and then...insomniac

I know me insomniac. Up all night. I monitor internal halls. I can only try to work myself to sleep. 

There's nothing better than doing what you love, in the way that has you forgetting water and loving it more than ever at once. Air is often readily available. 

I recently got a compact Filofax during a holiday sale and I love it so far. I can't stress the importance of organization. A goal doesn't stand a chance if it's not written down. But for those of us who use analog (that is, handwritten) organization methods, it can get messy. One notebook means a mess of notes, to dos, ideas and drafting. Several notebooks means... well, it means a heavy backpack. Personally, I like to use a lot of notebooks:

From the top down:

Compact patent red Filofax, for planning

Large size Ecosystem notebook in Lagoon, for new ideas

A classic, high-quality mead Composition notebook that is no longer on the market :( characterized by it's dark pink margin line. It's my daily journal right now.

A moleskine from the artist's collection, which I use to make mindmaps for Cope Syndrome. 

A Target brand legal pad that is perfect for my drafting. 

The bottom too are seen clear in my video How to Write a Novel, Like

The Filofax helped me reduce my load, but if you want something simpler or are on a tight budget, there's a method called Bullet Journaling that might work for you. 

If you go to bulletjournal.com you can find the comprehensive tutorial developed by art director Ryder Carroll. I have long wanted to come up with something as comprehensive, but he clearly beat me to it. I can only use the method on a small scale since I always need at least one or two journals at hand that lack any system other than writing and gluing down as many things as possible, and I think such a system would corrupt that. But I get a lot of emails about how to use a journal and I thought that Carroll's method would be worth sharing. 

I fell forward on a horse recent. I fell onto its long white neck when it tripped forward onto knees. It was a pretty white horse. If you have not yet commanded an animal, go and learn a way. 

and then...wet

summer is wet. I just moved again. 

And m*leskine, I've just about had it with you and your silly new copyright laws. I don't have time to get expressed permission every time I want to make a vlog. Sorry for promoting your product!

ANYWAY, searching for a m*leskine alternative is an uphill battle and an oxymoron; despite my frusteration with the new copyright laws and the use of carcinogens in the covers and the switch of manufacturing to China and blahblahblah, there's an organic-tactility and understated effect of m*leskine notebooks that I don't expect will ever be matched. No matter how many attempts a product makes, with all the rounded corners-ribbon bookmark-elastic bland enclosure-back pocket yadayada, it's just not the same.

So, I decided, the ideal m*leskine alternative will not really be an alternative, but something which stands on its own and is still versatile enough to be considered a baseline notebook for all of my journaling needs. I found that this was met by the line of ecosystem notebooks:

I have scoffed at their marketing approach in the past; I am no environmentalist, and generally not fond of the earthy, archaic look of most recycled journals, but these ecosystem animals look and act like toys. They're completely recycled and made in the USA, and priced well at that. All pages are preforated, which typically makes me cringe because I'm so archival, but these preforations only act when you need them. I'm still on my first model, a lined hardcover because no one makes a true soft cover like m*leskine, but so far I truly love it. So go out and pick up one of these eco-friendly beauties. 

Anyway I just moved and my lungs are still recovering from dust so I'll go now. You'll hear from me soon!

and then...party

what I haven't been to in so very, very long. So when a friend tells me she's got a birthday dinner I spend hours getting ready; hair makeup nails new dress the whole bit. And what a lovely time was had. 

Warning now. a warning now. This is my calm before the storm. APRIL.

Raise your hand if you don't think that April is the busiest month of the year. Anyone?

Eight papers due and a new portfolio to put together and eight transcripts and a handful of recommendation letters, some to request and some to write, two jobs to pick up and a part of the novel to finish and a healing plan to start and thank God that April is a spring month. It's a frantic nonstop with remembering breath. 

I'm working on a very short short film about being a novelist, making a script for a third party, and then I've got like a video I want to do about journaling practices for the male gender. Also I've yet to take a formal scriptwriting course, oh the gaps the gaps the gaps free associated test tomorrow gaps glaps claps tapping black shining shoes against angle and angle and angled until someone touched him and he exhaled,

thanks for reading