There's a writers' guru named Dan Blank who asks writers to answer, "What do you want to say?"

It's mid-August, and I want to keep these thoughts at bay. I want to hold on to sitting with friends in the shade... smacking my arm after the mosquito's left... The streets are empty. I'm feeling slightly aimless (which is good). But here it is. Here is what I've been doing and believing for the last many years: