Journal Buying

Tuesday, January 1^st. That’s what the first day of my journal says. In fact, I bought the journal and began writing in it on August 22^nd. I was hit by a wave of inspiration when I walked into a bookstore and saw stacks upon stacks of 2008 planners. What if I were to write my journal for Rome in one of those? Five weeks spread out, on paper at least, over the course of one year. Or would it be one year’s worth of experiences crammed into five weeks? I thought it was rather brilliant. It appealed to my admittedly wacky sense of the artistic. One problem, however. Upon closer examination, I found that the spaces between the lines in all those day planners were far too small to fit my large, loopy handwriting. I was disappointed. Thought maybe I’d go to the store by the Pantheon, the one Lisa had recommended, but on a whim, decided to check out the large chain store on the Corso (La Fetrinelli? I remember lots of red). I saw potential in the green journal with colored pages, but the sample was the last one. I took a second look at all the black moleskin journals that Italy is famous for, though I later learned that they are actually French in origin. No one wants to have the same journal as someone else. I figured at least a few people would choose one of these. I almost leapt at a weekly planner, which kept alive my hope for a calendar theme. My friend and shopping companion (and realistic voice, when necessary) Nanna pointed out, however, that half of the pages were unlined and that I probably would not use them. Disappointed anew, I saw her point. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a stack of journals I hadn’t seen before. There were sitting on a wooden frame in front of one of the bookshelves. They were red. Red moleskin. I thought of my friend Vivian, who has adopted “fierce” red as her favorite color. I may have to do the same. While others might have the classic, dignified black moleskin, how many people would go for fire-engine red? As I pulled open the cover, however, I discovered what would convince me that this was THE journal. It was a 2008 year-long planner. I could start from January 1^st. At this point, there was no question in my mind that I would buy this planner. The more I looked, the more I became convinced. It had a list of time zones of the world, measurement conversions, distances between places that I had never thought of measuring, a pocket. Maybe all of this information is useless. Maybe I will never actually reference it. But it is there. It is part of the personality of my journal. This bright red book with an international bent. It reminds me of the planner I bought in Japan, also red, with Rouge stamped across the cover. This one I intend to use in the conventional manner. It has maps of the subways of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, London, Paris, and New York. No Rome, unfortunately. My international planners. The ones at the U Bookstore that I used to get every year, with the different colored covers; those just don’t do it for me anymore.