This week’s writing assignments have me researching ancient Egyptian art and history, the New York stand-up comedy scene, bridal industry trends, a fancy garden party benefit for a charity that helps the developmentally disabled, and much more.

Sometimes I find myself wishing I had a 9-5 communications gig with a big company in the Loop — downtown Chicago is such a magical place, and at this point, employer-supplied health insurance would also be magical. But I know myself well enough to know I’d get bored writing the same stuff in the same style about the same people again and again.

I like the random element of freelancing. I like making phone calls to people in a wide range of professions, across thousands of miles, and getting to know them and their work. I like being prompted to learn more about something that otherwise may not have bleeped across my radar.

And now, to add even more variety to my writing day, I’m going to polish off another press release, and tackle my new gig writing greeting cards. I wonder how many versions of “Happy Birthday To My Wife” I can come up with in a half hour?