And I was so tempted to call this “My Second Ever Blog Post”.
So, where do bright ideas come from and are they always so bright? I had one back in mid-2004 as I was riding my little blue scooter home from the train station after work, through the greener-than-verdant rice paddies to my home in a perfectly idyllic Japanese valley.
Riding little blue scooters though Japanese rice paddies is a perfect setting for the stimulation of bright ideas and I thoroughly recommend it.
Anyway, there I was, as happy as anything, tootling along the narrow path where the wild boar ran free to scare the living daylights out of me and the frogs croaked happily (millions of them), when suddenly it hit me. A bright idea of gargantuan, life-changing dimensions.
Now… before I explain further, I must just add that tootling along said path through before-said rice paddies approaching before-that-said valley always made me feel I was going on holiday. I wasn’t. I was just going home. But every day, the little blue scooter journey filled me with wonderful and happy thoughts… and bright ideas. So that’s where a lot of my bright ideas came from.
But this one wasn’t just bright. It was so dazzling that I nearly ended up in a rice paddy as it obscured the sharp bend in the track ahead of me.
And here it is… was…
The whole grand, couldn’t-ever-fail-not-ever-not-in-a-million-years design appeared before me in a quarter of a split second. Everything was worked out even before I got to that bend, in something like this order:
- Become a millionaire.
- Start a website based on freshly breaking news stories for learners of English.
- Learn how to make a website before I start making one.
- Quit my quite well paying job to do it.
- Retire.
- That bend is getting mighty close – Don’t want to jeopardize the bright idea, do we? Easy does it.
- Trade the little blue scooter in for a Lamborghini.
- Hmmm… Money to buy stuff like food, pay for kids’ education… live, etc?
- Find out what html means.
- Aha! – Pour life savings into it. A fine investment it’ll be.
- Make a new news lesson every day.
- No one else does that.
- Keep the house in the idyllic valley, but buy the valley.
- Call it TeachEasy … dot com.
- What to tell the wife? (quit job… pouring of savings… go on a diet…)
- Aha! Yes… Become a millionaire.
And then I turned left, and with my heartwarming smile-inducing valley in full view ahead and the bright idea filling me with as much adrenalin as the beautiful landscape, I journeyed home to enbrighten the wife with my revelation.
She was cooking in the kitchen. It seemed the most logical place to do that.
Wife: “Had a good day, darling?”
Me: “Have I had a good day” HAVE – I – HAD – A – GOOD – DAY????
Wife: “OK, so what’s today’s idea?”
Me: explained story in full.
Wife: “We’ve run out of milk. Can you go and get some from the store?”
I was unperturbed, nay ecstatic. She didn’t flinch at the life savings part. She must have thought it was another one of those ideas I kept on having.
Back on to the little blue scooter and down the small track where the freshwater crabs walk sideways free, filled with thoughts of Lamborghinis and html and must, must, must not forget the milk.
Are bright ideas always so bright? Well this one varied between blacker-than-coal brightness to full-volume incandescence.
The life savings had a whoppingly huge part to play in this variety and will probably be the subject of My Fourth Ever Blog Post, titled, “What became of the little blue scooter?”
That really was her reply.
Tags: bright ideas, html, life savings, milk, websites
So pleased to see you took the anecdotal route for this post, Sean. What a great story-telling style you have. Swap the blue scooter for Bertie Wooster’s two-seater, and it becomes a story PG Wodehouse would have been proud to write. And a cliff-hanger to keep us on the edge of our seats. Perfect!
Thank you Ken for your heartening feedback re my writing style. I will now head off to the bookstore to buy some PG Wodehouse… Unfortunately, in a medium-sized blue car through traffic-filled streets devoid of wild boar.
Great story, Sean!
Looking forward to reading the rest of it
Thanks Sue,
My next task is to figure out how to get as beautiful a looking site as your PLN blog (http://the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com/) Some mean html going on there
I love your writing style, this is a really gripping story… guess what… me 2ish….
Well not “to become a millionaire” – mine was
Five years ago:
1. I want to go Film School in Ludwigsburg
2. I don’t have enough money to pay for school and life.
3. I don’t have contacts or experience.
4. The only way to get experience is through experience.
5. I stop watching television or doing any misc. activities which take up time so that I have time to write.
6. I write a 114pg screenplay, have interviews with Directors who love, love my work but don’t buy it. I write several shorts.
7. I get work on a German animation film changing script to English.
8. I don’t have enough money for Film School.
Three Years ago.
9. I want to go to Film School.
10. I don’t have enough money to pay for school and life.
11. I go on a pilgrimage across the north of Spain to figure out how to balance dreams with reality.
12. I realize, incandescently, that if I use what I know –i.e. TEFL.. then I can make enough money to go to Film School.
Two Years ago.
13. I learn how to program. I load up my game and materials, create a shop.
14. It begins to make a little money.
15. I cry when someone buys €25 worth of materials.
16. I don’t have enough money for Film School.
17. I have 10 days off in total (including all weekends).
One year ago.
18. I start a blog
19. I start getting more, paid, writing offers.
20. I have 5 days off in total all year (including weekends).
Today.
21. I don’t have enough money for Film School.
Tomorrow.
22. I will. One day. I’m pretty darn sure of it.
Hey Karenne,
I’m caught between a really cool personalized one like Sue Lyon-Jones’ design, or the delightful one in front of your eyes.
I scoured WordPress for something that did it for me and nothing in my scouring matched “the default WordPress theme based on the famous Kubrick.” It is sheer beauty. I also love the Google front page. That really does it for me.
I did look for a way to change the header to a collection of my heads, to reflect my site being a collection of stuff from my head, but all this php stuff is new to me and then I had to buy some Jaffa cakes.
Anyway…
She who dares, wins.
IMHO, I doubt if there’s anything that can hold you back.
One year from now.
23. You’ll have the money.
Three years from now
24. You’ll graduate with honors and an accolade for brilliance at Ludwigsburg
Five years from now
25. Hollywood and Bollywood execs will be knocking on the door of the Sylvester Drama Academy.
Six years from now.
26. Your PLN will be tweeting snippets of your Oscar acceptance speech
Of course the PLN will have moved on to @J_Roberts, @Eastwood, @Mick O’Rourke, @Mirren and @RickyJervais
Thanks for the lovely comments about the blog, Sean
I’m afraid I can’t take any credit for the design, as I used one of evan Eckard’s freebie templates here:
As Karenne says, there are lots of nice designs out there – will have a look through my bookmarks and tweet a few links.
Karenne:
What Sean said. Plus:
Seven years from now
27. You’ll be arm-twisting Tarantino, Scorsese & Coppola to do scriptwriting Prestos and Pecha Kutcha’s
Sean,
I can’t wait for the next phase of the story and I don’t know if I’d ever trade a blue scooter for a Lamborgini. I like the idea of riding carefree through rice paddies too much!
I still have my crazy dreams, but never to be a millionaire. However, I am quite an idealist like you but it makes you feel alive and continue striving for something more. Like your new blog which I enjoy reading! And if I could pay you millions for your work I would because your lessons are worth every penny! It’s a million dollar idea even if you don’t exactly receive it!
TeachEasy.com, well, I never… but of course that would have attracted only the teachers. Much smarter to go for the whole jungle out there.
Re look: You might think about changing the header, unfortunately loads of good blogs out there use this blue one, viz http://stockpunkt.com. I understand the need for simplicity all too well, I’m the same way. Something with your great b/w photo? Looks great on Twitter!
Sean,
I got to get me a blue scootter! Could be life changing…
Can’t wait for that 4th ever blog post……..
David
PS. I always get my best ideas when going to the store to get milk for you know who.
LOL, thnx Sean!
K
Thank you Shelly for your kind words. The millionaire thought was rudely cast aside very soon after I went online. It has been replaced with the hope that one day soon I might be able to spend more time with my family. That’s a real million dollar idea. May your crazy dreams know no bounds:-)
Hello Anne, Luckily for me, that URL had already gone so I had to think of something else. Am glad.
Working on a new header at the mo.
The 4th ever one might get moved up to the 3rd ever one. The idea I had for that one has fallen by the wayside.
Regarding blue scooters – Suzuki does a nice one.
Ten years time
#62 – Karenne flies the peeps over for a PLN reunion at her billion-dollar Bel Air mansion.
Do you have a 10-year diary? Does Google Calendar go that far ahead
I love that I came across this post when the next part of the story was already posted! Your writing style is incredible Sean. A true talent for story-telling!
Hi Tara
Thank you for your comment and your feedback. Both made me happy