It started with an old MacBook Air that’s on life-support. No storage space, having to delete photos and podcasts just to open iTunes or use a browser, needing it plugged in all the time. I just wasn’t writing anymore. So I bought a new Air.
Then I realized the problem wasn’t just the computer. I’m just so tired, working full time as a copywriter for a credit union in the midst of the COVID-19 financial landscape and with a six year old daughter doing Distance Learning, which means I’m also a full time volunteer classroom aide.
Thus my downfall. My downtime is late at night, when my wife and daughter are asleep. I read (David Sedaris’ Calypso, at the moment, so this might be his fault) and I drink amber things.
But last night I started to write about creeks in summer, prompted by a short, Social-Distancing-friendly hike we took last weekend at the Putah Creek Preserve near Davis, California. It reminded me of home and made me feel very profound and not all full of it (just partially full).
That translated into tonight’s decision to jump into the WordPress universe, only to realize it was a lot more complex than I thought. As 1 AM ticked near, I needed to come up with a domain name. “Montana to Sacramento”? “An Introvert’s Guide To Parenting”?
To hell with it. “The 1 AM Domain” it is. Literally. The Domain selected at 1 AM. Which conveys what?
I think it’s a natural successor to the old blog I used to write on Blogger: “Random Thoughts, Organized Chaotically.” Same lack of commitment to a single topic, but with an edited word count to give an illusion of streamlined purpose.
So basically, it’s an indulgence, a chance to play around with something while pretending to create, an experiment. And maybe a chance to motivate myself to keep writing even in the midst of a pandemic. Because we all need something out of the churn; we all need a moment to take a breath at 1 AM and realize that we’ve finished another day, a new day is just starting, and we’d better get some sleep.
Writing At 1 AM 