Write Every Day: Morning Pages
Are you familiar with the concept of “Morning Pages” from Julia Cameron’s popular book The Artist’s Way?
From Julia’s website: “Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*– they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind Continue Readering »
What would you do with this large Habana notebook?
This is one of the new 8×11″ Large Quo Vadis Habana Notebooks and to tell you the truth, I can’t decide how to use it. For journaling, I typically prefer something in the 5×8″ range or smaller – like the 4×6″ Habana. Are you familiar with the concept of a vision board? I’m thinking about using this as a “Vision Book”
How would you use this book?
Keep and Re-Read or Toss?
Writing has been my therapy. A place to say the things I wouldn’t normally say out loud or that I need to say when no one is available to listen. I used to go back and read through older books whenever I’d start a new one, but I don’t really do that any more – which leads me to the question of why I’m still keeping them.
What do you do with your notebooks when you’ve finished one – do you keep them? Read back through them? Toss them?
Image courtesy of Myriam Thibault – follow myriamthibault on Instagram.
The Search Continues
Me & Pop-Pop. The infamous photo where I was being bribed with a writing tablet to sit with my grandfather for a photo. (I was afraid of old people) This is the beginning of “Biff Loves Paper.)
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how I had once again come back to the task of trying to fill in the gaps of my family tree. I had only been able to get so far on Ancestry.com but once a kind reader pointed me in the direction of the free FamilySearch.com website, I was able to almost immediately go back five generations on my paternal grandfather’s mother’s side into the Great Plains of Northeast Hungary.
Growing up and through most of my adult life (read: until about a week ago) I knew nothing of Hungary except for the stuffed cabbages, noodles and cabbage, and chicken paprikash that I ate growing up. (I still occasionally make the paprikash because it’s sooo delicious. It’s a simple broth made from chicken stock, onions, salt, pepper, paprika and sour cream served over stewed chicken with chewy drop noodles. Yummo!)
Learning of my new found 62.5% Hungarian ethnicity and how so many of my relatives came from a single village, I decided to see what I could learn by perusing various tourism sites and reading the history of Hungary on Wikipedia. 1000+ hot springs, inexpensive travel accommodations, wine, goulash, beautiful tiny villages… I wish I had a passport! (They also boast one of the most difficult languages on the planet which is oddly related to Finnish.)
Every time I go back to searching another name, I think about what their rural lives must have been like and how they came upon the decision to take a giant leap of faith to come and start new lives in America. Then I start wishing that I’d been left a journal or two describing life in the old country and what it was like to travel to the US- and that hopefully, the change was for the better.
Friday Link Share!
For a Reader of Harper Books at Contrapuntalism
How does writing on good paper make you feel? at Quo Vadis Blog
Journal Writing: Stop Multitasking and Start Focusing at Personal Growth Journaling Blog
Writing Tips: Abolish the Adverbs at Writing Forward
Journaling Techniques: Writing on the Stream of Consciousness at Writing Through Life
Do You Know the 3 Steps to Journal Your Way through Difficult Situations? at Journal in a Box
Walter Cronkite Imagines the Home of the 21st Century … Back in 1967 at Open Culture
Planner Pad Insta-Pocket at Plannerisms
The World’s Coolest Pen at Office Supply Geek (I want one!)
Platinum Preppy Highlighter at A Penchant for Paper
Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki Ink Review at The Pen Addict
TWSBI Diamond 50 Inkwells at Ink Nouveau
Eric’s 2013 LA Pen Show Take-Aways at FP Geeks
My new Folded Ruling Pen and Friday Favorites at Quilt or Dye
Crayola Crayon Tower as a storage solution for Caran D’Ache Neocolor II crayons at Lung Sketching Scrolls
Pens with Names at Paper in Hand
Three Noodler’s Inks – Beaver, Purple Martin, Tiananmen at Inkophile
10 Uses for the Pencil at This Old House
How Small is Your Sketchbook at Notebook Stories
Namaqua Rain Frog at Real Monstrosities
Eat Sleep Surf and Write in Your Webbie
Living on the east coast and a 90 minute drive from the ocean, I don’t claim to know anything about surf culture except what I’ve seen on TV and in the movies. One film in particular that piqued my interest was the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. Continue Readering »
Blogroll Housekeeping and Looking for New Links
Here on Rhodia Drive, we maintain a blogroll consisting of sites dedicated to paper, pens, pencils, ink, art, art journaling, and writing. It’s about that time of year when I check to make sure all of the current links are still functional and also when I start looking for cool new links.
If you have or know of an awesome blog you think we should consider adding to our blogroll, leave the link down in the comment section and I will be happy to take a look. I can’t guarantee we will be able to use each and every submission, but please know that we are always looking for relevant sites with quality content. Reciprocal linkage is always appreciated.
Oh, and please let me know if you regularly peruse our existing blogroll links.
The Original Think Pad
To me, there’s really nothing that gets my brain juices flowing like doodling. At my last office job, my manager would glare at me for my frantic doodling during conference calls. Once I left that job, I was sure to send her a copy of the Time magazine article about how doodling helps you pay attention. Continue Readering »
Olaf’s New Habana
Olaf Starorypinski has a studio down the hall from me at the Banana Factory. He’s an international photographer originally from London, England who also happens to be a huge fan of the fountain pen. In fact, Olaf gifted me a bottle of fountain pen ink when I first moved into my studio. Right now, Olaf’s favorite pen is a Pilot Custom 823, with a right handed 0.8mm cursive italic nib customized by Classic Fountain Pens. He uses Sailor’s purple “Jentle” ink, but as he claims that color is becoming very hard to find, he will be switching to J.Herbin or Diamine when his supply runs out. (Hmm… Poussiere de Lune maybe?)
Each time I’d see Olaf at the BF, I noticed him carrying a large journal by a manufacturer other than Exaclair. I asked him how the paper in that journal was holding up against his fountain pen ink and his response was that it could be better. He preferred to use a blank journal with off-white paper in an 8×11″ format and while I couldn’t offer him anything by Rhodia to try, I did get my hands on one of the new large Quo Vadis Habanas which he now *loves.*
Image by Olaf Starorypinski.
Image of Olaf with light graffiti artist Vicki SaSilva outside his Banana Factory studio at the recent opening of the 2012 InVision Photo Festival.
Black Friday Link Share
10 Excellent Reading Nooks at The Passive Voice
Ending A Journal at Kaizen Journaling
Journal-Writing can be Self-Care During the Upcoming Busy Holidays at Yahoo News
An Ink Blotter and Why You Need One at Inkophile
Ink Links at The Pen Addict
Rosewood Writes Green via The Fozzy Book on Instagram
Getting warmed up with recent Blick’s loot at Lung Sketching Scrolls
Journal Writing a Just-for-Fun To-Do List at Personal Journal Blog
Lamy Accent Hand Written Review at INKTRONICS
Pics from Saturday at the 2012 Ohio Pen Show at Fountain Pen Geeks
What are professional reviews for? at Seth Godin’s Blog
The 10 Most Beautiful Libraries in the United States at mental_floss
Abandoned Suitcases Reveal Private Lives of Insane Asylum Patients at Collectors Weekly
Writing Down the Ink #7: Sailor Sky High at Peaceable Writer
Updated Ink Nouveau and Write Time Podcasts at Ink Nouveau
Improve Your Memory with The Chunking Technique at lifehacker
Review of the Quo Vadis Habana Notebook Large at Life Imitates Doodles
Featured Pen – Ken Cavers Bamboo at PENS PAPER INKS…WHATEVER!
The Unofficial Guide to Creative Prompts | Challenges | Inspiration at Daisy Yellow Blog
Staedtler Textsurfer Classic Highlighter at A Penchant for Paper
Watch the “Biblio-Mat” Book-Vending Machine Dispense Literary Delight at Open Culture
Good Reason to Keep a Rhodia Graph Pad in Your Sewing Bag via loveyoumuches on Instagram
3 Signs It’s Time to Quit Your Day Job at Inc.com
A New World at Spiritual Evolution of the Bean
Image courtesy of Adelle Ang. Follow crabbyphatty on Instagram.
My New Attitude for Gratitude
As the Thanksgiving holiday grows closer, an infectious attitude of gratitude seems to be rapidly spreading across the various social media sites I utilize on a regular basis- especially post Hurricane Sandy.
I will admit that while I’ve kept journals and notebooks for all different purposes, I’ve never kept a gratitude journal until now. I started it on 11/01 after our power had come back on because I felt the need to count my blessings after the storm. I am using an orange pocket-sized dotWebbie and have decided to use one page per entry. The book will be housed on my desk and I will add to it as often as I remember.
Do you keep a gratitude journal, or have you ever considered starting one?
Rhodia Drive 3rd Anniversary Contest Winners!
You people rock! Thanks to the over 300 of you who entered my anniversary contest. I love writing for the blog and I appreciate all of you! Here’s to another great year! Be sure to keep those comments and fan photos coming!
And now for the winners Continue Readering »
A Daily Tweet
From 1986-1996, I worked in a local camera shop. It was my first full-time job and at 16, I had neither retail experience nor any interest in photography. But hey, a job’s a job. I started when film cameras were just starting to have fully automatic options. (Think Canon AE-1 Program and Minolta X-700) Focusing was still a manual function and older customers would blow up my brain talking about light meters and manual flash settings.
Photography has changed a TON since 1986 but all I know is that I am finally able to take good pictures of the birds at my feeder with minimal effort. Continue Readering »
Photo Review: Rhodia Unlimited Pocket-Sized Notebook
The pocket sized Rhodia Unlimited notebooks are very portable and have an elastic closure. They are a 3 1/2 x 5 1/2″ notebook containing 60 sheets (120 pages) of our fountain pen friendly 80g, white Rhodia paper in a lined or graph format. Covers available in black or orange. Continue Readering »
Art Journaling in a Rhodia Reverse Book
What is art journaling? It is a simple combination of art and writing in the same book. There are no rules except for those that you set yourself. “Art journaling has a long-standing artistic tradition. Artists through the centuries have kept notebooks in which they sketched, practiced, experimented, and recorded themselves.” via Dina Wakley. Continue Readering »
