NaNoWriMo: Help Wanted

Help me fight the dreaded blank screen

I need your help with NaNoWriMo this year. In case you didn’t know (because you’re not a nerdy writer) NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month which is in November. It’s a time for celebrating one of the most beloved forms of writing in America and also a time of self-flagellation. Because hidden behind the guise of frivolity is the dark underbelly of NaNoWriMo where some crazy writers attempt to write at least 1,000 words a day, with the hopes that at the end of the month they’ll have enough material for a novel. I’ve always thought that seemed damn near impossible and I laughed and pointed at my friends who attempted the month-long challenge. Meanwhile, for several years during and after graduate school I dubbed November WriPoEvDay or Write a Poem Every Day and took a crack at my own personal torture. April is actually National Poetry Month, but I think poems are better suited to the long nights of November. I did some soul searching and I came to the conclusion that I have no desire to write a novel but I also contain within me the equal lack of desire to write poems. Instead I’d like to write small bits of nonfiction — 150 words per day. And this is where you come in. I know that left to my own whims I’ll write 150 words about sex or my father, those are my drum beats. But I’d like to open the floor to other topics, so here’s what I propose: I need thirty ideas (or specific subject matter) and I promise that if you suggest one, I’ll post your suggestion and what I wrote in a blog post here. I can’t promise to get them all up during the month (or that you’ll like it) but any suggestions will get their appropriate face time. So, whatdaya say? What should I write nonfiction about, folks? My words are in your hands.