I think that one reason I haven't been able to write anything lately is that I'm grappling with a large problem, and my mind has been circling around it for more than a week. (Specifically, it's the problem of social construction theory, which in practice seems to intersect with "relativism" both in morals and in knowledge. One thing that makes it hard for me to concentrate is that I have both the Science Wars and the Gay Studies attacks on social construction on my mind. They're connected, of course, but together they make a big problem to sort through.) Combined with a long hard week at work, due to numerous of my coworkers off sick, the dread I feel at sitting down to write anything substantial has been greater than I can overcome. But part of it, I've begun to realize, is that I'm not yet ready to grapple with the issues I have in mind. So for now I'll just let them simmer, or marinade, or compost, or whatever they do in my mind.
But that's okay, it will pass, as it always does. Maybe writing about it here will help break the logjam. There was a time when I'd have worried about being blocked, or feared that I was depressed. I don't think so now. I wish I were more productive, but when I consider the fact of the 500 posts I've put on this weblog over the past couple of years, I see I'm more productive than I sometimes think. It'll be okay.
(image credit --this guy makes some remarkable images, and his work deserves your attention)