Pens and paper

That night, I discovered just why he was called 'Big' while, across town, a frustrated Samantha was wondering why her new boyfriend was called Woody, because he was anything but.

Just kidding.

The real purpose of this post is to acknowledge my addiction to stationery. There, I've said it.

I've a day off work today you see and under the guise of being 'productive' and 'tidying up,' I was earnestly shifting the mess at the bottom of my wardrobe from one side to the other when I happened upon a large box. That I didn't recall seeing the previous time I had shifted the mess from one side to the other, back in 1986.

Immediately abandoning whatever I was supposed to be doing I started rummaging around and found three leather-bound journals, two A4 foolscaps with subject dividers, three small Moleskin notebooks, a leather-bound organiser with a zip on it and two foolscaps of squared paper inside, one small police-man type notepad and two other small unlined notebooks with magnetic clasps. And, a Cross fountain pen, a Parker pen and a normal Cross pen.

I'm clearly some sort of lunatic. I sat there thumbing through it all trying to remember where I'd got it. Thee was bits of writing in some, snatches of ideas here and there, an account of something funny I saw jotted hastily down in another. The smaller books are ones that I've carried in my pockets daily, so I could dash down my next ingenious idea or record my latest bizarre observance or other. I seem to have filled a few pages in each and then when passing Easons have just had to buy another one and start using it instead.

The pens are presents from former girlfriends. It seems people decide to buy me pens for my birthday like they gravitate towards buying their Dads socks at Christmas. Ach sure get him a pen, he loves the ould pens, can't never have enough of the ould pens. The mad hoor.

I do love pens though. I found a shop in Barcelona last year with really nice ones and spent half of our first day there scribbling away while herself tried not to explode. I went back the day before we left as well but the one I wanted had been sold. Which is just as well because when I do actually sit down to write anything it's invariably at a PC, i.e. no need for a pen.

But does that stop me buying them? Me hole it does.

And if anyone's missing a rain forest, it's in my wardrobe. On the left.