Moleskine, Dear Moleskine...

It felt like Christmas morning yesterday afternoon when the Aboitiz guy knocked on my office door. He's like Santa to me as he has something I had been praying so hard to have: my own Moleskine notebook. And yes, oh yes, I am now a certified Moleskine owner.

I remember a song that my aunts and uncles sang to me when I was a kid. It's an American folk song, but to me it is an unforgettable lullaby. Suprisingly, when my Moleskine arrived yesterday, I was humming the song in my head, unconsciously at first. Now I have my own Moleskine song.

Moleskine, Moleskine,

Oh my darling Moleskine.

You're now here to stay forever,

Never leave, my Moleskine...

The sealed Aboitiz 2GO Quickpack...

... my Moleskine large ruled notebook still wrapped in plastic...

... and finally, my Moleskine is unwrapped! See the stickers and brochure?

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My Journal, My Non-Living Best Friend

I've always tried to keep an updated Journal since I was a small kid. Sometimes I'll fill a notebook, but mostly, the pages are left empty after the first few get doodles of ink. Lately, after I moved back to the pen and paper scheme, I entertained the idea of keeping a journal/diary. And I took it seriously. Today, 19 days after I started writing, The Archer's Chronicles is 20 pages rich of scribbles, doodles, drawings, and stickers. For the last 19 days, it has become my non-living best friend.

My Journal is a blue 6.25 x 8.25 ruled spiral college notebook that used to be a concept notebook for my projects. The front and back covers are thick plastic, which protect the inside pages from scratches and dents while the notebook is inside my bag. The inside pages are made of inexpensive thin paper with the text "Wise Buy by Expressions" on the upper right portion of each page.

I use a variety of pens to write on my Journal, but mostly I use my 0.4 Pilot G-TECs. I also use other gel pens like the MonAmi Gel Pets and a blue 0.7 Pilot Super Gel Pen I like a lot. Some days call for that "special touch", and so I write with my Parker Vector fountain pen using black Parker Quink ink.

I usually write around midnight, when I'm done with housekeeping and television soap-opera and my neighborhood gets some semblance of calm and quiet. I like to write in silence. I always have. Silence brings me so much: words, emotions, remembrances--even sound. Lately, a new habit has formed, though, and I am suprised. I am beginning to like to write while the radio is tuned in to RJ100. It's such an excellent motivation to write.

Writing has become ceremonial for me. Almost ritualistic. I like to write after my night bath, with a mug of steaming hot tea next to me--sometimes Lyons Earl Grey, sometimes Tazo Green Tea. It depends. I like it steaming hot because I love the aroma of tea filling my writing corner of the room. My journal entries always begin with the day's date and time. I also include the background music. As I write, I slowly sip my tea.

After an entry, the tea is finished, and it's time for bed. Finally, I can sleep.

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My 49th

Here is the 49th addition to my shotglass collection. It's a University of Michigan souvenir shotglass manufactured by Libbey, shown by the embossed L script found on the outer bottom of the glass. It is my collection's 49th shotglass, first university souvenir, second Libbey glass (the first is the St. Louis Cardinals shotglass), and seventh to come all the way from the US of A.

Another one is coming up early this week.

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What Notebookism Says About the Archer

In the chaos of my Friday life... In the confusion of a hectic calendar... A kind soul uttered words that made my head spin and my heart skip a beat. Not in a romantic way, though.

This is what Sir Armard B. Frasco* said about this blog:

Kudos on your wonderful blog - a real paper/pen connoisseur's voyeuristic find.

Maraming salamat po, Sir Armand!


* Mr. Frasco is the Founder of Notebookism, a website showcasing notebook and notebook-related stories.

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Journal Happy

My Journal has got a name now! I'm calling it “The Archer’s Chronicles”, and then I designed a logo for it. Nice.

Photos to be posted later. Ehehe.

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My 48th

This is my 48th shotglass and it's cool that it's from a local alcohol advertising campaign. I consider it a treasure because it's a gift from someone I least expected to be giving me a gift after all we've been through.

My shotglass collection has surprisingly grown in the past several months, and I have created a gallery at Photobucket.com to make public viewing a bit easier. It also makes it possible for me to view them from time to time, rather than open the huge box where I keep them. I do not have a display case yet (and I'm saving up for at least one), so I am keeping them in a huge carton with each shotglass carefully wrapped in white paper.

Last weekend, I added six more shotglasses to my collection through an eBay purchase. It was actually a bargain because I got all six of them for only 190 Philippine pesoses. Wow. I got a Vancouver, B.C. shotglass, a Niagara Falls shotglass, a souvenir shotglass from the 1986 World Expo in Vancouver, two from the UK showing St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London, and an advertising shotglass from Hong Kong. All of them below. And also here.

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Weekend Loot (Last Part)

This is it. The promised post for what I called 'massive weekend looting' in my two earlier entries. I call it that because I bought so much pens I'm wondering now how I'm going to use them. Besides, I have never in my life bought as many pens as the ones I bought last weekend. Add to that the Stradmore notepad and small reporter notebook I bought, plus the green shotglasses from Korea, and all the stuff EJ brought me from the US, Canada and China. I got three new shotglasses: my first US State shotglass (from Las Vegas, Nevada), a unique Hollywood shotglass, and another one from Canada. He also bought me a small pocket notebook in China. All of these items are in the photo below:

Saturday morning brought me to San Pablo to visit my niece Laicka who was in the hospital for dengue fever treatment. After a short visit, I grabbed lunch over at my parents' house and went back to San Pablo to look at the Pilot G2s my sister-in-law told are available at OSC Bookstore. Alas, the G2s are there, but what caught my attention are the MonAmi 'Love Pet' gel pens. They're just amazing. The product line has eight available colors, and the pens are square compared to the usual round shape. I love these pens so much I bought two sets!

After that, I hopped over to another supplies store, Expressions which is located at the city mall. I saw the MonAmi pens there, too. At Expressions, I bought a Stradmore notepad and a small reporter notebook.

After the pens and notebook/notepad shopping spree, I went to a thrift shop and saw the two green shotglasses from Korea. Ha. I had to buy them, too.

And not long after, I saw jelly cellphone housing for both my Nokia 1100 and 3100.

Ayayay, what a weekend!

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