The scene just in front of me and to my right.
Lordy.
I’m nearly finished with Bad Actors. I renewed the Alan Rickman diaries yesterday so I don’t have to finish that as quickly as I thought. I also have more time available on the Michael Connelly, so my panic about finishing all of these before I had to return them has abated.
Also on this TBR stack (there’s another stack by the dollhouse and, of course, lots more upstairs in the bedroom) the newest Maggie O’Farrell, which I started but just wasn’t in the mood for at that moment, Louise Penny, and Something Wonderful, a book about Rodgers and Hammerstein. The title refers to the song from The King and I, a song I sang many, many moons ago when I was in a production of that musical.
Both of my planners are also on the table. I have a big A5 planner for everyday use and I love it. I also have what is called a ‘personal’ size (the one in deep red.) I haven’t used that one much in the last year but I resurrected it recently so I have something I can toss in a tote or handbag. The large A5 lives here permanently.
I’ve spoken before on this blog about planners and Filofaxes. I’ve been using some form of planner since high school. For years, I used a pocket planner, like the one I gave to Don for Christmas. They consisted of lots of little squares – too little, frankly – denoting days of the week. (My writing tends to be large-ish.) In the late eighties, when I was teaching at Boston University, I became obsessed with the Filofax. A woman I worked with had one – it was stuffed with receipts and a calendar and all sorts of things interesting things and I knew I wanted one. I didn’t earn a lot in those days – in fact, I’ve never earned a lot! – and I saved up for a planner cover that wasn’t a Filofax, but a wanna-be. It was perfectly fine for a while. Eventually, I was able to purchase an actual Filofax cover and boy, oh boy, I used that for years and years. I still have it. A reader of this blog graciously gave me a Filofax Malden a few years ago, which I alternate with the red cover you see on the table. She also gave me an A5 cover that I use for brainstorming ideas – it lives upstairs near the desk in the office. Deborah is so kind and generous. And I got a deal a few years back on the beautiful brown A5 planner you see here. I love it.
I tried electronic planners and they just don’t work for me. I need to write things down, to see it on the page in my writing. My planners work as a kind of journal as well, with a list of things that need to be done, yes, but also notes on the weather, quotes I discover that I want to remember, the books I’m reading, the programs I’m watching, rehearsal schedules, random thoughts, and the occasional sticker added to enhance a page. I keep all the pages at the end of the year, tie them up with a ribbon, and stack them inside the pink cabinet in the office. I often refer to them if I need to remember when I coached a certain production, when I was out of town, etc.
I also love to flip through the planner throughout the year and especially near the end of the year. I’ll do that this week. I look back through the days and I’m filled with memories – good and bad. Between the blog and my planner, I can usually track down anything I need to know. I don’t write in a journal, as you know. The blog and my planner are my preferred form of journal.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t remember much of anything if I didn’t write it down!
Also on the table: a pine-scented candle, some souvenir matchbooks, two pieces of McCoy and a plant. My phone isn’t there, but it often is.
Side note: I’m currently eating a piece of apple pie for breakfast. Oh, it’s heaven.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.