An Ode to My Notebook on its Last Page

(Written in the notebook, obviously, but transcribed here to spare you the effort of deciphering my nearly illegible scribbles.*)

The last page. The end of an era. This notebook has seen me through the transition from an occasional, haphazard writer, to a more frequent, deliberate one. Purchased on a whim from TJ Maxx or the like roughly 4 years ago, I was drawn to it's funky cover, and the price was right.

My beloved notebook's funky 80s-inspired cover.

I skipped the first page as I often do in a new notebook — there's just too much pressure to get it right — and started listing NaNoWriMo 2010 ideas on the second. I only had 2, but I ran with the first idea, finishing the required 50,000 words in a personal-best-setting 2 weeks. I have some details of the plot sketched out in the next few pages. Though I hit my word count, I never did write the end of that story, and I look forward to detailing out what I already know happens at the end.

Five pages in records details of the dream I had that inspired my NaNoWriMo 2011 story. I remember writing it down one morning before my visiting houseguests awoke. NaNoWriMo 2011 would mark my first foray into Fantasy writing, which proved so fun at times, but confusing and beleaguered at others. I look forward to returning to that world one day to edit my story.

Next comes a very short story, because I told myself I should sit down and write sometimes, just to write, not for NaNoWriMo or anything. It wasn't terribly good, but it isn't terribly bad either (and does contain the sentence "Paul wasn't about to put the 'budge' in 'budget'.").

Now we get to something pivotal: Right Brain's Manifesto. These statements propelled me into the next phase of writing by recognizing the inner struggle and dysfunctionality between my right and left brains. Until then I had no idea.

Rephotographed with slightly less appalling lighting but same bad focusing.

As I grew more comfortable with my notebook being a safe place, I tried out a little opinion piece about Ann Arbor's crosswalk laws, recorded some story re-write plans, and jotted down a few future story ideas I haven't pursued yet. Then in a journal entry of sorts I even admitted that I really do want to be a writer and I really should take myself seriously.

Here things really started to pick up.

I attended a talk by local, published writers and transcribed their advice in my now trusty notebook. Then I got a book they recommended on writing for Christmas 2011 and used my notebook to do the book's prescribed writing exercises.

That winter, I made the mistake of not taking my notebook with me on my vacation (JCCC2), thinking it would be too heavy and needlessly bulky in my luggage. This would be my last trip without my treasured notebook. The cruise turned out to be wildly inspiring due to the mix of talented creators and highly supportive fans. The Right Brain/Left Brain war flared up to its worst yet when RB got inspired and had ideas but the only paper I'd brought was my small notebook dedicated, per LB's wishes, exclusively to lists. Such drama on the high seas! How many thoughts were needlessly lost in this and other battles between free-form and organized methods of documentation? When I got home, I knew something needed to be done, so I started this blog.

Now that I was drafting blog posts, doing writing exercises, and journaling my reactions to my experiences, the notebook began to fill up quickly. The notebook came with my on all trips short or long, attended writers' conferences, and planned the launch of the PotMC. For the first time, my thoughts were all together in one place. Right Brain had a home, and Left Brain let her be (so long as she generally confined herself to one notebook and wrote front to back without wasting any pages (the first page notwithstanding, of course — obviously don't want to mess that up! LB and RB agree on that point, even if for different reasons.).).

Typical notebook page with blog post draft and edits.

In the last year and a half, I have filled the last 95% of the notebook with my various scribbles. What a delight! What a beautiful tidy mess. You won't be far from reach, dear friend, and I will visit you often. Less as time goes on, perhaps, but your duty as keeper of the thoughts, 2010-2013, will always remain, and a noble calling is that. I can't thank you enough for your sturdy and colorful covers, no-nonsense lined pages, and durable spiral binding. I did not know the treasure I had in you until it came time to find your equal!

(*This blog post is admittedly modified from the original text, because the notebook's dying breath reminded me "The notebook serves the writing, not the other way around!" Such a noble notebook!)

Rocking the Stache, and the Rainbow Connection on Skullcrusher Mountain

In May, we took a weekend trip to visit some of our JCCC2 cruise friends. Kate and Jim live in Wisconsin, and Rachel and Matt live in Minnesota, so we met up at Kate and Jim's. We all admitted that our home friends had asked us, "What if they're psycho, or you guys don't really like each other anymore?" Good news! Not noticeably psycho! And probably like them more! I mean, what's not to love about this handsome crew?

We played a lot of Dominion, ate great food and craft beer at The Horny Goat, had a sing-along, and lounged at the beach. Turns out Jim and Kate do sand sculptures, and I realized I had a picture of their work in the Bahamas from before I met them!

(Kate and Jim are behind Mr. Coulton on the left. Note the intricate skull on Skullcrusher Mountain, as well as the great drawing of the JoCo from our badges. Normally, they have a whole arsenal of sand sculpting tools, but most of this, I believe, was done with a butter knife.)

These people are very multi-talented! A promotional video for JCCC3 recently came out, and part of Jim and Matt's open mic offering can be seen at the 2:04 mark (as well as my Matt and my elbow in the left corner). Their performance came together about an hour before when Jim said, "Hey, I've got a guitar app on my phone..."

If you liked Matt M's iPhone performance, you should hire him to play at your next event in Minnesota, or check out his new album (my favorite is "Nothing Personal").

In other JoCo/SeaMonkey news, Jonathan Coulton played a show at the Ark about a week ago! The show was great, and it was a bona fide Rock n' Roll show with ringing ears and a guy dropping his pants on stage and everything! The pants-dropping, ever-tuning John Roderick opened, doing acoustic renditions of his The Long Winters songs. JoCo had his band, which was different from the acoustic sets I've seen him do at the Ark before, and even let Scarface (his assistant) sing a song. (Scarface is wearing a sweet TMBG shirt I covet a little. It has the same design as a recent tour shirt of theirs, but the colors were different. Special edition shirt, or bleach?)

We met up with fellow JCCC2 SeaMonkeys afterward and got a picture:

We first met Dan and Erin (on the right) at a Denny's in Florida after the cruise. Erin was wearing her cruise shirt so we knew they must have just come from the same place as us. And because it seemed like the right thing to do, we had a guy who was making balloon animals make a monkey and drop it off at their table. A real "meet cute", huh?

 

What I Learned on JoCoCruiseCrazy II

• Boats rock. Sometimes a lot.
• There's at least one thing I'm allergic to and it lives in the vicinity of Curacao.
• Being on vacation with people you really admire but don't know personally can be very distracting from your own relaxation.
• A lot of questions go unanswered without Wikipedia or IMDB.
• The nerd fanbase lends itself well to acceptance of other, adjacent things.
• If you want a reliable, nice place to sit outside and enjoy the weather on a boat, get a room with a balcony.
• You still feel like you're on a boat long after you disembark.

Phoning It In

This is me with Paul Sabourin (of Paul and Storm) on the last night of JoCo Cruise Crazy II:

This was Paul pretty much the whole cruise. He was difficult to catch for a picture or chat because he was always on the phone/radio, planning events or wrangling 'famous people' or who knows what. In his defense, I asked him to pose with the phone because it just wouldn't look authentic otherwise. He instantly agreed to my request, suggesting also this:

It's my favorite cruise picture and definitely one of my favorite cruise moments.  Thanks, Paul!

Cruise Friends

We made some cruise friends! The first night we introduced ourselves to a great couple named Matt and Rachel, after hearing them introduce themselves to someone else earlier. We figured it was really quite strategic to have the first people you meet have your same names. Let that be a memory trick for you at parties.

We met Jim and Kate soon after when the Rachel-Matts joined them at their table for dinner.

Please forgive the picture quality. You can only do so much with an iPhone, on a boat, that rocks, at night, in the wind, when you're taking the picture yourself.

 Clockwise from me: Rachel, Matt, Kate, Jim (in another conversation), Rachel, Matt

Our new friend Matt was really taking advantage of the free booze hour. Or else he was just holding drinks for other people. Who were getting more drinks.

A Big Adventure

After reading on the internet for months about the laughs and intimate musical performances enjoyed on the first JoCo Cruise Crazy, we were ready to commit on day 1 of signups for the next adventure, leaving February 19, 2012, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and heading to the Bahamas, Aruba, and Curacao.

It would be our first cruise, though, and we weren't sure if a cruise was our kind of vacation. Enclosed spaces, motion on the ocean, foreign lands, norovirus. But the entertainer roster was deep, featuring artists whose work we knew and loved, and performers new to us but not new to their craft. Not to mention the promise of nerds! Movie quoting, board-games-you've-never-heard-of playing, meme-savy, just-as-socially-awkward-as-you nerds! We are probably, at best, only what they call "nerd-adjacent", but tell me, who would you rather cruise with?

A.) Families
B.) Old People
C.) Better-Looking-Than-You Partiers
D.) Nerds

I'd pick 'Nerds' every time.