My new lap desk

For the past year or so, I’ve been wanting a lap desk. I’ll admit that I haven’t been actively looking for one, I tend to just wait until something pops out in front of me and begs me to buy it. Oddly enough, I was walking through my local Walgreens this past week and happened to find just the thing I was looking for.

It’s a fairly simple item and the quality isn’t amazing but for $14.95, I can’t complain. The legs can be folded up into the bottom of the desk, or folded down as shown in the picture. They also adjust to 2 different heights which is quite handy. I tried to use both configurations while sitting on my couch and the most comfortable for me was to fold the legs up and set the desk on my lap. As you can see, the larger section tilt upwards with several different choices to set your desired slope. The smaller section stays flat which is handy for keeping writing instruments nearby or even as a pad for using a mouse with your laptop.

My adventures in the forest

The Michigan Renaissance Festival is… interesting. I mean that in the most kind way possible, it’s literally one of the most interesting events I attend each year. My brain has a very hard time coping with the sheer amount of input that my eyes are feeding it. Between the incredibly diverse costumes (Of note: I saw a pimp and a bunch of ninjas… not sure how that fits the period), the interesting people, the shops, and the wide range of food, I nearly have smoke pouring out of my ears by the time I leave.

Cigar box pen case

This is a nice cheap way to store your pens.

Step 1. Go find yourself a cigar box. I got this box for free because a friend of mine is a wine salesman and is always in shops that sell cigars. Most stores around me have empty cigar boxes for $5 and they vary in size. Try asking around at any place that sells good cigars, you’ll probably find something very cheap.

I’m gonna ask you a few questions

It’s Thursday and you know what that means? It’s time for Question of the Week!

Ok I made that feature up just now but I kind of like it so let’s see how it goes!

This week the question is: Do you send or receive any handwritten correspondence?

My answer: Nope! I think the last thing I received that was handwritten was a Thank You card and I don’t count those. Anything you’re practically forced to write shouldn’t count. 😉 Maybe that’s too harsh, I should appreciate that the sender write anything at all. And the last time I sent anything handwritten… I can’t even remember. Sad when you think about it, I have pens and ink galore and I’m keeping it all to myself.

I have to quit trying

I mean I need to quit trying so hard. This is advice given to me by more than one person and the more I think about it, the more true it rings.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I seem to mainly whine about how I can’t find my muse and I’m a lousy creative person and I can’t do anything. Let me establish some proof.

Last night I spent all night fiddling around on Twitter and pen websites instead of doing anything constructive. In the back of  my head, I wanted to pick up my journal which I haven’t used in 7 months. But that’s sort of a daunting task for me and I think it’s because I feel pressure to be great.  How can one be great in their own journal? It’s just supposed to be MY thoughts and I can’t be wrong if I’m writing things that are in my head… right? Who feels pressure to perform greatness in a journal?

I look fabulous!

I wonder when society decided that it was ok for a female to carry a bag for all her stuff, but a male should be able to fit his crap in his pockets. OK, I over-simplified that. But still, it’s sort of the “manly” thing to not carry an extra bag of stuff around. Men used to carry their stuff in bags around when we all rode horses, the business man made the briefcase “cool”, and in some areas I know the messenger bag thing is normal. Unfortunately I’m not riding a horse, I’m not a business man, and I’m not in an area known for having bike messengers. I need to carry a bunch of stuff somehow pauses to scratch chin.

Everybody cheats

Don’t worry, I feel your pain!

Yes, I’ve been using Sharpie pens. Up until today, I had the standard ones but at lunch I popped into the local office supply store and picked up some retractables. I, like so many others, feel a bit guilty about this fact. I’m supposed to be a fountain pen guy and here I am using a marker?

Maybe I’m just a pen guy. Come to think of it, I have purchased a few ball points in the past 2 weeks.

Am I a writer?

This is a question I’m sure a lot of us ask ourselves. I don’t, because I’m pretty sure I’m not.

Last night I was perusing Twitter and found an interesting article linked by @richardink . His tweet pointed me to a blog entitled “Write to done” which was new to me but now resides in my bookmarks of good blogs to read when I have time. In an article entitled “Are you a Writer? Really?”, Mary Jaksch touches on the fear of proclaiming ones self a writer.

Everybody knows that the bird is the word

When I first heard of Twitter I thought it was the dumbest idea I had ever heard. It seemed to be marketed as a way to tell people what you’re doing and I just don’t care that you’re eating ice cream right now.

Now that I’ve been playing with it, and I’m following a few good people, I’m starting to see a plethora of links and articles that I want to check out. Hardly a day goes by where one of the bloggers I’m following doesn’t post a link where I think “oh I need to check this out when I get home!”. Case in point; an article I found via someone I’m following that should end up inspiring a blog entry that will be posted later this evening. It also added another great site to my list of bookmarks.