So National Poetry Month is over. I didn't complete the Poem-A-Day Challenge, but I did write some poetry and I had some fun doing it. I made a plan for a chant-style poem that mocks both major political parties in the US and tentatively subtitled it "The Death Threat Poem", because it's an equal-opportunity offender (I don't get involved in politics: I shun them). I wrote a cinquain about a lawn tool (prompt #8). I wrote a hopeless poem (prompt #27). And I wrote a handful of other poems that didn't fit the prompts.I did these in my Piccadilly lined notebook, which I grabbed at Borders for about $5. That I bought a Piccadilly and not a Moleskine is not entirely noteworthy; I've been meaning to try Piccadilly books for a while now. That I bought a lined notebook is noteworthy. I've long been a staunch "unlined only" journaller. But the lines are perfect for poetry and other list-like things. I did my Time Finder in that journal, and made lists of things I had to get done in it as well. My one complaint is the poor quality of the cover. I bought a softcover journal, and it's made of basically cardboard with a faux oilskin sheet pasted to it. It started to split when I tried to tuck my steel pen's clip into it. I can bend the cover back and fold it under, but after doing this a couple dozen times, the black fabric pulls away from the spine, revealing the glued-in bookmark. The bookmark stays put, thankfully, but with the fabric bulged out like that it's not the most attractive book. The bulging makes it a bit harder to handle, too.
All in all, though, the Piccadilly journal is a good buy. The quality in certain places is far outshined by Moleskine, but you can get about three Piccadillys for the price of one Moleskine. I'm less touchy about this notebook getting jammed into my bag and maybe slightly abused (by accident, I assure you) because it is less expensive.
My regular journal, which I've been neglecting for a while, mostly because I do my brain-dumps into my Morning Pages notebook these days, is a plain softcover Moleskine, and is nearly finished. When I reach the end of that book, I have a plain Miquelrius to start. I'm already using a gridded Miquelrius for my role-playing notes, and I like the quality and feel of it. They're a little more expensive than Piccadilly, but they have more pages. A mid-range option, I would say.
Piccadilly and Moleskine are available at most major booksellers such as Borders and Barnes and Noble. So far the only place I can clearly recall seeing Miquelrius is at Dick Blick. Got a journalling preference? Are you picky about your journals or do you grab just any old book and get to work?
