My wife is a K-8 music teacher at a private school. She will come home with the these insane exchanges between herself and the students that make me laugh my ass off. After she's done, I'll usually whip out the laptop and say, "Now, can you repeat all that?"

Tim, that's spoken like a true writer!

I use public transport to get to work, but for a completely different reason.

I find the bus is one of the few places I can write completely distraction free.

I bang on my head phones, crack open my note book and smash through the pages, cocooned in my own world.

Also, most people on my bus don’t speak; they either read news papers or send texts.

So, travelling via public transport is huge part of my writing. Just not in the same way.

@Sean: That's really interesting. Might file that as another way to write. It reminds me of a question I asked once: "Do you listen to music when you write or do you need silence?" It was an interesting split of responses. Perhaps it's time to ask that question again. Until then, keep riding that bus (and writing)!

Hey, Dan Christensen is a friend of mine! A great guy. And, as it happens, a screenwriter (among many things). And yes, he loves telling stories, so it's no coincidence you appreciate his blog. I just let him know about this. Thanks!

Iban and Dan are BOTH friends of mine-- and both are screenwriters and creative taletellers extraordinaire. Frankly, Dan should be the subject of a documentary. Thank you for the props. And you're absolutely right-- you would love Portland, and buses are minilabs for creativity and stories. I rode them for years and always had my notebook, and, even better, my digital recorder. Genius material every day.

@Scott: I recall you asking that question. I'm sure I wrote something about listening to trance/classical music and the various reasons why. Could be worth asking again.

@iban and Siduri: Well, give a big shout-out to both Dan and Iban, and tell them to keep telling stories. Makes the world a better place.

@Sean: I think you're right. Look for that in the next couple of days.