pen in hand
I may have visited this topic before, but I’d like to address it just the same.
I type faster than I write. Most people, I imagine, who know how to type, do. The editing process involved in word processing is convenient and makes things so much simpler than ever before. And you must know how I love to edit. The fact that computers can contain and maintain what could be reams of work in a small space is also pretty amazing and awesome.
That said, I love love love paper and pens. I love all the different fun pads of paper that exist, the variety of journals to choose from, the innumerable pens of all colors and styles and ink. Not to mention the satisfying feel of pen in hand, making your mark on the page - instantaneously glorious. I guess it’s really a feel thing.
Books are the same; there’s nothing like the feel of a book in my hands. It’s a great feeling to break the spine of a new paperback, showing how much you love it. I do prefer paperbacks, but I do like hardcovers when they’re books I consider reference books.
I’m also a big gadget fan, so the convenience of the Kindle definitely intrigues me. More and more of my fellow commuters on the T in the morning have them. At first I thought the iPad looked ridiculous, like a giant iPhone. But the more I explore it, the more I want one. Go figure.
We were in Nashville last weekend for my dad’s memorial and Chris asked my mom if she knew where my love, nay obsession, for pens and paper came from. She said the fact that she and dad were both intellectuals they both had a lot of pens and paper. We went up in my dad’s office and I opened the top drawer of his desk revealing what must have been about 80 pens. “Does this answer your question?”