If you're one of the unfortunate souls who read my column last week, allow me to take a moment to apologize. I read back through it the other day and it appears the entire abomination was typed with my forehead, as I repeatedly slammed my head against the keyboard in frustration; a frustration stemming from my total inability to string together coherent sentences for the length of a column.

Yes, as painful an admission as it may be, I'm still a novice when it comes to this whole column-writing business. And sometimes, particularly when I can't think of anything even remotely interesting to write about, it really shows.

Last week's column, for those who didn't catch it, was a travesty of writing about the Major League Baseball season, and can be best summed up in haiku form:

I hate the Yankees

October baseball, so sad

Can't my Cubs just win?

Not that I haven't written lackluster columns before. I pumped out one or two clunkers for my college newspaper that should've gotten me banned from using the English language. Or at least admitted to an ESL course.

But while bashing myself is both fun and harmless, I actually have an almost respectable reason for dragging us through the pain and memories of a distant past. Maybe even two good reasons.

Firstly, to invite you, dear reader, to submit suggestions to me for potential use in this space. Maybe there's something going on around town that isn't really a news story, but merits some kind of notice. Perhaps there's some worldly issue on which you're just dying to read my thoughtful contemplations (i.e. rants). Or possibly, you're looking for advice on a subject, with the kind of perspective that only a 22-year-old salty dog like myself can provide.

Throw whatever you've got to me at crier@csdsl.net with the subject line "So It Goes" and I'll see what I can do with it. Two caveats: one, I don't write opinion articles on specific subjects I cover as news articles and two, I'm certainly not turning over the reins to anyone else. Input and comments are more than welcome, but once it's in my fertile mind, there's no telling where I'll run with it.

(Note: overly serious subjects would probably make better fodder as news articles. I certainly do not discourage your submission of serious bits of info, but only the slightly ridiculous receives this kind of special treatment.)

The second reason this subject is worth the ink it's printed with is that I couldn't come up with anything better to write about this week. So maybe I only had one valid reason. Shoot me.

Some might say it's in poor taste to admit to things like my own occasional crippling inability to write, especially when the admission is done with neither style, nor grace - unless you count a sheepish grin and shrug of the shoulders.

Oh well, I've never claimed to be a ballet dancer with words. If anything, I'm more akin to an ogre, simply using my brute strength to pound paragraph after paragraph into submission.

Just hopefully not with my forehead anymore.