From: dsy@psych.toronto.edu (Desiree Sy)
Subject: Stationery & diaries (was 1992 in Review)
Organization: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 18:14:20 GMT

Miriam Nadel wrote:
>I don't keep simple lists of books - I keep a journal and write anything from
>a half-page to 3 pages whenever I finish a book.  

And I responded:
>I'm impressed. [...] Don't you find it
>difficult to find beautiful blank books?  Personally, I dislike
>those with lines -- you can see a lot about how you felt on a
>certain day from your line spacing.  Also, I use a fountain pen
>to write journal entries or letters, so the type of paper in the
>book is important (those with recycled paper tend to absorb ink).

To which Miriam added:
>I like lines in blank books, probably because I don't really want to
>remind myself I was depressed by lines slanting down.  Also, it just makes
>it easier for me to be legible.  

It's not just the up and down-ness.  It's how big your writing is
on a day.  Whether you're in an expansive mood and use generous
margins.  Whether you put in little doodles in.  I have small,
close-set handwriting, and I don't like the spacing of lines in
most books.  Besides, I just feel more pleasure -- entirely irrational 
-- in filling up blank pages.  Legibility is not a concern of
mine.

>I find recycled paper is alright if it's
>high enough grade (in other words, it depends on what it was recycled from)
>and you might also try experimenting with inks.  Soy ink is politically
>correct these days, but I find it ugly.

But if you're a hopeless stationery and pen addict you've got
more problems.  I only use ink of a easy flowing light weight
(Waterman is excellent, but there are others which will do)
because of my somewhat expensive fountain pen.  As a
calligrapher, I have experimented with various recycled papers, 
some of which are not ink absorbent (some need some help with a
bit of gum arabic) -- but the kind of paper used in bound blank 
books is almost never of this higher grade of recycled paper. 

>I do find that it is difficult to go back and reread my general journal.

Actually, I find this a really strange experience.  People tend
to forget how much they can change over a period of time.  When
in need of a bit of humility, or a boost, I do go back and read
old entries.  The best bits are where you describe first
impressions of people that you now know better (this includes,
naturally, authors).

>There is a theory that nobody keeps a diary without wanting it read 
>someday but I periodically throw out the old ones.  

I agree with you about not needing to have a journal read by
others.  I keep one because, first and foremost, the act of
writing makes you think.  Forcing yourself to consider your
thoughts and actions periodically is useful to me.  I am not at
all comfortable with the idea of having others follow my enforced
thinking.  

>Of course, I'm also
>the person who burned the love letters from the only man who ever proposed
>to me while sober, so I may have a singularly unsentimental mindframe.

I've only recently started throwing out any personal letters I've
received.  Can't quite bring myself to pitch my love letters yet.

>Incidentally, for the compulsively organized, I find it best to keep lists
>of books to acquire on index cards.  More portable than lists that have
>to be printed out and toted around, as you can take just a few cards to
>the bookstore.  

This is a good idea in th'y, but it wouldn't work for me; I'd
lose the damn things.  Nope, I've just got a section of my
personal organizer devoted to books.  If you print your lists out
in 4 point using a typeface with a good high x-height you can get
quite a lot on a few pages.

-desiree
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written