Tuesday, January 20, 2009

You might be a paper addict if....

7 comments:

mpclemens said...

I always have fountain pen dreams, like finding some NOS pens in the bottom of a random clearance bin in some anonymous store. I wake up disappointed. And there's the occasional typewriter dream, too, though those are usually of the variety of "can't close the case" or "can't find someone to dicker over the price" type situations. Clairfontaine, huh? You dream classy.

speculator said...

Many, many thanks for your comment!
If you sense the Imitatione Christi calling you, may I recommend (after reading it over and over for about 20 years) the Gardiner edition (published by Image/Doubleday); this edition is the best of all of them- and continually brings Kempis' words to life.
You can stand with St. Augustin's "take up and read!"

And I can add a hurrah for you, too, about Clairefontaine- being a Parisian kid. If you are on a paper-buying strike, you'll want to avoid all those newspaper shops (not to mention bookstores and stationery depts in the big stores on the Boulevards), and they sell those ubiquitous plaid notebooks alongside Le Monde and Le Figaro! I grew up with those notebooks.

There are even Clairefontaine TV commercials (no kidding). They would haunt your dreams!
:-)

Strikethru said...

I haven't tried the Clairefontaine. Uh-oh...

Being addicted to paper is being addicted to the possibilities of the creative mind. How can that be wrong?

I've said this before, but the font of that typewriter is so Star Trektacular. What is it called again? I'll dig around in your posts, I know you said what it was at one time...

Elizabeth H. said...

Speculator--thanks for the tip! I started poking around for a copy and was a bit bewildered by the variety of options. I'll keep your advice in mind...

Elizabeth H. said...

Strikethru, as I recall, Rhodia and Clairefontaine are both made by Exacompta these days, and the paper is very similar. Rhodia is thinner, and I think a little less slippery (or some would say less smooth) than Clairefontaine. In my experience, I'd give a little bit of an edge to Rhodia, but Clairefontaine comes in formats I like better. Rhodia is mostly just pads--great for work and for notes, not as much for journals and writing, where I like a book format. Still, it's cheaper, and far more readily available. And we can't even get the cutest and most colorful Clairefontaine notebooks in the states, at least not very easily. this site has the best selection I've seen, though, and they're close enough to use to ship overnight....

I *want* some hardback Clairfontaine notebooks, but they're pricey. Plus, I'm still determined to hold out on my not-buying. For one thing, I have this baaad mental image of becoming one of those sad single people who end up having to be dug out of their ______ collection. "Rescuers were called to a home on ____ Rd. yesterday to assist in the case of a woman who we hear was barricaded in her home by stacks of premium paper and several dozen typewriters. Bob Murkle is on site with more on this bizarre situation. Bob? What can you tell us?"

Meanwhile...I had another shopping dream involving Miquelrius flexible cover notebooks. It's plum pitiful.

Elizabeth H. said...

Oh! And the typeface is called "Senatorial." I like. ;-)

Strikethru said...

I totally worry about the dig-out scenario too. It kind of runs in my family actually. I've tried to start buying less this year. It's difficult-- you realize how compulsive these habits can get!