2/12 = 1/6

So... 2 months over...

2006 is 2/12's over (or 1/6 if you care to reduce the fraction).

One of the more miserable things about life is working when you're not 100%. I hate working when I've got a cold (eg conjestion, coughing, scratchy throat, etc.). It's one of those borderline things where I'm really not sick enough to stay home, yet it's extra tiring being at work. That's me today. BLEH...

Still going strong in Capoeira. I could say I've been in it for 2 months, and that would be fairly accurate. But, being the geek that I am, I've been keeping an actual tally in my Moleskine. Since starting, I've gone to 27 classes. Being under the weather may put me out of practice for this week, though... DAMMIT!!!

Haven't had the chance to check out Lotus' Turbo Jam DVD yet, but I will...

Purchased the 5 1/4" x 8 1/4" Moleskine squared notebook over the weekend. Couldn't resist. It seemed to be calling my name. I'm going to attempt (again) to "draw" via using a grid to help me cheat. What the heck. My goal: just 30 minutes a day devoted to this. Just 30 minutes. Even if I just draw a few lines or shade one part. If I can devote 30 minutes a day, eventually a picture will emerge...

Purchased "Kingdom Come" and "Marvels" and "V for Vendetta". A while back, I had said I was re-reading my old comic books and getting rid of some of them. Mulysa, you said I could give them to you for your kids. Here's the glitch, though. Any comic books I get rid of will be because I think the writing is absolutely subpar, unrealistic, ridiculous, or just plain stupid. Am I an expert at writing? I don't know. It's all relative I guess, like art. But I do know what I like. One of the very basic fundamentals of good writing is the ability/skill to "show", not "tell". Since comic books and graphic novels are a combination of illustration and text, I would think it would be relatively easy to "show" the action, and alot of the comic books I grew up with do this just fine. It is the writers that blow it. It's as if they're afraid to leave a panel with no dialogue. It's as if they were required to put dialogue in almost every panel, no matter how useless. If an illustration clearly shows Thor, the God of Thunder, throwing his hammer thru a window, is it really necessary to have Thor say something like: "Watch... as I throw my hammer through this window..." UGH!! I am forced to wonder how some of these writers actually made it into the business. I despise when the reader is "dumb-downed" by the writer(s). I like to think that even kids will understand the action without useless dialogue mucking everything up...

Where was I.......? Ah yes. Mulysa, I would never give your kids comic books that are poorly written. That would be a crime...

A slight change to my Moleskine writing. I've gone back to only one Moleskine to record my daily activities AND rants/raves. It's just easier. So, at the bare minimum, I just write daily occurances... but if I go off on a tangent, that's okay too.

Financial Aid checks come out on Thursday this week. Hmmmmm... If I called in sick on Thursday, all of you could watch the riot on the evening news... All these students screaming for their Financial Aid checks... setting fire to buildings... throwing chairs through windows... dragging administrators out of their offices... screaming that they need to buy diapers for their kids or new furniture or food for the table. Hmmmm... If you weren't going to school, wouldn't you be responsible for buying such things as diapers or food or furniture anyway? God forbid you'd use your Financial Aid to purchase books or school supplies... That would be ridiculous...

And so it goes...

So long February 2006...

OF PENCILS AND PENS...

I'm blogging on this topic as a result of part of Lotus' comment to my latest Moleskine blog. Lotus mentions how she bought the entire stock of her favorite gel pens from Office Depot when she learned they were discontinuing the pen. This got me thinking about how my use of writing implements has evolved over the years.

Way back, [when I was just a lad,] I remember writing with pencils, some with erasers, some without. Way back when the paper that we used in school was that cheap shit stuff where erasing actually removed/thinned out the paper. If one erased enough in one spot, one could actually create a hole in the paper. Or maybe it was the quality of the eraser? Or maybe a bit of both. Anyway, I also remember having to get up and go to the community pencil sharpener in the corner of the classroom. The ole' wooden pencil went to the wayside as soon as I discovered the mechanical pencil. I used it for years, especially when I was heavily into sketching/drawing. I own two mechanical pencils at the moment, but hardly ever use them. For the most part, I have converted over to pens.

Erasable pens... A novel idea and I think they still exist, but I never did like the flow. Too "bumpy" for me. On a quick tangent, I also do not like white-out. I have a lot of trouble with brushing the correct amount of white-out onto an error, especially if the error is small. Then, what I'm stuck with is a larger than needed blob of white-out on my document. The kind where my pen will just dig a trench as opposed to writing smoothly over it.

It's so hard to find a good writing pen. I've tried many over the years. [Sorry Lotus... for some reason, I just don't like the way a gel pen feels. Truth be told, though, I think it was one of your pens you'd left at Mulysa's place that I liked. It was a gel pen, but it smeared in my Moleskine.] What annoys me is an inconsistency in certain pens. In the past, I have come across pens that really feel good when I'm writing. But when I try another pen of the same brand and make, the feel is not as good. [This inconsistency does not make sense to me. If a particular pen writes really well, shouldn't another pen of the exact brand and type write just as well?] This went on for many a year. Me just trying to find that perfect pen... the perfect brand and make that would consistently provide a good writing experience. I'm sure there are those who could care less what a pen "feels" like. But I can't stand it when a black pen is really a dark shade of gray. I hate it when I have to press extra hard to get a pen to write. I hate it when a pen has that "rough" feeling as I'm writing. No... I want the ink to flow smoothly, almost effortlessly...

So what do I currently use? What have I found?

One of my current Moleskines is the sketchbook. Therefore, the paper is thicker and the texture is different. For this, I really like the feel of the Pilot "Precise V5 Rolling Ball (Extra Fine)" Pen. Really smooth in my opinion. Unfortunately, this is the only time I will use this pen. It "bleeds" thru to the other side when I've tried using it on regular paper (eg the Moleskine Ruled Notebook). And it doesn't feel quite right on regular paper.

The other pen I'm hooked on is the Papermate "DynaGrip" pen. It is a ball-point. Out of all the many pens I've tried, I have yet to be let down by this one. I remember the first time I used it: When HotFudge and I were doing some paperwork at the sales office for our current home, it was this pen I used. [In fact, I swiped it from the office.] I've used the pen ever since. So far, this pen has not let me down. It is this brand of pen I brought to Spain.

I usually write in black or blue. As a technicality, I've heard that blue is good for signing documents. At least you (or whoever else might look at it) will be able to tell it's an original signature. Medium is what I usually use, but I find fine works better on NCR type paper. In conjunction with the pen, however, is my need for a "soft" surface. When I say "soft", I mean I don't like writing on one sheet of paper on a desk. I want several sheets below my sheet. No pen has ever felt right to me while I was writing with no "cushion" of papers underneath.

I am very monogamous when it comes to pens. I know lots of people who have tons of pens at home or in their office, and they wouldn't care about losing a pen. They'll just grab another pen regardless of brand or type. Not I. I make a special effort not to lose my pen(s). For me, there is something quite satisfying about using a pen to the very last drop. During my trip to Spain, I did so much writing that I could actually see the ink in my pen going down on a daily basis.

I have several boxes (12 pens each) at home that I've bought at Office Depot. Hopefully pens don't have a shelf-life. It'll take me awhile to use all of them, but, like Lotus, I too am fearful they may someday discontinue this particular pen. There is nothing more frustrating than the discontinuation of a product you've come to love. Everytime I pass an Office Depot (or Staples), I wonder if I should purchase another pack... just in case...

MOLESKINE: EVOLUTION...

Part the Second

I know...

I know I've already written about Moleskines, but don't worry. I'll try not to be repetitive. You see, I've used the Moleskine for over one year now, and so feel compelled to expand on how my use of these little gems has evolved. And besides, I'm sure not everyone uses Moleskines in the same way...

First, I've restricted my usage to the 3.5" x 5.5" Moleskine. It is the most compact, and therefore, the easiest to carry around. There are larger ones out there. I don't think I'll ever try these. I just don't want to carry more than I have to. The very first Moleskines I bought were kind of an "oops". I bought the sketchbooks (I think 4 of them) because they were the only ones I saw. As you may assume, the paper in the sketchbooks is more for drawing and art as opposed to writing. Nonetheless, I have since filled two of these sketchbooks with writing. I attempted a few sketches, but... ICK... It was horrible... I do not believe I will ever draw or sketch again...

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The Grid
There is a Moleskine where the paper has a grid: the Squared Notebook. I experimented with this notebook by trying to turn it into a sketch book. But I cheated. For example, I wanted to "draw" a picture of my old Sentra. So, I took a picture of it, downloaded the picture to my computer, then superimposed a grid onto the picture, thus, making it easier for me to draw the car. As much as I enjoyed doing this, it still took a lot of time and required me to be at a computer. I did a few of these drawings and liked how they came out, but the effort and time involved... Ah well... Perhaps I'll give it a shot again someday, but for now, I cannot allocate any time to such endeavors. A pity...

I did find another use for the Squared Notebook. I have turned it into my checkbook register. And I like it much better than the pre-printed registers that come with personal checks.

The Plain
There is the Plain Notebook. Just a bunch of blank pages. I have several of these but haven't used them yet.

The Ruled
I believe this is my favorite Moleskine: the Ruled Notebook. This one has the lines that I'm so used to when I'm writing. Some might argue that the lines are "restrictive". Perhaps, but maybe I need those restrictions. I like the lines. Without lines, my writing tends to go all over the place. My penmanship is bad enough as it is. I hate when I've written something down and then have trouble reading it later. The lines are good for me. At least I can have my writing on straight lines. [I WILL make use of the Plain Notebooks, but I suspect I will be sticking with the Ruled Notebook once I've used all the Plains.]

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Aside from thoughts and observations, I wanted to be able to refer to something where I'd written just daily activities (eg work, movies seen, errands ran, etc). I remember TofU showing me a little pocket calender over the Holidays of 2004. I liked the idea and bought one for the 2005 year. Unfortunately, its usage fell to the wayside as I found it sometimes too small to accomodate my daily activities, especially if it was a busy day. Then, I ran across Moleskine's version of the daily diary. I tried it out, but found it just a tad thicker (and heavier) than I prefer. Also, it seemed a gross waste of space. Each page was dedicated to a day of the year. A lot of the time, I didn't need all that space. On average, perhaps 3-6 lines. Thus, there was a lot of unused space per page. So... the Moleskine Daily Diary also went by the wayside.

My quandry, then: the little pocket calender did not have enough space, and the daily diary had too much space.

Now it is 2006. How has my Moleskine usage evolved?

I am actively using 3 separate Moleskines.

Moleskine #1: For daily events only. No deep thoughts, no ScregMan soapbox ravings, no moments of clarity... just daily events (eg went to work..., saw this movie... ate here... went shopping... etc). Even if I had a boring, uneventful day, I must write something for every day of the year. And at least I'm not restricted and there is no page space wasted. So far I'm doing okay. My fear is letting a few days slip by and then trying to recall what happened. Hasn't happened yet, though...

Moleskine #2: For my deeper, more indepth thoughts, rants, and raves. Usually write in this one in restaurants or movie theatres or in my car. The inner pocket also serves well as a temporary wallet. If I was too lazy to bring a lunch from home, I usually end up going to one of the fast-food places near my office. Instead of carrying my full-on "Scregie Bag", I'll throw some cash, my ID, and one credit card into the inner pocket of my Moleskine.

Moleskine #3: The Squared Notebook as my official check register. Depending on the number of transactions, I may be able to fit several years into one book.

Ironically, the frequency of me writing in my Moleskine has dropped (slightly) as a result of joining the blogging community. Nonetheless, my Moleskines are always with me.