Dreams.

One thing I've always been able to do is work while I'm asleep. That's not to say I find empty conference rooms or doze at my desk. Work often feels like a leg of the Bataan Death March, but I've yet to actually slumber during a meeting.

No, what I mean is this.

When I'm in a throes of a project, it's a full-body experience for me. Even when my timesheet accounting ends, my mind continues tinkering. That continues when I roll into bed. It's not unusual for me to wake up with a manifesto written and eight or a dozen print headlines.

I've been doing for this for years and I've learned not to leave a pad by my bed. If the work is good, I'll remember it. If I've dreamed something like "A 3D printer is marshmallow cupcake," it usually falls out of my mind before I wake up.

Last night I dreamed of all sorts of things. No headlines, but a skein of future assignments where my work carries the day. To great acclaim.

I suppose this is a bit like a ballplayer working on his swing or a pitcher throwing endlessly, just honing his mechanics.

I also dream continuations of books I'm reading, blog posts, and chasing leggy blondes into the sea.

I suppose someday all of this, too, might come in handy.