Ode to my notebook

It's simple ruled notebook with 192 pages. In the back, is a pocket folder. A piece of gray ribbon marks the page I last used. An elastic band keeps everything together.

I'm nearing the end of the second Molesine notebook I've started since taking writing seriously. Another is waiting to become the object of my attention for the next few months.

These same notebooks were the ones used by Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemingway.

These notebooks I recommend to many writers. They're currently being used by the next great writers such as Travis Hulce and Bruce Bales.

My first notebook began in December 2005 with little quips and phrases, some from me, others from friends who let bits of wisdom and humor drip from their tongues. Sometimes, at the most inopportune moments.

The pages of the second notebook began last July while on a youth mission trip to New Orleans. Twenty pages in, I began scribbling a scene which is now my latest novel. It's simply titled, "Meds." It's seven pages of long-looping cursive others have said looks more like the Declaration of Independence than a writer's mind diarrhea.

My Moleskine comes with me everywhere, recording moments of passionate thought I don't want to lose. Pages of poetry for Erica and her handwriting from when she couldn't speak following wisdom teeth surgery. Quotes from idiots in court. Writing tips. Drawings.

Notes from the K-Zoo skating comp. Notes on prescription medications and mental illness. Bits and pieces of short stories. A narrative for a zombie comic book.

The pocket itself holds other treasures. A speeding ticket. Bar napkins drooling with sentiment. Doodles and quotations of wisdom handed to me.

It's these pocket-sized relics I never want to lose. If my house would burn down, they'd be the first thing I'd grab.

I don't pay attention when grabbing a new one off the shelf at Borders. I just grab the first one. By the time I'm done with it, I'm saddened that such a good friend will rest on my desk while another will take its place.

Not a replacement, but another extension of its twin. Another great oppertunity to turn the blank pages into something other than just blank pages.