Jonathon Miller » Travel

Notebooks

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:00:55 +0000

One of a writers great friends is a notebook. Notebooks like these used to be widely available from a variety of companies, most famously farm supply companies. It’s always fun to look through a stash of old notebooks, to trace the history behind them. Notebooks like these were used to keep track of things such as notes on a harvest, sketches for ideas, and just information you need to remember, like a phone number, directions, or just a shopping list.

The ones you see here belonged to my wife’s grandfather. He recently passed, and these Lietz books were found in his possessions. He was as surveyor for most of his career. The open book chronicles (in the form of a spending log) some of him many journey’s to the orphanage his daughter helps run in Mexico.

With smart phones residing in the pockets of most of us, such archaic methods of notation have fallen by the wayside for most of the general public. For those of us that still carry notebooks, they are indispensable. Most artistic people I know carry a of notebook or sketch book of some sort. Among my friends and I, our favorites are the time honored Moleskine of Hemmingway fame, and Field Notes. Field Notes also maintains a great blog about, well . . . notebooks (and a whole lot of Americana).

Check them both out. What is your favorite way to notate you life?

The Great Typo Hunt

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:00:16 +0000

They did it. Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson actually did it. In 2008 these grammar crusaders did what many of us who love language wish we could. Armed with their typo correction kit (e.g., Sharpies, White-Out and chalk), they traveled the country correcting typos in public signage. Then, wrote a book about it, i.e., The Great Typo Hunt.

On their two and a half month mission they completed a circuitous route around the United Sates and did as much learning about race relations, education, and workplace issues as they did correcting of typos.

They have since written a book and launched a second tour of the country, this time to promote their book. I wonder how much correcting they’ll be doing this time? They’ll be in San Francisco in September, maybe I can ask them my self.

What crazy typos have you seen out there? Send me a picture, the best one will win a prize. A typo free prize. Winner will be chosen the first week of September.

Ahh . . . Hawaii

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:36:38 +0000

Out my bedroom window

So I finally made it back home and have eased myself back into normal life. It has not been easy. I will have much more available concerning my trip soon, but for now it will suffice to say that it was a wonderful, magical experience. I got to see some of my best friends get married and live in a truly unique place for a while. The most difficult thing to let go of was the fact that the picture to the left was taken five minutes after I woke up, and stepped out of the bedroom and onto the balcony.

Personal Update

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:03:08 +0000

Well, Starbucks has forsaken me. I still can’t find my coveted Pick of the Week. It’s not that I’m cheap and don’t want to pay for my music. Quite the contrary. I think musicians should be paid for what they produce. I enjoy the Pick of the Week because it’s a way to force myself to experience music I wouldn’t otherwise seek out. Oh well. Hopefully they just over looked it this week. We’ll see. In other news, I have been plenty busy. I am preparing for my trip to Hawaii (read clouds parting, sun shining and inspirational music playing), and preparing to make an honest launch of my freelance business.

Regarding Hawaii, well, it’s Hawaii. Is it ever bad? My wife and I are going for our friends’ wedding. The couple is from Hilo so the wedding, as well as our lodging, will be in that area. We don’t have much of a budget for the trip, but it’s Hawaii. I could do nothing but attend the wedding and spend the rest of the week sitting on the beach and reading. My only goals for the trip are:

Read through the books I’m bringing (Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck and Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw)
Attend a beautiful wedding
Avoid wearing closed toe shoes at all costs

Other than that, I am just looking forward to spending a week in paradise with my wife. I hope to come back rested, tan, tattooed and ultimately, more clear headed.

Which brings me to the other thing that has been keeping me busy. Launching a business is no mean feat. I have been doing this type work for a while now, more as a hobby than anything else. But times have changed. I love writing, in all it’s forms and I might as well make some decent money while I’m at it. So far I have designed my stationary (business cards, letter head and envelopes) and had a ton of ideas. Right now I am in the process of reigning those ideas in and focusing them into a viable business model, which brings my business plan. I’ve never written one before, but it seems straight forward enough. I’ll probably get to work on the actual writing of it tonight. I’ve spent the last couple days researching how to do such things. That, and my marketing plan. I can’t really write my business plan until I have a marketing plan in place. Again, lots of research. Writing is not a problem for me, it’s the business part of things I am need to learn. I am, however, not deterred. There are few things you can’t learn through a combination of book knowledge and old fashioned trial and error. I just hope this trial and error has a more positive outcome than my adolescent experiments with firecrackers. Poor dog.

Anyhow, things around here next week will be spotty to a possible shade of non-existent. Not that I’m neglecting things when I need to be most on top of them, but I’ll be in freekin Hawaii. On Vacation.

See you there.