I’m always looking for blog fodder, i.e., potential topics for blog posts. With that in mind, I take notes about, um, interesting things I see when I’m out and about.

I try to do this discreetly. Yes, I do get funny looks sometimes. And If anyone asks, I’ll say I’m drafting a blog post or making a grocery list. In other words, I’ll give the inquisitive individual some explanation that won’t get me insulted or assaulted.

Fortunately, I don’t personally know the people whose pontifications, actions, or descriptions end up in my notes. That makes it easier to not use any names when recording my observations. If I lose the notebook, I don’t have to worry about anyone figuring out who these people are.

Just for the record, I never make notes about anyone that I actually know well: friends, family members, or coworkers. It isn’t that they’re not interesting; it’s just something I don’t do. If they say or do something noteworthy, believe me, I will remember it.

For example, way back in the Late Jurassic Period, my best friend wore a leopard-print slip to her logic class (yes, a few classmates caught on that it wasn’t a fancy skirt, and yes, she wore another slip under it).

Obviously, that event was burned into my memory. Blog fodder, thirty-plus years later.