Recently, while skimming The New York Review of Books Blog, I ran across an article by one of my favorite poets, Charles Simic. It’s an intelligent and interesting perspective on the lost art of carrying a notebook around for jotting the jots that need jotting during everyday life.
“Writing with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper is becoming an infrequent activity, even for those who were once taught the rigorous rules of penmanship in grade school and hardly saw a day go by without jotting down a telephone number or a list of food items to buy at the market on the way home, and for that purpose carried with them something to write with and something to write on,” Simic remarks. I can’t help but smirk at the fact that ten minutes prior to writing this, I added my growing grocery list to a pocket Moleskine notebook of my own. Apparently, I am something of the 1% when I resort to actually writing things down, and Simic believes this mostly has to do with the uprising of smart phones. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, and 99% of the people in this office have one. But, as Simic says, and I have to agree, “I don’t find [smart phones] a congenial repository for anything more complicated than reminding myself to pick up a pair of pants from the cleaners or make an appointment with the cat doctor.” He goes on, “If one has the urge to write down a complete thought, a handsome notebook gives it more class.” Well, I think you’re classy too, Mr. Simic.
Perhaps one of my favorite things to find while going through old belongings are my old notebooks; they date back to high school. Simic writes that someone who finds these previously filled notebooks, whether they are months or years old, will experience some sort of catharsis. Confusion, love, pride, embarrassment, I’ve felt them all, and, if you keep your old notebooks, chances are you have too. Simic closes with this similar thought:
“If you preserve them, your grandchildren will be able to read your jewels of wisdom fifty years from now, which may prove exceedingly difficult, should you decide to confine them solely to a smart phone you purchased yesterday.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, especially since there’s a good chance your screen has already shattered. Even if your own little notebook is full of grocery lists, unfinished poetry, and telephone numbers of people you’ll forget, what you’ve created has heirloom potential.
Charles Simic is a poet, an educator, a translator, and many other wonderfully impressive things, and I was thrilled to find out he also prefers Moleskine Notebooks.
As always, you can find all Moleskine products, and you can personalize your Moleskines, at Jenni Bick Bookbinding and Moleskine and More.
That is great news - glad I could help!
Posted by: Lauraradcliffe | 11/09/2011 at 08:29 AM