples wanted to make a paris-hilton-style video, and asked me for help?

it's rich with comic potential: would i want to be a pornographer? if so, i'd need to buy two cameras. could i be in a room while two people have sex? if so, i think i'd need three cameras ... you see how this kind of idea could be hilariously done.

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you also see how, if i were to write this, it might be shocking to BHF. after all, she, too, was present at the dinner party from which the idea started. and to hear her best friend's husband write about being a pornographer ... well, that might not be what BHF would be expecting to see. and from that, you can see how the wife might not want anyone she knows to be aware that i have this site.

i'm not saying i care about anyone's reaction ... i'm just saying that all this will be interesting.