It’s been two years (and a bit) since I last talked about my journaling process. Not much has changed really. I usually use a 70-page wide-ruled notebook. When I was teaching, I would stock up on these during the summer back-to-school sales when you could get six or seven for a dollar. I still have a pile of them that I am working through.

I usually write with a fountain pen (although they can be problematic on cheap paper) or a gel pen. Lately, I’ve been enjoying writing with an ordinary #2 pencil. (I also have a backlog of these to work through.) I actually enjoy writing with a pencil, as the feel of lead¹ making a mark on paper is quite soothing. But it’s not like it was when I was a kid, when every pencil sharpener did a good job²—nowadays you have to spend good money to find a pencil sharpener that will sharpen pencils to a decent point on a consistent basis. 

What I miss most is the smell of sharpening pencils. Pencils used to be made out of cedar, and it was a treat to sharpen them and smell that delicate scent. Nowadays they are made from lesser woods, and that simple joy is no longer with us. You can still buy pencils made from Eastern red cedar, but they are not cheap. But they are often worth it.

I have, on occasion, treated myself to a box of really expensive pencils. (Okay, I’ve done it once, and I experienced such guilt that I will probably never do it again.) Oddly, I have never cared for Dixon Ticonderoga, although I remember writing with them when I was a boy. (Apparently, I’m not the only one is not impressed with “the world’s best pencil”.) I have tried the Arteza pencils, and enjoyed them, but I sometimes get the best results with pencils from the dollar store. They don’t smell nice when you sharpen them, and the cores are sometimes not centered, but they are cheap and come in pretty Halloween designs every autumn.

Anyway, enough waffling. Here’s the latest batch of journals:

• 026 — 6/8/2020 to 6/27/2020 — 67 pages
• 027 — 6/27/2020 to 7/17/2020 — 67 pages
• 028 — 7/17/2020 to 8/8/2020 — 67 pages
• 029 — 8/8/2020 to 9/2/2020 — 65 pages
• 030 — 9/2/2020 to 10/24/2020 — 70 pages
• 031 — 10/24/2020 to 11/23/2020 — 71 pages
• 032 — 11/24/2020 to 12/16/2020 — 70 pages
• 033 — 12/17/2020 to 1/14/2021 — 70 pages
• 034 — 1/14/2021 to 2/15/2021 — 70 pages
• 035 — 2/15/2021 to 3/9/2021 — 70 pages
• 036 — 3/9/2021 – 3/31/2021 — 70 pages
• 037 — 3/31/2021 to 4/23/2021— 70 pages
• 038 — 4/23/2021 to 5/15/2021— 70 pages
• 039 — 5/15/2021 to 6/2/2021— 70 pages
• 040 — 6/2/2021 to 7/24/2021— 70 pages
• 041 — 7/24/2021 to 8/24/2021— 70 pages
• 042 — 8/24/2021 to 9/5/2021— 70 pages

For some reason, I decided to switch to loose-leaf paper in a three ring binder, and just go on a monthly basis. I don’t remember why—I believe I may have been trying to figure out how much I write every month. 

• 043 — 9/6/2021 to 9/30/2021 — 117 pages
• 044 — 10/1/2021 to 10/31/2021 — 102 pages
• 045 — 11/1/2021 to 11/30/2021 — 96 pages
• 046 — 12/1/2021 to 12/31/2021 — 102 pages

And then for some reason, I decided to switch back to notebooks. 

• 047 —1/1/2022 to 1/31/2022 — 70 pages
• 048 — 2/1/2022 to 3/5/2022 — 70 pages
• 049 — 3/5/2022 to 4/16/2022 — 70 pages
• 050 — 4/17/2022 to 5/13/2022 — 70 pages
• 051 — 5/13/2022 to 6/18/2022 — 70 pages
• 052 — 6/18/2022 to 7/20/2022 — 70 pages
• 053 — 7/21/2022 to 9/11/2022 — 70 pages

And there we are.

Notes

¹ It’s not really lead—it’s a combination of graphite and clay. I have a chunk of it embedded in the middle of my right palm from when I was running and fell with a sharpened pencil in my hand. Yes, it sometimes does happen.

² Or maybe I just never ran into bad ones. It seemed like every pencil sharpener in school worked just fine, as did the one screwed to our kitchen wall just above the waste basket. (Convenient, that.)

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