Just bought a moleskine

[Taylor514ce]

She looks like a really vile forked tongue is about to shoot out of her mouth. Which is fine, if it helps the poor thing find some food.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Does Marc actually COOK anything?...

You should try my fried sashimi and slow-cooked tataki.

Cheers,
Marc

[montsnmags]

I should mention, to retain some degree of on-topicality, that I removed the first couple of pages from my long-ago bought Moleskine - the scratchings of a previous life - and began anew, at Adrian's suggestion, with the words, "Chinese people tie their toes in knots so they cannot grow any".

Today, while the Loved One took a book, I took my Moleskine and green pen and as we lay on the beach in our boardies for a couple of hours (with an eventual dip in the surf), I scribbled some scribblings (cinquain, haiku, senryu). It was most pleasant.

Incidentally, there's a spot in the front to fill in an "In case of loss please return to..." and "As a reward...". So, if you find mine on the beach and return it, you get "Dead platypus".

The cinquain(s?) are better than dead platypus, though not a lot. Still, it was, as I say, most pleasant, and a pastime worthy of habituating.

(The surf was crap, but the water was crystal, and several bream swam around the little clouds of sand I'd kick up)

Cheers,
Marc

[pshrynk]

If you return mine, you get a great deal of gratitude!

[Taylor514ce]

Mine says "keep it - it's evidence". Suitably ambiguous, I thought at the time.

[pshrynk]

So, on the subject of pens...

I notice that Taylor uses colored ink or pencil. (Hard to tell from a scan.) I find myself using only the fountain pen that my wife gave me for Christmas this year. (Along with my Kindle. Which, when you think of it, is a remarkable juxtapostion.) I was thinking of using color, but when I asked my wife if she could get me another two or three pens, she blanched and aske me if I knew just how much the thing cost?

So, I have what is apparently an incredibly expensive pen, a $10 moleskine, and no colors.

[Taylor514ce]

In addition to being a notebook snob, I have a pen fetish. My workaday pen is a brass Rotring, silver colored, hex in cross section (it's meant to look like a nail punch, I think). Discontinued, though Levenger revived it briefly. Its a rollerball, and I use the fine tip. I have the matching mechanical "pencil"; it has three tips. I have pencil, underliner, and stylus (don't use the stylus anymore).

I also pack a complete set of colored gel pens in my satchel, just to doodle around with. I do have to design process workflows for my job, and it's nice to have several colors for that.

I'm trying to learn to draw, so I plan on adding graphite pencils to my gear.

I have a couple of very expensive pens that I don't carry around with me. I use them only to sign my poetry submissions to publishers. There is no reason for this, and it's purely silly. But I like it.

Note: the ink for my signature pens is distilled from discarded spleens, the blood of skinned moles, and Zelda's used bathwater. Very rare and expensive.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

well, it's not quite vinyl... it's softer than that, and not so shiny. i don't know how to describe it, if you don't have it in your cafés. pleather is probably close enough. or possibly oilcloth.

You might be thinking of Naugahyde. Naugas seem to be an endangered species as you don't see much of their hide used any longer.

Dale

[vivaldirules]

I prefer to use a pencil and keep a stock of cheap mechanical ones with extra lead and erasers. For drawing, I sometimes use these but also carry a set of five graphite pencils with rubber and kneadable erasers and sharpener. When I use a pen (seldom), I use a cheap, crappy black ballpoint pen. I really should find something else. No colors. I'm not sure why not.

I only use Moleskines (pronounced mole-skeens, I believe) for drawings. For writings, I don't seem to care much about the quality of the paper and have usually used whatever ruled pad was available that was cheap and the right size. But I don't think I could bring myself to using paper scraps like ZP does. Somehow that's just too radical for my neat and tidy self.

[Patricia]

Like VR, I use propelling percils for writing. I like the idea of being able to erase a poorly-chosen word. Also they are easier for left-handers, I find.

[BookishDreamer]

pshrynk, if you want to try an inexpensive disposable fountain pen that comes in colors, check out the Pilot Varsity. I've actually found another brand that I like better, but I've worn the name off the pen and can't remember where I bought it.

Dreamer

[Taylor514ce]

I like seeing my poorly chosen my words and my recorded struggle to find a better. It's instructive to me. I also like seeing my commentary on what I write, such as "cliche" or "remove made-up impressions".

I use my notebook as a workbook, and I force myself to "show my work", which is why I like using a pen.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I like seeing my poorly chosen my words and my recorded struggle to find a better. It's instructive to me. I also like seeing my commentary on what I write, such as "cliche" or "remove made-up impressions".

I use my notebook as a workbook, and I force myself to "show my work", which is why I like using a pen.

I like that idea and I have particularly enjoyed reading Whitman's first notebook to see how he worked out his thoughts. But I seem to be too self-conscious to do it myself. So, like Patricia, I erase more than an I cross out. And I have once or twice even torn out pages that I really hated. Yes, I've broken that rule.

Propelling pencil. I hadn't heard that British term before but it makes more sense, as usual, than our mechanical pencil. But I instantly thought of a pencil with a beanie. Or something like this (EDIT: actually, this looks like a propelled pencil. a propelling pencil would be at the other end. let's not go there.)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

"Dead platypus".

i love the platypus, the name and the animal (although, as ever, not dead, please). in french it's called "ornithorynque" ; equally awesome. the whole beastie is like something god mozzled on a dare with whatever spare bits he had left over, name included. "ornithorynque" : makes any joke funnier.

Originally Posted by pshrynk

So, on the subject of pens...

I notice that Taylor uses colored ink or pencil. (Hard to tell from a scan.) I find myself using only the fountain pen that my wife gave me for Christmas this year. (Along with my Kindle. Which, when you think of it, is a remarkable juxtapostion.) I was thinking of using color, but when I asked my wife if she could get me another two or three pens, she blanched and aske me if I knew just how much the thing cost?

So, I have what is apparently an incredibly expensive pen, a $10 moleskine, and no colors.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

In addition to being a notebook snob, I have a pen fetish. My workaday pen is a brass Rotring, silver colored, hex in cross section (it's meant to look like a nail punch, I think). Discontinued, though Levenger revived it briefly. Its a rollerball, and I use the fine tip. I have the matching mechanical "pencil"; it has three tips. I have pencil, underliner, and stylus (don't use the stylus anymore).

I also pack a complete set of colored gel pens in my satchel, just to doodle around with. I do have to design process workflows for my job, and it's nice to have several colors for that.

I'm trying to learn to draw, so I plan on adding graphite pencils to my gear.

I have a couple of very expensive pens that I don't carry around with me. I use them only to sign my poetry submissions to publishers. There is no reason for this, and it's purely silly. But I like it.

Note: the ink for my signature pens is distilled from discarded spleens, the blood of skinned moles, and Zelda's used bathwater. Very rare and expensive.

(i'll come back to this later)

Originally Posted by DaleDe

You might be thinking of Naugahyde. Naugas seem to be an endangered species as you don't see much of their hide used any longer.

Dale

pfff...

Originally Posted by Patricia

Like VR, I use propelling percils for writing. I like the idea of being able to erase a poorly-chosen word. Also they are easier for left-handers, I find.

i have a rather sensual relationship with my pencils ; i like feeling the graphite wearing down on the paper, i like sharpening them and the curls of wood shavings that spiral off before the blade, i like varying the pressure for different effects. i have a hard time with propelling pencils ; too sharp, too brittle. the only ones i really like are the ones which take pencil-sized lead : they're called "porte-mine", lead-holders.

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I like seeing my poorly chosen my words and my recorded struggle to find a better. It's instructive to me. I also like seeing my commentary on what I write, such as "cliche" or "remove made-up impressions".

I use my notebook as a workbook, and I force myself to "show my work", which is why I like using a pen.

i like that too, building up on an idea. sometimes the process is more interesting than the result. this is why i even do the crosswords in ink (well, and that i have no fear.)

[vivaldirules]

Platypus
Duck Mole
Moleskine
Naugahyde
Velveteen
Rabbit
Squirrel
Cthulhu
Lamb
Puddle Duck
Duck Mole
Platypus