Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Grasshopper Thoughts, Vol. III March 2011

Photo courtesy of
Bing images
The grasshopper urge is upon me, and I am indulging it.  I was writing in my journal yesterday - it's an 8 x 10 hard bound artist's sketch book with unlined pages - and my pen ran out of ink.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm picky about the pen I use.  I prefer black medium ball point pens.  Finding just the RIGHT black medium ball point pen is the challenge.

I've tried those gel pens and they skip on the page.  They're also invariably only available in fine point and I hate that.  Fine point on pens leaves too spidery a line of ink, and because I tend to use a lot of pressure, they can literally scratch a hole in the paper. Felt tip pens get pressure points on them and then you can only use them at that specific angle, so those don't make the list for me.  Some ball point pens get snotty noses.  You know what I'm talking about, right?!  They get globs of ink that collect and eventually smear across the page.  Drives me nuts, personally.  And of course, when my preferred pen ran out of ink, I didn't have any replacements in the house.  Off to the store I'll go tomorrow to see if I can find more, and this time, I'm getting several boxes to have on hand.  My writing demands it!

While we're on the subject of office supplies, who decided to change the formula of Crayons???  I don't know when it occurred, but sometime in the past 2-3 years, they've changed.  Maybe you haven't noticed, but I have nephews in elementary school, so crayons are a necessary item in my household for when they visit.  Crayola crayons smell different these days, and the consistency is different.  They're softer, kind of mushy when you color with them.  Not that this stops the world from turning in any dramatic fashion, but I noticed.  Yep, I'm a purist.  Certain formulae shouldn't be tampered with.  Ever.  Bring back the old Crayon formula, I say! 

I'd like for someone to invent newspapers that do not crinkle loudly when being read, please.  Yes, I know, the world is being taken over by those infernal electronic reader contraptions, and newspapers are dying a rapid death, soon to be extinct.  Whilst still here, though, couldn't someone come up with a treatment of the paper that makes it less rustly?  And there I go, contradicting my prior paragraph that certain formulae shouldn't be tampered with.  Well, this is my blog where I rule supreme, so I'm making an arbitrary ruling that newpaper formula CAN be tampered with.  Tamper away, anyone out there reading this!  And let me know when you've perfected it.  There are people in my life that really need to have that formula applied to their newspaper, because they're overly enthusiastic newspaper rustlers and it makes my teeth hurt.

There are moments when simple pleasures are pure perfection.  This month, for me, the simple pleasure is fresh strawberries the size of small plums.  I have no idea where these berries hail from, but they're HUGE, with just the right blend of sweetness and tartness.  Not a mushy berry to be found (don't get me started on mushy fruit - if you're curious, you can read an old post Unripened fruit, sparkles and twinkles, Healing Morning 2/4/2010) in the carton, and I am enjoying them immensely.  And while I'm on the subject of perfect fruit, it just KILLS me to watch a cooking show on TV and see them take beautiful fresh berries and puree them into a sauce, or slap sugar all over them.  More of my purist tendencies are cropping up - I really like fruit w/ no accoutrements.  Unless it's the dark chocolate with raspberries combo, and then I make another arbitrary ruling.  ;-)

There are more grasshopper thoughts hopping about in my brain, but these will suffice for now.  I don't want to overwhelm you with the bizarre directions my brain flits about all in one shot, after all!

23 comments:

  1. wait a minute a Mushy Crayon!!!! When will this madness stop???
    First new coke and now uum like 20 years later new crayons. The horror of it.
    Great Post by the way , I smiled all the way through it/ If I was not suppose to then Never mind. Move on to next comment
    JIm

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  2. LOL....I agree w/ you on the madness. I mean, seriously. The unmitigated nerve of those corporate types at Crayola to pull such a sneaky!!! And yes, you were meant to smile all the way through this one, as I smiled as I wrote it! And I'm smiling now to hear that it prompted some sparkles for you this visit. That's the goal, after all. Thanks for stopping by, Jim! :)

    ~ Dawn

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  3. Snotty ball point pens! Ah gotta love this... Right now my thoughts are of leaving in 2 hours... away to Goa for a few days.Imaging the thoughts going in there!!!!

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  4. sparkles and a few twinkles !!! Don't forget the twinkles

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  5. Savira, sometimes you just have to address the ugly topics in life, and snotty ball point pens fall into that category. I don't mind - I'll bravely shoulder the burden for mankind! ;-) Have a blissful retreat, honey, and come back with more beautiful stories to share with us. <3

    Much love,

    ~ Dawn

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  6. Jim, you're right, twinkles are a valuable part of the equation. And btw, why can't I see your blog link when I click your name to go to your profile? Can you post here for me and everyone else? Thankie! :)

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  7. http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-recommended-blog-of-week-dereks-home.html
    Hmm that could be a problem HUH??

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  8. There we go. I wondered why it was suddenly just showing the blogs you follow, rather than your full profile. I know you can go into settings and tweak that so your link to your page shows again. I'm an advocate of always having your blog page and bio blurb visible so people can find you. :) Thanks for posting here!

    ~ Dawn

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  9. They messed with Crayons?? I love Crayons. My favorite pen is the Sharpie fine point pen. No snotty ball! Thanks for the laughs! - Sherry

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  10. Sherri, I had forgotten about Sharpie pens! I'll have to investigate them on my shopping excursion tomorrow. And yes, alas, they've messed with Crayons. Next time you're shopping, pick a box up, open the lid and take a whiff. They just don't smell the same anymore. It's close, but just not the same. And the mushy factor is a by-product, apparently. Just all kinds of wrong, if you ask me. Thanks for laughing with me!

    ~ Dawn

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  11. I like the pens with the rubber grip, sometimes I like to use a fancy pen, just to feel all posh (but they rarely write well). I also have favourite pencils. I like my lead pencil to be wood and round. I even have some that have wonderful little inscriptions from poets.

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  12. Charmaine, it's a sad thing that those fancy pens don't write that well, isn't it?! I guess we all have those preferences with writing implements. Lead pencils are a whole other story! I like the really dark leaded pencils when I use them. :) Thank you for visiting my blog!

    ~ Dawn

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  13. Alessandra, thank you very much for the kind recognition! I'll go to your site to check everything out. It's always nice when someone appreciates the hard work you put into your writing. :)

    ~ Dawn

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  14. Great post. I wondered what you might talk about when I saw the title. It has made me smile as I now realise I also have grasshopper thoughts.

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  15. Debz, yes, I think we all do have grasshopper thoughts! We probably all call them different things, but I think everyone's mind works this haphazard, random way. Writing the random, grasshopper thoughts down is always fun and it liberates me from having to write on just one topic. Kind of a mini-spring cleaning for my brain! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. :)

    ~ Dawn

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  16. You have my sympathies all down the line. All except the strawberries. Nothing better than wild strawberries, which fortunately I have growing wild in my yard. The only problem with them is, in order to find the, the lawn has to be mown and mowing the lawn chops up the strawberries. Ah well, I do get a few.

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  17. Anna, I sympathize with your strawberry plight! My Mom's lower back yard has those wonderful wild strawberries each year also, and we have the same problem with finding them w/out a lawnmower massacre occurring! ;-) Thanks for visitng!

    ~ Dawn

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  18. The mind of Dawn...love it! :) I totally get the pen thing. I've avoided journaling because I haven't found the perfect pen yet lol. Are you sure those crayons weren't a different type of Crayola crayons? They don't make just one kind. As for newspapers, I'm honestly surprised they're still around. They can perfect it by catching up to the times & getting rid of them. Same goes for phone books. Okay you got me rambling, I'll stop now lol. <3

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  19. LOL...I'm sure about the Crayola crayons. I'm talking about the regular wax based crayons we all grew up with. They've changed the formula - they smell different and they're softer. Bugs the conniptions out of me! I love how this type of post also gets people doing their own grasshoppering as a result - it's contagious!! As for doing away with newspapers, that scares me. If that happens, then real books will be next on the list and that cannot happen in my lifetime. Seriously. I think I'd go into a deep and eternal depression. Yeah, that's a blog article all its own!

    Love you, honey!

    ~ Dawn

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  20. Well if you haven't noticed, they are putting books on devices such as the Kindle. Just saying, you should be prepared for such a day! Lol ;)

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  21. Oh, I've noticed. I just won't ever willingly embrace reading a book on an electronic device. I spend 95% of my day chained to a computer. The last thing in the world I want to do is pick up yet another electronic device when I want to relax and read a book.

    I may end up getting a reader for other purposes, as they're now making them useful for social media needs. That would come in handy for client meetings rather than lugging a laptop around. But I doubt seriously I will ever use them to read books. That makes zero sense to me. I'll remain happily anachronistic, thank you! ;-)

    ~ Dawn

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  22. Yeah I can see how it can be annoying when you're stuck staring at a screen all day & then have to end up looking at another screen just to unwind & read a book. Believe it or not, I actually prefer holding a book over reading it on a device. Granted, I do have the Kindle app on my iPhone, but I have yet to use it. I honestly don't think books will ever be completely replaced by reading devices & I hope they wont be either. Besides, the device can never have that book smell that I love oh so much! :)

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  23. Ha! I KNEW we were kindred spirits in SOME regard! Wouldn't it be the saddest thing in existence, if someday walking into a library meant all you do is pick up a new fangled computer chip of some kind, or...horror of all horrors, going to the library ends up being relegated to the internet?! I think my heart and soul would shrivel up and die.

    And amen to the book smell! And the solemn, beautiful, hushed peace of the library.

    Loving you, chickadee! :)

    ~ Dawn

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