Generating Ideas

I have a friend who was very hesitant about starting her own blog. She figured she didn't have the time or the patience or the creativity. But once I explained that 1. you don't have to blog every second of every day (some of my posts are months apart!) and 2. it's great for a portfolio and keeping track of your progress over time... it started to seem a little more do-able.
Blogs can be sort of intimidating. An immediate thought may be 'what am I going to write about?', which gives you the impression that you actually have nothing to write about and, ultimately, that your blog will be about nothing. Everyone will despise you and decide you really just aren't worth anyone's time after all. It can get very depressing.
But, really, lots of interesting things are about nothing. Seinfeld, for one; a huge hit tv show in the 90's that was described exactly as, 'a show about nothing'. Millions of dollars later, still, no one can really describe what it was about.
Also, take yourself into consideration. People do all sorts of pointless things. I, for one, am an established and excellent Procrastinator. I love doing pointless things. One of my favorite pass-times; it keeps me from doing things that I really should be doing, which, ultimately, keeps me from really accomplishing anything. Which is exactly why I am so successful as a writer. Or, y'know, will be... eventually.
So, how do you figure out what you're going to do? I like to think that you already know what you're going to do. Its that feeling of inspiration you get sometimes where a funny exclamation point goes off over your head. That excitement you feel when you've seen something you like. Everybody gets this, probably more often than they even realize. A lot of times, it just takes you learning how to pull it out of your head and put it on paper.
 The method I use to generate ideas is one I like to call the 'sponge' method. It goes like this:

• Research: Everything you can get your hands on about your subject. Books, magazines, the ever-present Internet. Fill your brain with informative goo.
• Distract yourself: Go do something else. Watch a movie. Play a game. Go out and get some air. Do something that, preferably, does not involve your subject matter. This way, you are letting the information stew around in the back of your mind. 
• Write it down: Write everything down that comes to mind. Keep a Word or Notepad document open on your computer. Maybe keep a little notebook handy. A small marker board on your refrigerator or above your desk. Or a note app on your phone. Or all of the above. Ideas come at the darnedest time so WRITE THEM DOWN as they do, or they disappear.

Below are a few helpful links to get the brain juices going:
Creative Idea Generator
Quick Story Idea Generator
Idea Generator Tool
Wordoid 
Creativity for Life