Mon Premier Moleskine

[My First Moleskine]

I carry a notebook with me at all times. And a blue pen, too.

You never know when inspiration will strike, when a good idea will suddenly pop, when a silly or profound thought will cross your mind, when you will witness a situation or overhear a conversation that just begs to be jotted down. It has become such an important item to have by my side that I feel like I'm missing a limb when I forget to take it.

So far I have never lost one, but I always carefully inscribe my name on the first page, several means to find me (postal address, phone number, email address, precise geographical coordinates, astral convergence) and a hopeful, polite note asking whoever finds it to please please return it to me.

Although I go through them one at a time, I am a compulsive notebook buyer -- I can't resist the charms of smooth pages and pretty covers and delicate bindings -- and I always have a series of them on a shelf, quietly waiting for their turn. I usually buy slim ones so they don't weigh too much when I carry them around, and so I can often experience the thrill (and pressure, too) of breaking into a brand new notebook.

For quite a while now I had felt the burning desire to have a Moleskine notebook -- the legendary notebook that Hemingway, Matisse and Van Gogh used to write and doodle in (is it blasphemy to refer to Vincent's work as doodling I wonder). This itch did not escape my ever-thoughtful sister's attention, and she had the lovely idea to get me a Moleskine carnet de croquis as a gift on Chocolate & Zucchini's first birthday.

I am therefore happy to announce that my behind-the-scenes thoughts for this blog and other projects will now be recorded on high-quality, chlorine-free, ivory white, 9x14 cm pages of drawing paper, while other bits pieces and odd ends will be safely slipped inside the expandable inner note-holder. There may even be a little doodling involved, one never knows.