AKA Abraham Bacoln

Okay, so first up: my townhouse is up for sale. I’m graduating in December and moving as soon as possible after that, and none of my close friends expressed interest in renting my place, so I’m finally selling. Because of that, you know, the whole “strangers coming to see my townhouse” thing, I have to keep everything neat and tidy, or neater and tidier than usual. And I’m a neat and tidy guy, but this is already feeling a little over the edge. I’m reluctant to cook because I’m afraid as soon as I get something going I’ll get that call: “Hey, so-and-so wants to show your place in about 15 minutes – would you mind just scootin’ out for a cup of coffee or something? You weren’t doing anything were you?”

I know I’ll get over that eventually but for now, guh, what a pain. Still, the end result will be worth it.

Okay so all that up there was to say that for various reasons – most of which revolve around scrambling to make my place ready to sell plus other obligations – I have not eaten breakfast at home in four days. Four days. Man, four consecutive days of eating fast food breakfast has made me feel like a pile of slug. I know there are people that stop in every morning for a sausage biscuit or a bacon croissant but how? This morning I actually dreaded that drive-through, I could feel my body rejecting my decision. I just wanted my bowl of cereal or some yogurt and a cup of coffee, maybe a little bit of fruit, but I had to vacate because there were people coming to see my place at 8:30 and everything had to be pristine.

So the point is that I’m old. I can’t survive on fast food. It makes me feel gross and like I’m killing myself, which in some way I’m sure I am, though it’d be a lot faster death to just not eat anything I guess, so perhaps fast food is just prolonging the inevitable.

I’m going to the grocery store tonight. There will be something not gross waiting for me for breakfast tomorrow.

And now the unrelated bit: a couple of semesters ago I decided that I was tired of lined notebook paper. In my opinion it’s partly stupid and partly worthless. I can write in a straight line. A lot of my classes involve graphs and notes and curves and tangents and formulas and none of that works well on lined paper. I went out and bought a pack of white copy paper with the 3-hole punch already done. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Now I can draw notes wherever, make lines and figures, write big, write small, and it all looks great. I’ve been doing it for months now and every day it just gets better and better.

You wouldn’t believe the looks I get, though. I mean it. People look over at what I’m writing on this nice bright white 3HP as opposed to dingy gray flimsy notebook paper and they say, “BUT THERE AREN’T ANY LINES!” or, “I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU WRITE SO STRAIGHT!” and I want to shake them and say, “Fellow man! Unburden yourself from the shackles of grade school! Let yourself be free, let your notes flow like the water and the wind, and never again permit the blue line of the oppressor!” but usually I just say, “Yeah, well, you know.”

I do enjoy when someone asks to borrow a piece of paper. They inevitably turn it over to check the other side.

It’s the simple – very simple – things in life that bring me pleasure. Like unlined paper. It’s a special freedom.

They make unlined paper? Amazing. How do they remove the lines?

Comment by Atox October 16, 2008 @ 12:57 pm

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Most people don’t know that the lines normally *cover* the paper; what we know as “lined paper” is originally one solid color until they remove the wide strips we write in.

Comment by Jim October 16, 2008 @ 1:03 pm

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We are like BFF:

1. I want to sell my condo too! I’m not at the point you are at; I’m meeting with a realtor this Saturday. I dread the keeping-my-house-clean thing. I am NOT neat and tidy; I am the opposite of that.

2. I didn’t use ruled paper in college either, but I went the other way: I use graph paper. Still do. It’s convenient for little diagrams and sketches and graphs, AND it’s good for keeping my outline-like notes in line. (I also used three different colored pens to take notes in college. People scoffed, but my notes were GORGEOUS.)

3. Move to Philly! Please.

Comment by kerry October 16, 2008 @ 1:11 pm

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Huh. I never use lined paper. I enjoyed reading why you don’t either.

Comment by j. November 6, 2008 @ 8:04 am

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