While I was on Blogspot, I decided to test to see what counts as a view. From my own very unscientific
tests, it would appear that just looking at a post doesn’t count as a view, but clicking on it does. This isn’t
true on youtube, but blogspot doesn’t work like that apparently. In light of this, I’m seeing how long I need
to make a post before it triggers the “read more” feature of blogspot. I don’t think it will guarantee an
accurate view count, but at least I might see a number next to the little eye symbol when I look at my
blogspot page.
So today we’ll talk about notebooks. The kind with paper and a form of binding, not the electronics.
Frankly, depending on your level of wealth and access to electricity, it’s perfectly possible to go through
life without ever needing to write with pen and paper. We can talk about the benefits of teaching children
to write manually all we want, the truth is that only certain people will ever really need that skill.
That said, I love writing with a pen or a pencil on a sheet of paper. This didn’t use to be the case. When
I was younger I couldn’t write anything even slightly legible no matter how hard I tried. I have fine motor
control issues because of autism, and it took years of OT to help me learn how to write.
It wasn’t until I reached third grade that I learned how to write legibly. Maybe it was practice, but what I
think happened was that I learned cursive. I don’t think cursive should be a mandatory part of the
curriculum, but I do think that it helped me in a way print hadn’t up until then. For one thing, it looked so
pretty, for another the strokes involved in cursive are a lot easier than those involved in printing, though
printing is much easier to read. To be honest, I hope that future special ed teachers are taught cursive
and encouraged to teach it to students who have trouble writing like I did.
I didn’t write much in class after middle school though. If I’m able to write slowly and take brakes, my
writings fairly good, but scribbling down notes is a terrible idea, since most of the time it’s an illegible
mess, and god help you if you have me try to write an essay for a test by hand. When I’m on my own, I
write a lot. Mostly to fill up the notebooks I accumulate without really thinking about it. Notebook and pen
collecting is my nerd hobby. I love finding different writing utensils and seeing how they write, and how I
can work to make what I write look better. My absolute favorite kind of pen is a fountain pen, they look so
cool and are a blast to write with. They do have one major downside though, the ink in them dries out
even if you aren’t using them. Ballpoints don’t have that problem, and you can get a good one for much
cheaper than a cheap fountain pen. I tend to stick to black pens or pens with a darker color because I
feel that it’s more professional, and it’s also a lot easier to see what you’ve written on white paper.
While I love notebooks, I tend to avoid planners. I don’t usually write down what I plan on doing, since
whether or not I write down goals I almost never complete them. Unfortunately, if you don’t use a planner,
you have to wait at least six years before you can use it next. The exception to this is techo planners,
since their mostly blank and you can use them as standard notebook paper instead of just planning the
goals you never complete.
I buy notebooks from all over the place, from the small notebooks from daiso, to the expensive leather
bound one my aunt got me as a birthday present.
A few words of advice to people looking to purchase notebooks. First off, don’t by moleskine, or
paperless, or any other big brand notebooks. You can find knockoffs for much cheaper at
half price books, or a similar store. I don’t know if this applies to all goodwill's, but my local goodwill has
had some good picks in the past, and It’s not a bad place to go for back to school supplies if you don’t
need a specific brand. The best places to look for notebooks are bookstores, just be warned that not
every book store carries notebooks. Another excellent place to look is at local crafts fairs, where
sometimes people will sell their own bound notebooks. If you want cheap, look for a daiso near you,
if not amazon isn’t a bad choice.
I mostly buy pens on amazon, since pen quality is mostly an engineering issue and isn’t affected by
craftsmanship in any meaningful way. My favorite pen brand is pilot, for both their fountain pens and
cheap office pen selections. I’m also quite fond of platinum fountain pens, if you want to get started
using fountain pens their the brand I recommend the most. Zebra makes an excellent selection of gel
pens and brush pens, but I also love tombow. I was averse to pentel, but last christmas my mom gave
me a brush pen from them that has bristles like a real paint brush, so I’m beginning to warm up to them.
What I love most about writing is the feeling that I’m creating something that’s just for me, that I can
enjoy. I love opening a notebook and seeing all of the empty pages waiting to be filled with my thoughts,
fears, and stories. I don’t stick to a topic for long though. My mind gets bored, and then I need to move
to something else. Most of what I write is about myself, what I think about what goes on in my life,
regardless of how small it really is. I don’t usually write to be artistic, I write to be precise, and to try and
show what’s going on inside of my head, and to make a record for whoever winds up reading about my
life when I die. I like to think of my writing as my legacy to the world, a la Emily Dickonson. Unlike Emily,
I hope to gain some notoriety while I’m still alive.
I’m a writer, and I hope that someday I can post more of what I’ve written in notebooks or put in
various word documents for the world, or whoever cares, online. I don’t know if anyone will be affected
by it, since I can’t read minds even though I pretend that I can. I do know that it affects me everyday,
and if someone else will feel better about their lives after reading this, that’s wonderful. If it doesn’t, than
so be it.