Unbagging the Cats 1

Unbagging the Cats 1

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Val Could Be an Honorary Flintstone

Did I, perhaps, tell you about the swag I raked in on the last day of school before the Christmas holidays? If not, I must be addled about what I post here, and what I post on my supersecret blog. So let me just set the scene by explaining that a student gave me a little notepad with a cardboard cover, and a fold-up pen that clips onto the side. She no doubt thought I was overdoing it when I thanked her profusely. But seriously. That was the perfect gift for Mrs. Val Thevictorian.

I love all things paper and pen. They're so cute. And so practical. I used to go overboard buying school supplies for my stepsons. Hick, careful of his wording lest I take offense and leave the job to him in future Augusts, said tactfully, "This is all very nice. But I think a few notebooks and pencils would have been enough." Au contraire. Even middle-school-age boys need some accoutrements. The boys sure didn't complain. Who wouldn't want a car-shaped pencil sharpener or a watermelon-smelling eraser or a mini-stapler?

And such karma has come full circle. Now I have this sweet, blue-and-green-striped notepad in which to jot my rapid-fire thoughts. Everybody gets those instantaneous, scathingly brilliant ideas for writing, don't they? It's not just me? Because they generally occur within the hour or two after I take my thyroid meds. I'm sure that's just a happy coincidence. That I start firing on all cylinders when all my cylinders start firing.

The problem is that my brilliance fades away. much like vivid dreams vaporize by midday. Sometimes, if I'm driving, I tell The Pony, "Remember this for when we get home. I'm going to ask you what idea I had, and you repeat it to me." He's a very astute personal assistant. With a steel-trap mind. If it was the early '90s, he could be my living, breathing, Deluxe Talk Boy. As seen in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. With my new notepad, I can ask him when I drop him off at his building, and make a note. That frees up The Pony's brain for educational purposes.

Now, instead of just having the title or main idea, I also have the various riffs that shoot off from the basic subject. I don't have to reinvent the wheel, but merely spiff it up with a raggedy old t-shirt and some Armor All. No high-tech electronic gewgaws for me. No fumbling to figure out how my phone can save my voice. No spy gadget that will record sound at the push of a button. Or less. A little note pad with attached pen is all I need.

Funny how you never think to buy something like that for yourself.

7 comments:

BECKY said...

I SO totally understand!! I LOVE all things paper and pen, too! AND especially those tiny note-pads, with or without semi-attached pens...but definitely WITH is better! But I am a little different than you on one thing....I DO buy them for myself, too! And give as gifts!

stephen Hayes said...

I have an iPad beside my bed along with a pencil and notebook, and in the middle of the night when ideas wake me I automatically reach for my notebook and pencil.

Sioux Roslawski said...

I myself am obsessed with pens. They can't have too fat of a barrel, they should write smoothly, and if I can "lift" them from an insurance rep or a bank or a doctor's office, so much the better.

Sharpies, too. Do not leave a Sharpie unattended around me. It will disappear...

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

I'm with you...I love stuff like that! I have about five pens in my purse, 4 x 5 index cards and a little notebook, all for jotting ideas etc. You just never know when brilliance will strike!

Val said...

Becky,
Yes! I am validated! Just look at the excitement I have generated!

**********
Stephen,
Wow! You have one foot in both worlds. An iPad, you say? I wouldn't know an iPad if it bit me on my ample butt. They can't do that, can they? I know they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I haven't heard that they can be trained in butt-biting. My son, Genius, would know. He's an electronic-device whisperer. People from miles around contact him to fix their gadgets. I hope that little whippersnapper is not programming butt-biting into iPads. I need to monitor him more closely.

*************
Sioux,
In my instance, pens CAN be too obese. I have one that was a give-away from our insurance provider. It is as fat as a baby's leg. I lay it out on conference night for parents to sign in. Sadly, nobody has been enticed to steal it. Sharpies, however, are not safe around me.

************
Lisa,
I'm so glad you are prepared. I tried the index cards once. They became tattered and creased before I got any good ideas. And I had a tiny 59-cent spiral flip notebook, but my son took it. He won't take my new notepad. It is not masculine enough. It violates the Unwritten Rules of Sixteen-Year-Old Males.

Linda O'Connell said...

I received on that looks like a mini clutch purse. It is the cutest thing ever with a diamond (okay rhinestone) clasp.

Val said...

Linda,
That style suits you. I'm not much for champagne wishes and caviar dreams. I'm a Dollar Store realist.