The Watson-Guptill Fickle Writer

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These days, writers use computers for writing. But most will admit there’s still something about good old-fashioned pen and paper that just gets creativity flowing. It’s difficult to brainstorm on a computer, or jot down notes and random thoughts, and it’s almost impossible to doodle in the margins.

Over the years, I’ve collected hordes of journals and notebooks. Some of them are pretty and whimsical. Others are simple and functional. I always go through lots of spiral notebooks for business but when it comes to creative writing, I have learned (the hard way) that I have pretty basic but specific needs that my journal must fulfill.

It has to be hardbound so it can withstand lots of use. It can’t be too big or too small. Something in the 5×8 inch range is just right. The paper must be archival quality because there’s less yellowing and tearing with higher quality paper.

Most importantly, the pages have to be unlined. I like to doodle and draw when the mood strikes. Occasionally, I write sideways, upside down, or even in circles (a technique for breaking through writer’s block). Sure, I can brainstorm and mind-map right over a line-ruled page, but why should I? Those lines are inhibiting and I need creative freedom. So there is only one journal for me: the Watson-Guptill Sketchbook. And the more I use these sketchbooks for my journaling, the more I love them.

The best thing about the Watson-Guptill is that if you are an artist and a writer, or someone who likes to paste photos or clippings into your journals, these are perfect because the pages thick and unlined.

The Watson-Guptill Sketchbooks come in several different colors including red, black, green, and purple. I’ve got one in every color! They are 5.5 by 8.5 inches and contain archival-quality paper. You can also get a larger size (about 8×10 inch) and landscape-oriented editions.

I know that writers love to rave about Moleskines. My confession for today is that I’ve never owned one. I’m not even sure I’ve seen one in a store. One of these days, I’ll get one and do a little comparative analysis but for now, I’m sticking with Watson-Guptill because I’m just a fickle writer like that.

What’s your favorite journal or notebook?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Do you ever feel like strapping on a couple of samurai swords and diving headfirst into a parallel universe where pizza delivery is a life or death occupation? Interested in leaping onto a skateboard that can scale bushes and latch onto speeding cars? Have you ever wanted to go head-to-head with a nuclear missile-toting ogre who has more strength in his pinky than the entire Justice League combined?

Get a copy of Snow Crash and your dreams will soon be realized.

This book was recommended to me several years ago by a co-worker who also happened to be a fellow fan of science fiction. I finally got around to buying a copy a couple of months back. I read the first chapter after a very long, hard day and it totally fried my brain. I put it down and didn’t give it a second chance for almost a month.

I only continued reading because it had come so highly recommended. And boy, am I glad! At first, there’s a lot of new vocabulary to absorb. As with most science fiction, the story is set in a pretty unfamiliar world, but what a world it is! Stephenson’s imaginings are not only insanely clever, some of them are spot-on predictions of the future when read in retrospect.

Originally published in 1992, just before the big Internet boom, Stephenson obviously wrote this book long before the full potential of the Web had been realized, so it’s uncanny how he describes the Metaverse. It’s very much like today’s Internet except its version of Second Life is called the Street and has clean, perfect funtionality. Throughout the course of my reading, I was amazed at Stephenson’s foresight (trust me, you will be amazed too). I desperately want to get my hands on his futuristic badass computer equipment.

Hiro Protagonist is the enigmatic lead character. His nature reveals slowly over the course of the story and you’ll have to read to the end to really decide whether he’s a bad guy or a good guy. Hiro is one of the last freelance hackers and most talented swordsman in the world. YT is the charismatic fly-in-your face sidekick with more attitude than a band of Harley riding Hells Angels. You’ll love her instantly but at the same time, she’ll kind of insult you and leave you questioning your coolness factor. And there’s more, tons of colorful characters that are simultaneously over-the-top crazy and so real that you think you might bump into one of them on the street tomorrow, or perhaps next week.

This cyberpunk novel is well-spiced with black humor and subtle commentaries about politics, culture, and social structure. Meanwhile it makes screaming observations about capitalism and corporate America. From the Wikipedia entry on Snow Crash: “Like many of Stephenson’s other novels it contains references to history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, and philosophy.”

Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.

Hiro used to feel that way, too, but then he ran into Raven.

-Excerpt from Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

So what, exactly, is a snow crash? You’ll have to read the book to find out. When you do, come back here and let’s talk about it!

Jeff Buckley: Grace (Album)

Last week, when Jason Castro sang “Hallelujah” on American Idol, I was astounded by the beauty of his performance, but also inspired by the beauty of the song. Frankly, the whole thing was a little raw compared to what Idol normally serves up. Fortunately, I have a huge appetite for music: I like it raw, rugged, processed, whatever. I’m a junkie.

I knew I’d heard the song before, and I was surprised that the singer didn’t come to mind immediately, because I’m a walking music encyclopedia. So, when Simon let it slip that the song was by Jeff Buckley, a bell went off in my head. “Hey, that’s my friend Jaden’s favorite singer!” Despite that fact that Buckley is so beloved by my good friend, I really haven’t been exposed to much of his music, so I hopped online and read about him. It turns out that the song Jason Castro performed, “Hallelujah,” was actually a Leonard Cohen original, but I was intrigued by Buckley’s biography, and what the critics had to say about him. I listened to a snippet of Cohen’s version and a snippet of Buckley’s and determined that Buckley’s was the one I was familiar with, and the artist I wanted to explore in greater depth.

Nowadays, we live in a 99¢ song culture. Over the last few years, it’s been rare for me to purchase an entire album versus just downloading a song or two. But I splurged because Buckley seemed worth it. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Grace is an album of haunting beauty, enchanting melodies, and soul-stirring rhythms. Buckley’s voice is simply angelic. Actually, angelic doesn’t begin to describe the total grace and nirvana that is Jeff Buckley’s voice. Although each track stands alone, and “Hallelujah” remains my favorite, the songs come together as one to form an album that is both moving and somehow rebellious, soulful and edgy. Put simply, the entire collection is contrary to itself, and paradoxical in that it manages to be one thing (pure) and the complete opposite (dirty) simultaneously. I love it.

Buckley gave us music that manages to be classy yet unclassifiable, for this album defies genre or label. Is it rock? Folk? Classical? I’d say it’s musical magic, but that’s too cheesy a description for work of this caliber. Buckley makes an electric guitar sound like an angel’s harp and it’s heartbreaking that we lost this young artist, who surely would have filled our ears with his sweet refrains for years to come. I will continue to listen to this album and hope that Jeff Buckley’s music reaches out and inspires a new generation of songsters, and I’m grateful that Idol (however lame you think that show is) has brought attention to Jeff Buckley and his awe-inspiring work.

Stranger Than Fiction (DVD)

When Stranger Than Fiction first came out, I wanted to see it, but after experiencing trailer overexposure, I decided it might be a boring flick. You know how it is when you see a trailer too many times — you feel like you’ve already seen the whole movie. But I was wrong.

The film stars Will Ferrell as Harold Crick, the most ordinary and simple-minded man on the planet. But Harold is also a character in a book, and Emma Thompson’s character is its author. She’s trying to find a way to kill off her main character, and Harold’s got to find a way to stop her.

This film also features Dustin Hoffman as a literature professor and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the love interest. The cast members step into their roles like you or I would step into a comfortable bathrobe, and each one delivers a spot-on performance, including Queen Latifah, who has a minor role in the film as Thompson’s writing assistant.

Stranger Than Fiction is contrary, at once both satisfyingly simple and delightfully complex. The themes are cleverly layered and tease the audience into having “aha” moments during every other scene. This film shows us how to live, to feel alive, and break out of stale habits. It explores self, relationships, and craft. The chemistry between Maggie Gyllenhaal and Will Ferrell is surprisingly endearing just as the dynamic between Emma Thompson and Queen Latifah is enjoyably conflicting.

I’m a writer, and that made this film even more appealing to me. As Emma Thompson struggled to finish her novel, I got right in there and struggled alongside her. Every twist and turn was strangely familiar and I found myself nodding my head in agreement and understanding at the hardships that every writer faces.

Even if you’re not a writer, you’ll love this film. You’ll be rooting for every single character and when it’s over, you’ll have twice as much respect for the actors. And I don’t know who write the screenplay, but what a gem!