A friend once described my musical taste as earthy. Truth is, I like all sorts of music. But given a choice, I’d rather hear acoustic guitars, an upright piano or a breathy sax over a sterile, synthetic computer-generated pop beat.
Same goes for cars. Give me a 1967 Pontiac GTO ragtop. Keep your Mercedes. Jeans over tailored suits. Sandals instead of Bostonians. A wood bat rather than aluminum.
I guess that’s why I’ve started going back to paper and ink. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I dig my MacBook Pro…a lot. But there’s something really cool, really organic, really tangible and tactile about scribbling words with ink on a piece of paper. Maybe it’s the romantic in me. But I sure as hell don’t want my great grandkids searching through old Microsoft Word files for samples of my infinite wisdom. I’d rather have them hold an earthy journal. Something with personality, something that smells old, feels old, looks old. A booklet through which they turn pages to find out what the old man was thinking and feeling.
This past Christmas, I was trying to come up with a special gift for Michelle, Mallory and Anna. As much as they may appreciate clothes and jewelry, that’s not my speed. I’m a thinker, so thought generally goes into what I give. Doesn’t always work out for the best, but what the hell…give it a shot, I say. So I’m lying awake in the pre-dawn hours about a week before Christmas when inspiration strikes. The Condron ladies like their gadgets. Laptops and iPhones and apps and social media…they’re more connected than a Washington lobbyist. So I went old school on them. Journals and pens. Paper and ink. Tools with which they can capture thoughts and ideas. Maybe one of those ideas will change the world! And if it does, there it will be, written in the pages of a leather-bound journal, captured in ink from a well-crafted writing instrument.
They call me a geek, a nerd. It’s all good. One day they’ll get it, as they page through the rambling pages of my journals.
If you’re interested in absolutely cool journals, let me recommend Mind’s Eye Journals. This family business in the huddled between the mountains of Colorado makes a product that is beautiful, unique, and worthy of your most inspired thoughts.
And if a good fountain pen, rollerball or ballpoint pen is what you’re after, check out Appointments in downtown Cincinnati, the only pen shop in Ohio. Greg is a one-man encyclopedia on the art of putting pen to paper. And you don’t need to break the bank. They have pens starting at $20. Of course he’s happy to take your $6,000 for one of his work-of-art instruments, too.
Enough typing. I need to spill some ink!
tc
