English 100 at Ashland

A little background I think most of us would benefit from keeping some sort of daily journal. Besides giving an opportunity to just practice writing and giving a documented space to remember things, my journal functions like Professor Dumbledore’s Pensieve—a place where I can just drop thoughts and clear my mind, but perhaps return to them in the future. I had a lot of trouble getting my journal started when I began several years ago, but then I remembered a writer’s trick: I needed to construct an audience . I needed some sense that I was actually writing to someone. For me, that constructed audience was my children, who might dig this book out of the closet after my death and figure out what on earth I had been thinking and doing. Now that I am rolling on the journal, I guess the journal itself is my audience, but not in the “Dear Diary” sense. (If that works for you, fine!) I got the picture above from the Inter...

I was sitting at Panera this morning, writing, as usual, in my journal. And, as usual, some stranger took the opportunity to sit down and chat. Now, you can do almost anything at Panera without attracting attention (knit, read a book, have an argument on your phone), but the minute you try writing something with a fountain pen, you attract attention. At least I do. It’s like someone is performing brain surgery with a butter knife. People are amazed that it is even possible. That’s fascinating because we are not that far removed from a time when absolutely every well-organized adult had a fountain pen. (Probably the 1950s.) My mother had a pen in her purse, filled with purple ink. My father had one for signing important documents, filled (of course) with blue-black. I got through high school with a series of cheap pens filled with cheap blue ink. Banks had fountain pens in holders for people to write checks. (Ballpoints were kind of unreliable....

Right now you are signing a lot of documents—loan papers and such. They seem like annoying formalities that just don’t mean that much. Trust me. They do mean that much. You need to read them carefully and get someone to explain them to you if you do not understand what you are signing. Take your time. Don’t let anyone stampede you. Ask your parents if they have a safe deposit box at their bank, and if they do, the loan documents belong there. At the very least get one of those accordion file folders, and keep your copy of everything you sign. If you are uncertain about what all that paperwork means, you would certainly be wise to get a second professional opinion. (The first place I would ask would be my bank—unless they are the ones loaning me the money!) By the way, you will also want to keep your textbook receipts from the college bookstore so you can return the book if you bought the wrong one or your schedule changes. ...