“I really have nothing to say, but I want to say it all the time.”

The Movie: 8½, 1963 (Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Federico Fellini, and Brunello Rondi, screenwriters; Federico Fellini, dir.)
Who says it: Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a film director
The context: Guido mourns his inability to make the film he wants to make.
How to use it: To admit you have the artistic temperament, but not the talent.

How hard could it be to post something to the blog every day? Usually, it's not hard at all. Usually, I have plenty to say.

I'm not sure why it was so hard for me to decide on a quotation this morning; I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time thinking of anything insightful to say. Some days are just like that.

Maybe it's spring fever, or maybe I'm just distracted by the demands of three wildly different projects. I have a comfortable amount of work at the moment, and I generally like having very different things to do. This week, though, I'm having a hard time making the switch from researching antebellum Southern speech patterns (one project) to thinking about how to get speakers for a daylong program on micropayments in developing countries (another project).

But it's probably because I'm trying to read an Alain Robbe-Grillet novel for yet another client, and le nouveau roman has deconstructed my entire brain. But that'll be Friday's post.

Oh, and today's Onion AV Club has a "Reader's Digest" version of Elvis Costello's album liner notes that should dispel doubts anyone might have about the man's genius. He might not be the theologian Bruce Springsteen is, but who is?