Mar 05 2007
Where I Write
We spent a fortune on a Mac and I still write by hand in cheap 50 cent notebook diaries with cutie figures of little pigs or teddy bears… go figure. But since last year when Mom sent me handmade notebook covers, I have revived writing by hand. I write my diary as well as draft my blog entries in these notebooks.
“Handwriting is more connected to the movement of the heart.”
- Natalie Goldberg
Our apartment has two bedrooms. Every evening at around nine, or whenever I feel like it, I retire into the second bedroom and sit on the big wooden desk. This wooden desk is one of my favorite pieces of furniture that come with our fully-furnished apartment. It’s wide and spacious in French colonial style with metal latches and gold inlay on its two drawers. This is my ME time and the desk in the second room is where I write. By hand. In notebook diaries. Away from the television set. Away from the stereo. Most especially, away from the computer. Quiet. No multi-tasking. Just me, my pen, my notebook and this wooden desk. And then some.
I keep the top of the desk neat with the few necessary items on it placed perpendicularly in perfect right angles, in my obsessive-compulsive way. As Monica said in Friends, “if it’s not a right angle, it’s the wrong angle.”
From the left:
A modern desk lamp.
An orange woven placemat where I put my mug of piping-hot freshly brewed coffee. This is a habit which I got from my student days when I used to gulp down several cups of coffee at night to stay awake so I could study. The technique proved to be successful… but only if you believe in learning by osmosis as I have always ended up sleeping with my head on top of the big pile of books. However, I did develop a connoisseur’s taste for coffee. I could only drink freshly-brewed coffee though one of my dreams is to buy an espresso machine. I couldn’t drink more than two cups a day though on top of the caffeine in my Diet Coke because I’d get heart palpitations. So I only allow myself to drink coffee during breakfast and during my writing session. In fact, the coffee is such a big motivation for me to write that sometimes I sit and at least try to write just so that I could drink my coffee.
A coffee mug which serves as a pencil holder for one item… the current V5 Pilot pen I’m currently using. This V5 Pilot pen is another carry-over from my law school days. It’s cheap. It writes smooth and fast. And it’s a neater alternative to the messy yet snooty fountain pen.
A digital clock which displays the time, date, and temperature (currently 27.0 degrees celsius with the aircon turned off), a stopwatch, a calendar and a weekly planner. Obviously… again, I’m kind of OC and I’m obsessed with time. I love timing myself. How many words or pages could I write in fifteen minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? Sometimes I could write a handful of pages in fifteen minutes. But sometimes, I only write two sentences in an hour, preferring to nurse my coffee and twist my hair.
I also write schedules. For example:
- 5:30 AM – wake up
- 6:00 – exercise
- 6:20 – breakfast and dress up
- 7:00 – blog
- 8:00 – work
What really happens:
- 5:30 AM – alarm rings; hit snooze button; go back to sleep
- 5:40 – alarm rings; hit snooze button; go back to sleep
- 5:50 – alarm rings; hit snooze button; go back to sleep
- 7:00 – Honey wakes me up. I complain to him that alarm clock is broken again.
I also write my writing goals on my planner. For example:
- Finish one notebook a month.
- Write one hour a day.
- Write one blog entry a day.
Do you know why I always write my goals? Because I never achieve any of them. So I have to keep on writing and re-writing them. But whatever happens, I always go back to writing. I don’t care if I never publish a single word I’ve written.
Three books sitting on top of each other in a neat pile – a dictionary which I never use because I don’t use big words; If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland and Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
A big box of Kleenex tissue. I used to be the most sipunin person in the entire world. When I was living in Manila, the first thing I would do upon waking up in the morning is pull a Kleenex tissue and blow my nose. Without me, the Kleenex company would go bankrupt. When I moved to Phnom Penh, somehow my sniffles magically disappeared. I think it’s because there is less pollution in Cambodia since it’s less industrialized than the Philippines. Nonetheless, I still keep my tissue beside me as
Right beside the desk is a box and on top of the box are dozens of notebook diaries I have written and accumulated here in Cambodia.
The big empty space in the middle of the desk is of course where I write. I like this big space. It clears my mind so that I could really settle down and… write, but mostly daydream and sometimes, play Sudoku. Sometimes, all I write is,
I have nothing to write. I have nothing to write. I have nothing to write…
or
I would rather be blogging but it’s Honey’s turn on the computer.
or
What makes me think I’m a writer? What a lot of gall! Look at me… no talent. I can’t even write a simple diary entry.
But of course, there are moments of genius. I think that for every hundred thousand moments of tediousness, there is one moment of genius, then I think it’s worth it. I am alive.
Maybe, I got this diary-writing bug from Mom. I know that she used to keep diaries when she was still a young colegiala from St. Scho and when she and Dad were dating. I’m not sure, but perhaps she still keeps diaries until now. She also has a Greek female pen-pal with whom she has been exchanging letters with for perhaps about sixty years now. I’ve met Tita Liezl, the Greek pen-pal and her family. They’ve stayed in our house in Kamuning years ago. Whenever they talked with each other in their language, my siblings and I would look at each other and shrug, “sounds Greek to me!” This has absolutely no connection with my topic. Just remembered it.
Gawaing Pansanay:
- Do you write by hand?
- If yes, where do you write? Describe it in detail in the comment box or trackback from your blog. Don’t cheat by taking a photo.
- Writing by Hand
- Alphasmart Neo
- The Trouble with Blogging
- Quotes on Writing
- Two Years of Kurokuros and a Bit of Blogging Advice
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i write by hand, but it’s useless–i cannot understand my handwriting just the same. but lately, i have learned to cluster from my creative writing class, and it has helped, even if sometimes i could not read out my scribbles.
and your “i have nothing to write…i have nothing to write” reminds me of my 10-year old boy’s favorite story. a girl as asked to write a 50-word essay about her pet. she wrote, “i have a pet cat. his name is muning. one day he was lost, and since then i have been calling him. “muning”, “muning”, “muning”…”muning”, “muning”…hey, toe, do you want me to continue with the story?
I used to love writing by hand when I was in elementary and high school. I used to pride myself with my “beautiful” handwriting.
Fast forward 20 years later, and I’m now a mess when it comes to writing by hand. For me, it seems that I couldn’t write fast enough to keep track with my thoughts…it’s such an effort to write nowadays. Anyway, it’s much easier for me now to just type away on the keyboard.
I usually type straight on the keyboard. I hardly write anything by hand nowadays except for the very rare Christmas cards I send by snail mail. When I do, I use my sister’s desk because she has space which is clutter free for writing. So my handwriting is atrocious and terrible, you would think a doctor scribbled some prescription on his note pad.
hehe
It was all put into perspective when I sent a birthday card to a friend by post and he emailed me back by saying he couldn’t decipher what I wrote on the card and I should have just sent an e-card instead. Bwisit na yon!
Nowadays, it’s seldom I write on paper unless I have to fill-in forms. Now, I can’t work without a computer.
I don’t know how to write, my desk is a total mess and I am completely disorganized!
I am jealous of you!
I tried handwriting my blog entries once. Usually, they don’t look anything like what I end up posting. I guess they’re my really rough drafts since I do a lot of editing. Who’d have thunk that blogging requires so much editing?
Other things I handwrite? My goals and also if there’s a problem (or challenge
)I’m trying to solve. I try to write down the answers to that problem in a numbered list. Brainstorming, I suppose.
Oh, and I handwrite in a cheap school notebook.
di na ko magcocomment pero tyak may gusto akong pulutin dito
isa na siguro yung ipraktis ko ang mga kamay ko sa pagsusulat. bumili pa ko noon ng notebook dito, di ko naman nagagamit kasi madalas pag nagsusulat ako. ako mismo hindi ko maintindihan yung mga sinusulat ko
When computer invaded my world, my brain seemed to have transferred to the tip of my fingers, that I couldn’t think or write a word with pen and paper anymore.
But lately, I have been hand writing more. There is this certain brand of pen here that caught my fancy, and I buy several of them whenever I go to National BS. I don’t know – but with these pens, I became inspired with handwriting.
I have a notebook here where I copy quotes.. Not copy paste, ha. Just really copy word for word, letter by letter with my own hand. Nice way to practice hand writing too. ?)
I haven’t written as much text as I have now that I discovered blogging! And specially now that I’m so proud of myself since learning how to touch type. Feeling ko talaga, ang galing at ang bilis ko na! Look Ma, no eyes on the keyboard, and with the right fingers on the specific keys! =P
Pero, I love writing the ‘old-fashioned’ way pa rin. I’ve put too much effort and practice into making my handwriting nice since I learned how to, to just let the art go. Kidding aside, I somehow agree with that quote
“Handwriting is more connected to the movement of the heart.â€
There’s a certain romance about it. Parang mas personal. Now, I occasionally write pa rin to my parents eventhough I could easily just pick up the phone & call them. There are just things that are easily expressed written than said.Like ” I love you”. =P
I’ve always had a penpal since grade school. I still have my penpal from HongKong that I had since High School, but we evolved from snail mail to email.Same with my bestfriends back home. So wala na talagang masulatan . Praktis ko nalang handwriting ko when I write christmas cards & b-day cards.
I do keep a personal journal though where I pour my very private thoughts- ganda ng cover at ng paper, kaya talagang ginagandahan ko rin ang sulat ko.
I’ve got a notebook alright… but it’s useless because when I write something (usually before going to bed), and when I read it in the morning, can’t bloody understand a single word.It’s all just scribbles,(stupid)sentences and erasures and more erasures. Hopeless I am, so I just type away ’til the wee hours of the mornin’ (not all the time, honest)
Yes, I depend on the PC so much these days… I’ll be lost without thee
Handwriting is more connected to the movement of the heart.†but a lot of discomfort to an arthtritic hand!
I also used to keep a box of Kleenex next to my bed when i was still single..for those lonely nights you know
I have a corner in my garage with a pile of old milk crates for a table, a work lamp and a pile of paper and books with moldy cups, cookie crumbs, bits of rice and fishbones..this is my quiet area where I draw and write perverted love letters for the lonely old ladies in our neiborhood.
I also prefer writing by hand. That makes me one of the dinosaurs in the office. But what makes me a real dinosaur is I’m practically the only one who still dictates memos to a secretary.
writing by hand? got no time for that girl, unless i have to copy my weekly schedule from the board in the office. i used to be very proud of my beautiful handwriting, but since i dont have practice anymore, my hand starts shaking when i write for more than 30mins or so. hayyy, tumatanda na ang lolah!!
I have lost the art of handwriting, which deteriorated to chicken scratch as my mom would say. This started when I got my very first computer — an Atari St — back in the 80s. I never went back to handwriting since then except for writing out my grocery or to-do lists.
One look at my handwriting and you’d understand why I loath writing by hand these days, unless of course I need to sign for something.
Wow! Your Mom kept her friendship with her pen-pal for 60 years? That’s a rare feat, considering the snail-like pace of the postal system of the past…
Firstly…Sudoku? Sino o ano yun? Baka ibig mong sabihin si Sadako sa The Ring hehehe If you meant Sadako I have a question for you (na natanong ko na rin sa lahat na blogger na nag mention kay Sadako sa entry nila hehe kulit eh noh) Anyway my question is:
Ano mangyayari kay Sadako kung itatapon mo yung tv na nilalabasan nya sa balon kung saan sha unang lumabas?
Okay…ako may mga diaries din. Last time nga binasa ko kung ano pinag susulat ko dun. Narealize ko na para pala akong si Sngl (ang BLOGRIEND ko) sa mga diaries ko. Swear…rants lahat. Rants sa trabaho, sa lovelife, sa commuting, sa sirang daan, sa mga naninigarilyo etc. Pero nakakatuwa.
Gawaing Pansanay
1. Opo. Pag nagsa-sign ako ng resibo sa credit card.
2. Detalyado? Ayun pagkalabas ng resibo sa credit machine (whatever you call that tool of Satan)sasabihin sa akin ng taga SM “Maam pa sign po”. Dudukot ako ng pen at sign ko na sha. Yun lang…wala masyado detalye eh.
Yun pala trick para makasulat ng maayos. Pero feeling ko lang mahusay ka talaga magsulat. Suaveng suave ang dating.
para naman hinde mo masabi na nag sisisip lang ako hrhrhrhr
pero it’s nice to know na mahilig ka pala sa blank notebooks. Yan din tinitignan ko everytime nasa bookstore ako yun mga leather bound ang tawag yata traveler’s notebook. Hindi ko nanman binibili kasi hinde ko naman malalagyan ng laman.
Ako ni-rerecord ko lang nasa isip ko on my way to work in the morning or on my way home sa hapon. Yun lang kasi ang time na magisa ako. Then playback ko lang para matandaan ko kung ano iniisip kong isulat.
Sexy Mom, I think it’s okay that you couldn’t read your scribbles. I’m sure you could remember what you were trying to write at that time. Oh yes, of course Sexy Mom… do continue the story.
Kathy, when I know exactly what I want to write, the paragraphs, etc., I go straight to the keyboard too. When that happens, it seems that I couldn’t type fast enough to catch up with my thoughts.
Funny, it’s just now that I’m grown up when I pride myself with my beautiful handwriting. My handwriting when I was a kid was atrocious. 
Daphne, haha… atribida kaibigan mo… binigyan na nga ng card, nagreklamo pa.
I used to never write by hand too. But then, there are places in the world (Cambodia, for example) where you couldn’t rely on the electricity and you have no choice but to write by hand. That’s how I started writing by hand. 
nowadays, i have a hard time doing it using my handwriting and my handwriting has been a total mess since i do almost all of my stuff in the computer and the communications thru SMS/text/emails. i even had a hard time writing my whole name as i am used to only using my signature, now that is weird. lol
I like that quote my Natalie Goldberg, I love to receive handwritten notes–they always seem more personal. My problem is I write using the computer so much that I can’t do handwriting for long periods of time anymore…my hand gets tired too easily…and by the way, not gall, you ARE a good writer.
Ipanema, oo nga… I’m pretty much old-fashioned because I still draft reports and memos longhand before I type them on the computer. I’m not disciplined kc on the computer… I multi-task too much that I never get anything done. Oh, and I learned to go back to handwriting when my computer kept on breaking down.
Sidney, that’s okay. You don’t need a neat desk to take your fabulous photos.
In fact, a neat desk is probably a sign of a sick mind. I think I’m too obsessive-compulsive. 
Oh Wil, my first drafts on paper are definitely way different from the final draft… they’re disorganized and rambling. But I find it fun retyping it on the computer and making sense out of the chaotic first thoughts.
Yipee! Pareho tayo… I love cheap school notebooks.. hehe! And handwriting is the bestway to brainstorm. 
Melai, katawa ka naman… di mo maintindihan sulat mo.
Hrhrhr! Hmmm… ano kaya yung gusto mong pulutin dito? 
Rhodora, oo nga… when you have a nice pen or a nice notebook or paper, parang it’s so nice to write by hand no? I used to not be able to think without a computer too… until my computer kept on breaking down. Now, I never depend on it to work and think. I do things manually first before I turn on the computer.
Oh, it’s so nice to copy quotes by hand… they sink in deeper. 
You’re so sweet Gina… writing letters to your parents. What’s wonderful about writing letters is that you tend to keep them and treasure them… even more than e-mail letters which could be easier to be delted. Wow galing with your penpal! It’s great that you still keep in touch. Do keep on with your personal journal… for me, it’s the best practice in writing… plus of course, you get to record all your thoughts and experiences.
Pining, the thing with notebooks is that nobody has to see your notebook… unlike blog entries. So just write down what you think no matter how stupid or boring. Try this… write down for fifteen minutes without stopping, without correcting anything, without erasing, without even trying to make sense… just write down first thoughts. After fifteen minutes, read what you wrote and you’d find some beautiful writing there that comes out of raw energy. That’s called free writing. That way… even if you’re traveling and without your PC, you wouldn’t be lost. Try it.
Poor Noypetes… you have arthritis? It must be painful especially during chilly nights… and lonely nights where you only keep Kleenex for company.
Wahahahaha… I love your writing place… kasama pati tinik ng isda ha. 
Aba! At liniligawan mo pa yung yung mga Desperate Housewives sa neighborhood. 
Koyang, pare-pareho tayo ni Honey and our boss… we’re all dinosaurs. Even with the computer, we all prefer writing drafts by hand. I’m actually slower in the computer because I tend too multi-task too much. Plus I’m always tempted to blog. So I try to keep away from the computer to get things done.
Hi Curacha.
Yes that’s true. Most people don’t have time to handwrite. They tend to be more prolific with the computer. It’s baligtad with me though. I could concentrate on writing more when I do it by hand. The computer, with YM, computer games, blogging, etc. is too distracting for me. Thirty minutes isn’t bad actually. Most people can’t write for that long. 
Eric, Atari huh? Diba game yon with that Space Invaders thingy? Hehe!
Writing on the computer works well for most people nowadays I guess. I’m virtually a dinosaur when it comes to writing. 
Snglguy, you’re right… there are some people, you really have to tell them… can you just type this for me? Or just tell me what it is? Instead of reading their handwriting.
Cool about my Mom and Tita Liesl, huh? My parents have lived and stayed with them in Greece while they have stayed with us in Quezon City. 
Yup! They used snailmail… not much choice then. 
btw wag mo na pala akong okrayin sa Sudoku thingy na yan kasi may nag message na sa akin na iba yung iniisip ko hahahaha
Verns, haha… Sudoku is a numbers and logic game. It’s quite addicting. Ako naman, I don’t know Sadako.
And why would I want to throw my perfectly good TV in the balon? Hrhrhr! 
Uy, sarap siguro basahin ng secret diaries mo no? Do you also complain about Manny Pacquiao and Cesar Montano entering politics? 
Sorry Sngl… but you know we love your entries. 
Aba! Valedictorian ka nanaman sa Gawaing Pansanay ha. 
Madalas ka pala magsulat sa SM Verns. 
Mon, harharhar! Oo nga, sumisipsip ka… but really, thanks… am flattered about my suave writing… kahit sa pagsusulat man lang, since I’m a klutz in real life.
Yup! I love blank notebooks. I get excited when I have an entire blank notebook all ready to be filled up. 
I don’t buy the expensive leather notebooks either. What’s important is that the paper is nice and smooth… masarap sulatan. It has to be spiral so I don’t keep on having to flatten the spine. 
I agree with you… the travel to and from work is a perfect time to think about things to write. 
Zherwin, haha… now that is weird… having a hard time writing your whole name.
Hmmmm… I wonder what is your whole name. 
Gypsy, I totally love that quote too. Oh, you’d love Natalie Goldberg’s book. You’d be so inspired to write when you read it. Thanks for your nice words. I really appreciate them.
Verns, sorry too late… just clicked “submit comment” when I got your latest comment.
hehehe no problem
loko lang naman… 
I write in my head. in pieces of post it notes. Sometimes, a whole pad of post-it gets filled up with scribblings. I write BIG kasi Don’t ask me why I don’t use notebooks. I don’t do what’s logical. Its against my religion. i stil have my journals but have scarcely made an entry since i begun to blog. Btw, went na to the PO
yung pinulot ko e sinimulan kong sulatan yung notebook na binili ko noong hundred years ago pa, alam mo nakasulat sa bandang huli?
unti-unti pumapangit na ang sulat ko
tatagal ba ako?
kakayanin ko ba?
tapos wala na lol!!!
mwahahahahahaha!!!
saka pala sabi ko set ako ng oras sa isang araw para magsulat ng journal, yung parang sa movie ni Ben Afleck, yung kahit walang maisulat basta susulat baka gabayan ako ng kamay ko, magkaroon ako ng direksyon.
ewan ko lang kung magkakaroon nga ng direksyon ang bolpen ko 
ewan ko lang kung magagawa ko
You’re so organized!
I just got the audiobook of that Natalie Goldberg book. She narrates it, though the sound quality is bad & her voice isn’t clear. Still, I hope to learn something from it.
Verns, naku if you try Sudoku, baka mabawasan blogging time mo… it’s so addicting.
Annamanila… hahaha… it’s against your religion to be logical.
You’re so funny. 
If post-it notes work for you, then that’s what you have to do to write. Where do you stick the post-its? 
I also abandoned my journals when I first started blogging. But the first time my DSL was acting up, I went back to journal-writing and I’ve been keeping at it lately. Many times in my life, I give it up. But I always go back to it.
Manilenya, ganyan din ako parati. Ayan lang sinusulat ko… na wala akong masulat. Pero pag tuloy-tuloy, may lumalabas din. Magkakaroon din ng direksyon bolpen mo.
Sana nga ipagpatuloy mo. Pero pag hindi, okay lang… basta tuloy-tuloy kang mag-blog… ganun din ‘yon. Nababasa pa naming lahat blog mo… so mas maganda. 
Cai, sometimes I’m obsessively organized and sometimes I’m a giant mess. It’s only one or the other.
But my desk… I really want it neat. You should see the bed in that extra room… that’s where I throw all my junk… it’s a disaster area. 
Oh, I’m sure you’ll learn something from Natalie… she’s a very inspiring person/writer. 
I had a journal back in my highschool days. Puro about crushes. Trackback, 10 years ago, I started a journal and until now I’m only halfway through that notebook. I get lazy and now with this technology, I regress even more.
I have a few posts that started on a notepad and then transformed into a blog entry. I like my handwriting if written nicely and not in a rush otherwise I hate it and dont understand it when rushed. I prefer writing in Word or Notepad now. Its faster and there is spell check. So , I write mostly to sign my signature. And maybe phone messages or phone numbers on post-it notes.
I also enjoy and love collecting notepads and notebooks. Especially pretty ones. So nakakailang notebooks ka na? Are you on track in publishing your blog entries? Or there’s still lots written and unpublished yet?
Love your OCness….nakakatuwa.
Leah, I also stopped journaling when I acquired my first laptop wherein I wrote my diary entries. Then it crashed and I was devastated. Here in Cambodia, technology is not very reliable either. So mejo antiquated yung method ko.
Diba ang sarap tignan if your handwriting is nice? 
Oh I don’t think I have any unpublished entries… though I’m not sure because I hardly reread my notebooks. I have lots of filled notebooks… an entire baul back in Manila and a couple of dozen here in Cambodia.
Oo nga… isn’t it lovely to collect notepads and notebooks? Statio baga. 
Hehe… doon lang naman ako OC… in other things, I’m a total mess. 
I once worked with an engineer from one of our vendors who kept the important information in the foil of his cigarette pack
It was hilarious because when he forgot a procedure, he took his cigarette pack and he had the command written on the foil 
I felt like I did not want to trust him LOL 
BW, that is so cool! Is the information in code? How could it fit in the foil?
I used to write and write and write but as I got older, my strokes got uglier and harder for me to understand so I have more and more become dependent on my computer. Except for my blog, I don’t keep journal entries anymore but I find this sayang because they could be good repositories of my thoughts, the events in my life, etc.
Keep it up, Toe … I know that someday, wow! Your children will surely love to read about you.
I was reminded of my own penpal when you wrote about your mom. But maybe I will write a post about this someday.
I still write by hand. Most of my blog posts are typed on the pc but I keep a private journal where I occasionaly write my thoughts. Yes, it’s not as often as I would like. I have volumes of journals from my high school days and on…I have always enjoyed putting pen to paper. It’s comforting and immensely satisfying for me. Those moments that I write in my journal, I usually do it in bed, lying back on my pillows. My back can’t handle a desk for long.
I also hand write most of my recipes first before posting them on the food blog. This is mainly because I don’t have a computer in the kitchen and it is more convenient to keep a notebook and pen while I’m cooking. I jot down notes and other things that come to mind while I’m chopping, stirring, or washing dishes.
Honestly, I dont like to write nor keeping and recording by details about my life…however, when internet was invented specially this blog thing..I was truly encouraged to make one and dash some words whatever comes to mind.
Believe it nor, I’m enjoying and starting to love writing……I found your blog thru the column of Annaly at Manila Bulletin Blog O Rama…….God Bless po sa inyo Madame.
this is my other site: http://www.ericsplace.co.nr
hiya~
I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time now (I’ll attempt the FSO exam this May, but I just graduated from college and my transcript might not be available on time *curses school red tape*).
To answer your questions posted a year ago:
I write by hand. I think its one of the best ways to express myself as I’m a mediocre musician, artist, and dancer. Although I greatly look up to those people who can express themselves other than words. My handwriting however is like kinayod ng manok. If someone attempts to peek on my diaries, they’ll only be frustrated because they wouldn’t be able to decrypt it.
I write in Cattleya notebooks because they come with plastic covering already. Also its price is fairly cheap considering the paper quality is good
The whiteness is pristine. The blue lining is clean, and the thickness of paper is decent.
Btw, I’m also from St. Scho like your mom
Hi Clariz! Wow, good luck on the FSO exam. If you’re from St. Scho, I’m sure you have a great chance of making it.
That’s great that you write by hand… really, it’s more connected to the heart and you could express yourself better.
I used to love the Cattleya notebooks too because the papers are so smooth. 
Keep writing Clariz. Keep writing.
shucks, Thanks, Toe ^_^
I’m writing more and more now, practicing to write legibly for the FSOE. I just wish to get my transcript in time before the deadline.
I am thinking of having a year of bumhood, you know, be an unproductive member of society, and just focus on reviewing for the FSOE. But I don’t think that’s being conscientious
hehehehe
So right now, my head is being pounded, drilled, and cranked with choices, of which my notebook and pen are the witnesses.
Thanks again ^_^
Clariz, I wish I could do that… just one whole year where I do nothing but write… just a notebook (well, lots of notebooks), a pen (and lots of pens), and maybe a bit of nature.
Good luck on the FSE!