Traveling Tablets

Here are some pictures of the notebooks I am making for the project. Until further notice they will be called the Traveling Tablets. I wanted something with alliteration. The name sounds a little lame, but I hope that the end project ends up great enough to over shadow the name.



I found these ring bound notebooks by myndology for pretty cheap during a sale at my school's bookstore. I got the bargain of eight notebooks for less than three dollars.


They are made with recycled paper, and the disks are made from a biodegradable material. I am glad that they are sustainable, but I would have bought them even if they weren't recycled.

The design on the front cover is interesting, with cut out arrows pointing in all different directions. The covers seem to also double as a pocket, though  I don't think they would hold something safely.





On the inside cover, I have printed the instructions for the booklets:

"Congratulations! You were gifted this book. The purpose of this book is to become filled with life, the experiences of as many people as possible.

  So take as much time as you need, and fill up a page or two in this book. It can be anything, words, art, a photo, anything. Once you’re done, give it to someone else.

Once the book is filled up, and if you are the one to fill it, please mail it to the address on the inside of the back cover."

And on the back cover I have both the address to send them to, as well as the url of this blog for the finders of the tablets can post comments and things.

The first of the tablets is out, soon to be followed by the rest. The first generation of them is only five (I decided to hold onto a few of the notebooks). I hope that at the very least I get two back, even one. I imagine that many will be lost, kept, destroyed. But if even one survives, or even just a few pages of one, then I will have succeeded in my project.

I smell a change.

     It seems to me that it is finally time to change the title of my blog. Ramble on was chosen very, very hastily, and I really feel it lacks the whole creative image that I am trying to go for. But just to make it easy on the few readers that I do have, I am going to keep it as "The Blog Formerly Known as 'Ramble on'" for at least a day before I make a drastic change. The winter break is already here, and because I do not want to fall back into the pattern of inactivity and boredom that plagued my summer, it looks like it is time for a lifestyle change as well. Not to radical. But I am going to maybe think about working out a bit. I am not going to let the lazy me steal the break that I have waited so long for, so activities here we come. I plan on changing the blog up a little bit, more than just the name. I feel like I have finally hit my stride with it and it's time to do work. Make sure to keep checking back in the next few days to see the difference and give me your input.

Tomorrow I am starting a new project.

I have been wanting to do this for a long time. And I have finally found both the time and the materials to do it. My plan is to leave little notebooks around the town. In coffee shops, libraries, parks, anywhere a large number of people frequent. Inside the front cover is a note asking the finder to fill a page or two with anything they want and when finished, to pass it on to a new person. They can write, draw, paint, or something that I have yet to think of. On the back cover there is an address to send the book to when it is completely full.

I don't really expect to ever see the books again. I imagine most will get lost, destroyed, or kept. But I think that if I release enough of them at least one will reach me at the end of it's journey, full of the experiences people have filled it with. I confess the idea was inspired by a similar project, Postsecret. But I want something more tangible, more varied. I hope it is a success.

The Sad Life Of William V. Bradley

This is the story I have been writing using the plot generator. This is what I have so far. Every plot change is noted with colored letters in parenthesis. So without further ado...

The Sad Life Of William V. Bradley

(character gets evicted)

William V. Bradley stood outside of his humble single story house in Wayne, New Jersey. He had only been living there for a short time. A year ago he had moved to the States from England, intent on becoming a reporter for a newspaper. He had no degree, and worked as a janitor for the office the local paper used while he took classes at a community college to get his degree in journalism.

He sat down on the concrete steps leading to his porch and read the notice in his hand. He had a roommate who had ran off the week prior, taking with him four months worth of William’s hard earned rent money and left the paper Will held on the counter with a note.

“Sorry bro,” the note had said. Underneath it laid the somber notice of eviction. Will sat and stared at the paper for hours, not quite reading it, playing with the cuffs of his thrift store flannel shirt. The majority of the money he had made went towards rent and bills, all of which were in his name. The meager sum left paid for a few groceries and his tuition. He had to quit smoking in order to manage his budget. Careful sacrifices made in order to fulfill a dream that he might now never reach.

The note said he had to come up with thirty two hundred dollars in the next week. As of the following friday, he would be without a place to live. There was no way he could come up with the funds to pay that in a week, but he would have to try.

The crickets had already begun their sad twilight chorus when Will got up off of the step and returned inside. He had work to do. There had to be some sort of lifeline he could exploit, some untapped reservoir of money he could borrow. He didn’t have enough credit to take out a loan. With his family and friends hundreds of miles across the ocean he had no one to cosign. He stood near the phone wondering who he could call. With a sigh he turned away and got ready for bed.

A plot generator. What a great tool!

     So recently I have been trying to develop my skills as a creative writer. And I believe that I have found the perfect way to practice. I found this interesting website. It is a random plot point generator. It is great for testing the versatility of a writer. What I have been trying to do is write half a page to a page for each new plot twist. Every time that I run out of things to write on one plot twist, I hit the button and write a new one.
     I will show the results in a few days. It is to fun to stop writing at this moment. So far my character has been evicted, attacked by aliens, and followed advice that turned out to be bad. Ha. I will have the story up soon for everyone to enjoy. Thanks for reading.

On a side note.

      Life, being full of difficult decisions, has thrown an awful choice my way. I am currently in the library, on the bottom floor, with all of my school ingredients splayed out on the table I sit at. I have my laptop out, obviously, with its power cord plugged into a power outlet. These outlet spaces are prime locations and I am sure that if I got up it will not be here when I return. Unfortunately I have to piss. Fucking badly. And I can hold it, which I can do for not to long, or pack up go and lose my spot. Fuck you bladder. You win this round.

Dead week.

     Dead week. The week before finals. Crunch time. This week for me used to mean so many different things. The thoughts bouncing in my head would be Shit I am fucked or Fuck I am going to fail. How can I tell my parents. What the fuck am I going to do?
      I would delude myself with my timeless mantra It's all good, It's all good, It's all good. Nothing was alright. Nothing got done. Each day meant a deeper hole that I couldn't admit I was in. Each day was closer to a deadline that I couldn't face. I was not working, how could I? How could I face the surmounting summit of guilt and embarrassment. It was so easy to just turn away.
     I find myself starting to worry now, but for no reason other than habit. This year I am actually doing well. I have done my work. I have completed most of what I set out to do. It is hard to imagine what it is like to not be in a hole until you are out of it, and god it is great. I am going to follow the example I have set for myself and continue to follow through with my plans.
     The only thing left to do now is next semester. Finish the classes I enrolled in with good grades and get the fuck back into to Chico State. I can't wait to put this place behind me. Granted it has been a good experience and will continue to be for the remainder of my tenure here. But I just want out. I long for the shady greens and soft landscapes of Chico campus. I crave the old used smell of the hallways and classrooms. I miss the fact that my house is only a few blocks away. Chico is comfort.
     That could be the reason why I am doing better at XXX. The comfort is not available for me here. I have yet to find it. I spend my time here almost on edge, counting the seconds until I can get back in my car and drive the fifteen miles back home.
     The one comfort I do find reaching me here, in this remote, out-of-the-way location, is the fact that unlike previous years, I am actually doing well. It is a great thing not to worry about school. Now if only I didn't have to worry about money.