Moleskine Too

Ninth Wave commented:

The Volant has been a favorite notebook of mine, and I lament their passing as well. It is a little thing, as you say, but certainly worth mentioning. They have such a nice feel to them, especially the flexibility of the cover (it reminds me of a passport). Moleskine has come out with a replacement, but it's not quite the same. To paraphrase the Moleskine insert: "Le vrai Volant n'est plus". Long live the Volant - or at least the contents within!

Not only do i have a reader, i have a reader who appreciates the Volant. This is good.

Language, A Defense

i have been reading for a few weeks now the book mentioned in this article which adresses the abuse of language found in various segments of society. If you happen to be a fan of Lynee Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Don Watson's book may appeal to you.

Watson also has a web site, weasel words, which chronicles these abuses. Watson's book does not have the same humorous touch that Truss' has, but it is still good reading.

Moleskine

Here's something that's, well, not all that important but is a little important _ to me at least.

Moleskine, the maker of quality Italian-crafted journals and related accessories, informed me yesterday that the reason i cannot order my usual Volant journals is because they are going to stop making them.

this really is not such a big deal in one sense, but it's a slow day so on i blog.

there are plenty of folks who will wax poetic about Moleskine; the journals are known to the be choice of Van Gogh and Hemingway, among others. The Volant series were smaller journals which were quite well adapted to travel and use in tight spaces instead of the larger journals.

Sure, Moleskine offers other journals, and i quickly ordered some yesterday, but it's sort of like having a favorite shirt or pair of jeans: you can get another pair of jeans or another shirt, but those will never be quite the same as the favorites.

Stymied

i’m blocked. it’s a writer’s block of sorts, but different. it’s the creative equivalent of hitting the wall _ sort of.

i don’t have a job which requires creativity, yet i feel stymied in my efforts to actually do my job. Strange. it’s as if something on a personal level is rising to dominate my energy and thoughts even though it remains essentially hidden. operating in the shadows, i can feel the presence of something but i cannot see it.

i can feel there is something which needs to “get out” and is bubbling just below the surface of my consciousness. something in my soul is restless to be set free and i have no idea what it is. i can’t get enough of a sense of it to name it; i can’t avoid the nagging reality that i am unsettled.

it feels as though a pit bull of some sort has hold of my pant leg and insists i deal with it, and all of my attempts to distract myself from the persistent gnawing are proving fruitless.

is it a deep dream of some kind which is rising to the surface after an absence?
is it the Voice of God trying to pry my ears away from the constant rattle and hum of a weary world incessantly knocking on my door?

i am unsettled, no doubt. it’s not that God seems far away; He’s actually been close and intimate.

But . . .

is there something in addition to that closeness which He’s saying; something which is on a deeper level of my soul sitrring in places so remote i often forget they exist?