The First Wednesday of 2008, Or, I Finally Give In To Ed's Gentle Nudges And He Promises Me Coffee In Return
By Nicole Freire

Oh, that Ed. He is a very patient man. He has asked me time and again and finally I have agreed to show up every Wednesday and do my little writing thing. And I guess this is it.

You'd think I would have done this earlier, no? I write every once in a while, a movie review here, a palm tree count there. But this year, for the first time EVER, I have made two New Year's resolutions. And I'm publicly announcing them right here, so I can't back out. The first is to actually show up every Wednesday, just like I promised Ed. And the second is to stop picking at my chapped lips. But that's a whole other column.

Nicole & Kate Wentzel

And I write them all the time, these columns. Really, all the time. But in my head. And my poor brain, it is darn tired of the endless yammering I produce, all unedited and wordy and without an audience. This constant interior monologue is wearing me out. Which sounds like perfect blog fodder, I think, except that I can't see my way to putting it all out there just yet.

But a weekly gig? That I can do.

(Also, I've been promised coffee.)

I can't promise what this space will look like or sound like, week to week. (Not that I'm trying to be coy, that would take too much effort on my part and frankly, I'm still recovering from watching the fourth season of "The Wire" in all it's condensed glory, all in two freaking days. It was like eating an entire box of See's chocolate, all at once, and it was SO GOOD.) But I'll show up if you do.

Nicole Freire is a freelance writer who lives in Santa Barbara.