Note. Pads.

I love when you are required to take a “creativity class” for work. This happens, it happens a lot and I can speak from experience that most of the time the lesson has no impact on anyone other than annoying the already creative people with great tips like: “Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand” and “Carry around a note book for ideas.”

Idea-to-paper isn’t a learned thing. Either you are someone that is compelled, by narcissism or brain chemistry or emotional insecurity or short term memory loss, to record your thoughts and observations, or you aren’t. Maybe you journaled for a week after seeing a guest on Oprah (or taking a creativity seminar). Maybe if you are a CEO and you caught a case of cancer and are paying a biographer to write the story of your life, maybe you have started to carry around a notebook to record thoughts and memories for him/her. Maybe you have started to carry around your secretary. Whatever your temporary situation, you don’t have any claim over the notebook debate.

I have the compulsion to record all the time (probably due to a mix of the above mentioned reasons) and unlike one of my favorite bloggers Summer Pierre, I am not that particular about what I write in or on. I like her post even though I totally disagree (but she is the drawing type so that could make a difference) and in fact love when people get me journals as gifts, even if they are totally crazy, like when my grandma gets ones from church craft sales covered in seashells attached with Elmer's glue, because I find them all sentimental and inspiring.

You can’t carry seashell journals around easily though. Elmer’s is not purse-transport approved. My favorite ones to carry around are the little teeny steno-style flip ones, preferably covered with wildlife photos. These are the notebooks of private investigators (minus the chihuahua photos) and electricians.  My personal  glory days of the mini flip were back when I lived in K-Town, LA near a Korean dollar store. These would come in packs of three. I got one pack that had three different St. Bernards.  I think I have one mostly blank one of these left – I am obviously saving it for a very serious investigation:

I do have a preference when it comes to TCB-ing. For the plotting and the scamming, I love notepads. Note. Pads. The top-tear kind you would use in court and/or the USA networks show “Suits”. To prove my point, here is the stack of notepads I have filled this year:

Like a crazy person on trial representing herself, these notebooks are filled with counter points and closing arguments.

You never know.