Journal to a Muse

Reading to save the economy, Journaling redux and gratuitous cat photos.

I have been to Borders three times since Wednesday. I have purchased something every time.
I have been reading so much that I haven't been writing, or posting, or, frankly, doing much of anything. Certainly not knitting.
A couple of months ago, DH started looking for the Jesse Stone books by Robert Parker. At first he got soft covers, then started looking at Half Price and eBay for hard covers. While "helping" him, I discovered his Sunny Randall series. She's a detective who detects in the Boston area. She's gutsy and smart and ambivalent. I can relate to her in some ways, and would LIKE to be more like her in others. So I've been reading those voraciously. Instead of most anything else.

Even though I know that Borders gets a fortune from publishers for displaying particular titles at the front of the store, I saw a deceptively small book called Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. It had a front cover blurb by Steven King of all people. My realization that, um, aging happens, urged me to purchase this book about a woman whose husband is profoundly and irrevocably injured turning her life upside down. She perseveres. The dogs help. That's what I want to bone up on: persevering.

Then, today, I discovered that Borders is making combo journal/sketchbooks. Whoo hoo.


Now, I will say that there are lots of folks out in the art blogs who swear by "moleskines," but I've learned to love the 8 1/2 x 11 size, even if markers and watercolor (sometimes) bleed through. For daily writing they work great... and now I can have lines if I want. If the lines are confining, I'll go back to just using the sketchbooks! Or I'll ignore the lines. Wouldn't THAT be amazing.

I've been reading reading reading and really not DOING.
DH was sweet enough to give me a "yes" day. Anything I asked... He said "yes." It was a great time to have one. (Don't ask, I'm not telling).

• So, we had a lovely lunch at Cafe Express. (I totally recommend the Chop House Salad. Yum.)
  

• Had coffee at Borders (and I found the neat journals and the newest Steven Cannell mystery that I hadn't even heard about).
• Browsed and bought at Recollections.
  I'd rather avoided going there. It is a scrapbooking store. My guess is that it is like NO OTHER scrapbooking store. Nothing cheesy or "too cute." But LOTS AND LOTS of choices. I mostly chose things that will work for altered books and art projects. Amazing what you can do with glue, paper, paint and fiber.
  Well, amazing what I THINK I can do!
• Watched part of Dragonslayer on the SF network. Researched a bit of Norse Mythology on the net at the same time. Brunhild is a piece of work, to be sure.
• Yummy breakfast at dinner time: scrambled eggs with cheese and green onions and sausages, with raspberries and cream for dessert.
• Journaling in front of the TV.
• Cat watching football.
  This is how I feel, too.