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!