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.
Love this
I write in a planner daily
I do not keep them
However I journal daily and keep the journals
Have tons by now
I have to write it as I am a visual learner. My daughter usually gets me a planner and a journal for Christmas
Friends get me journals
I use one a month usually
They are also my prayer journals plus my everyday
Of course during my teaching career I did not write daily.
Have a great day today
You, too, Brenda.
Thank you!
Stay safe.
I read once, that it’s the actual act of writing things down that aids in remembering. Typing, as in a phone log/calendar, doesn’t work the same. I’ve found that to be true.
Apple pie for breakfast sounds heavenly! Enjoy your day! ;)
I’m sure that’s true. There’s another theory about reading as well – that we don’t retain stories and plots that we read on an electronic reader nearly as well as we do with an actual book in our hands.
Stay safe Donnamae.
That’s interesting…I wonder why? I can understand the physical act of writing things down leaves an imprint on your mind. But reading an actual book? Who knew? Wonder if it has to do with the texture of the page, or the smell of the book? Guess more research is in order. ;)
I think it absolutely has to do with those things. A screen just doesn’t do it.
xo
I had a slice of apple pie for breakfast yesterday. Definitely heaven!
My 17-year old grandson makes a wonderful apple pie, and his crust is pure flaky joy!
Stay safe, warm & well!
Good for your grandson!
Stay safe, Amy.
thanks for the table tour. i like seeing how people decorate, what’s important to them and what they keep out and handy.
members of my family use wall calendars and keep them. good to use and have. over the years, i’ve tried wall calendars, minis (like the kind hallmark stores used to give away) and a planner. calendars of any size work best for me.
glad you have more time to read the books from the library. hope you got the reading day you wanted yesterday … and every day.
had apple pie on Christmas day here, too. also my beloved mother’s excellent recipe for baked spaghetti. and we tried a new-to-us egg-free breakfast casserole that turned out alright. also plenty of candy. :)
warming up here this week (to above freezing tomorrow). looking forward to some sunshine … just have to watch for the sneaky re-freeze!
hope everyone has a good day today. stay safe!
kathy
Don used to make baked spaghetti. It’s been a long time, however.
Stay safe, Kathy!
My beloved grandmother made the best pies and often had a slice of leftover pie for breakfast. There was leftover pumpkin pie from Christmas that no one else wanted, but it sure made a few delicious breakfasts for me with coffee. I also prefer to write things down, received a lovely French-themed 2023 planner from family.
I love pumpkin pie for breakfast, as well!
Stay safe, Lynda.
My husband never writes down anything and seldom then remembers, relying on ME. He tries to use his phone with some kind of planner; he even wears a watch on his wrist now with beeper reminders of some sort. But nothing much works for him, poor guy.
I have to make constant lists and notes or I don’t remember anything either. I can go ‘way off course so easily. What’s been working for me is to have a 9×11 calendar with squares and, wow, that thing is my other ‘Bible’ or I’d miss a lot of appointments, birthdays, etc. I’m definitely a pen and paper girl. No electronics for me.
I’ve been up since ‘early’ and catching up on a lot of Buffalo stories, too many which are just so sorrowful and others of heroism with people helping people over and over again in this horrendous, once-in-a-generation blizzard/arctic cyclone or whatever it’s called ‘event’. Found myself welling up; just can’t imagine this weather you all are going thru in the Northeast and Midwest; and, well, everywhere, even in the ‘West’ like Idaho and Wyoming, of course the Upper Midwest, maybe all the way to Florida? Sobering.
The Buffalo stories are heartbreaking. It’s just too much. A young 22 year old teacher asphyxiated in her car. That one really got to Don. People who died because emergency vehicles could not get to them because of the storm. We got off relatively easily. We didn’t even have to deal with ice.
Stay safe, Vicki.
So sad…so cold and all that snow.
Claudia, thank you for giving us a tour of the items on your table. I totally enjoyed hearing about your planner history and your current planners. The covers are beautiful. I don’t think I could keep track of daily life without a planner. I enjoy writing with fountain pens, so the planner I use must have “fountain pen friendly” paper. As an aside, I just finished the newest Louise Penny. After you have read it I look forward to your thoughts on it..The only one I haven’t read is, “The Madness of Crowds.” I get the impression that it is an intense storyline. What did you think of it
I can’t even remember the plot, Denise! I read so many books. I know I love each and every one of her books, so there you go!
Read it.
I’ve tried a fountain pen but only once (though I used to use them in high school) and I didn’t like it. Do you have any you can recommend?
Stay safe, Denise!
The idea of an electronic planner is anathema to me (although I know they work great for lots of people). I love planners and write all sorts of things in them, just as you do, Claudia. It’s always so exciting to start a new year with a new planner!
I’m so excited to start fresh in a few days, Jenny!
Stay safe.
Well, I wish I could write about planners. Instead I get to tell everyone I tested positive for Covid this morning. In addition to our Christmas Eve debacle, my sister tested positive the next day with no symptoms. She then passed it on to me. I am so bummed. My son had planned a trip to Disneyland for the family this week so we could not go. Then my husband made reservations at a cabin in Sedona called Orchard Canyon for this coming weekend…….not! Covid ruined that too. No couple days of quiet, no TV or internet, just reading and taking naps. We’ll try again in the Spring. Plus today is my daughters birthday . Hope everyone stays healthy!
Oh damn! I’m so sorry, Deb. You certainly didn’t need this right now. Please take care of yourself and rest.
Sending you a virtual hug.
Stay safe.
Thank you!
So sorry. We had Covid in our family on a special special birthday. So many plans changed. I maintain that this is All unnecessary if things had been done correctly on the beginning. People need to mask also. Feel better please.
Thank you!
My husband was in THREE grocery stores today and he said he was so relieved to see MANY more masks on people’s faces than he’s recently seen in past weeks; so, a good development to help us all try to avoid this awful flu, the RSV AND of course Covid!
Oh gee, Deb! So sorry you tested positive. My husband is feeling concerned and took a test himself yesterday, at one of the mobile units but thankfully so far he’s negative. It’s just so much on the mind but mostly I just hope you’ll feel okay despite the emotional upheaval also concerning dashed plans. The latest people I know of who’ve become infected, at least if they’re boosted, seem to be getting a sore throat and runny nose; hopefully it won’t be you; just tuck in and take good care of yourself; maximize that TLC; drink a lot of water/fluids and just flush out those nasties from your system. Naps are good if your body is trying to fight!
The thing that got to me, too (gosh I hope I’m not repeating myself), was seeing that security guard at the mobile unit because of the workers there getting harassed by anti-vaxxers; my husband said they’d told him their lives had been threatened. (They’re just young women for Pete’s sake; maybe nurses? Just trying to do a job for which they’re getting paid!)
Anyway, sending best healing wishes your way; quiet New Year’s weekend now; just rest. I’m doing the same. I had enough of those planes flying overhead on Christmas Day. It’s bad enough there’ll be the New Year’s Eve fireworks (after a point; I mean, a few are celebratory and I don’t mind it) but maybe we’ll get the rain that’s forecasted (which will force some of the ones who overdo it back indoors).
Thank you!
hej, deb.
i wish you could write about planners, too, instead of being sick with that awful covid! prayers for you and your sister to get better soon and that your daughter has been otherwise enjoying a nice birthday.
take care. hope you have what you want/need for groceries, reading, etc. and can soon start planning another fun get-together. it will happen!
hugs,
kathy
Thank you Kathy!
Apple pie is my favorite breakfast!
I have hundreds of little scraps of paper all over my desk with quotes, to do lists for work and home and reminders. I think I need a planner as I can’t find what I need when I need it!
I just finished the new Louise Penny. I will only say what I always say after I read her books- it’s the best one yet! Really it is…
Enjoy the sunny weather. :)
Betsy
Yes, you need a planner, Betsy!
I’m not sure when I’m going to read the Penny. A while yet as I’ve got the library books to finish. Glad you liked it!
Stay safe!
After Claudia reads the Penny book, maybe you could share what you really liked to make it the best ever. I enjoy hearing others talk
About the books they read. Of course most of my books are on my iPad from Netgalley and it has become just like a real book to me. I now see no difference. That took awhile lol
okay! I will; don’t want to give any spoilers yet. :)
I’d suggest not to talk about it for a long time. Several readers are reading them in order and aren’t even close to this newest Penny.
a while back, my sister made several blank books for me. one, for example, i use to list book titles and authors’ names as my “to be read” list.
another no-longer-blank book holds quotes, to-do lists, goals, names of places i’d like to go (pretty much the entire world), concerts i attended, etc. … a catch-all place to put miscellaneous things for which i would not create an actual paper file. learned some people call this a “common place book”. works for me … i was able to get rid of lots and lots of scrap paper on which i’d written the name of a newly-discovered website, a vague hint at a new password, gift ideas for my family ….
hope you get a system that works for you … and have a good night.
kathy
Thank you for the idea, Kathy.
Loved hearing about the pros and cons of the different types of planners. I’m happy with my wall calendar until it’s time to write all the important dates and events in my new calendar. Hoping to do that this week so I can hang it up on Sunday. Claudia, we went to Canadaian Tire to look for the little red sweater ornaments. They were clearing the Christmas aisles and there were no sweaters in sight. I asked about them and they found one for me, one! I was so disappointed. We’ll check a few other nearby stores but I’m not holding out much hope. Enjoy your reading. Hugs, Elaine
Enjoy that sweater, Elaine! We’ll discover more designs next year!
Stay safe.
I’m with you on planners, although I use more of the datebook calendar type — usually from a museum or an artist I enjoy. This year the theme is botanical prints which I thought might inspire painting. Like you, they are a record of life each year (although the past three years have been for more empty than the years before!) Without them, I don’t think I’d ever stay on track and miss more appointments than I keep!
I’ve one book to read before “Madly Deeply” — I thought I’d start the new year with that one. Also on my pile are a bio of the Queen, Peter Swanson’s “Nine Lives,” “Three Sisters, Three Queens,” several Donna Leons, the most recent Maggie Hope mystery, a couple of British Library crime classics and, of course, Louise Penny. Those are the new ones…. it doesn’t count the ton waiting for me to choose them from my shelves! That’s the trouble with book exchanges — they come in faster than I can read!
I have stacks upstairs, too. And books on the shelves. And, and…
Stay safe, Jeanie.