This is one swathy post. It takes me back to days when I could sign my name with a pen and not be mistaken for a doctor. And recognise my own writing. If I wasn't hell-bent on being celibate, or have made solemn vows to never have anything to do with a woman ever again, I'd invite you out to Officeworks to view the stationery, check out the Schaffer calligraphy pens, and do a few photocopies of nothing in particular.
U-Turning & Returning to Norm's Blog.
Mal.

2. January 5th 2008 @ 08:25. Anonymous Says:

Oh you sweet-talker you! No man has EVER offered to walk me through the aisles of Officeworks... that is totally swoon-worthy. If only men knew the way to a woman's heart is through her pen.
Jo

Mal

3. January 5th 2008 @ 08:57. Mal Says:

I once spent an evening with a woman in a bookshop. We had a great time. If I'd known that when we went back to her house afterwards all she wanted to do was read a book, I might not have been so enthusiastic. I put it down to: "You live and learn without reading books sometimes." Many people have labelled me a cynic. I love it when people give me compliments. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm bored shitless tonight. All the bookshops are closed.
Mal.

Photography Tips
MS Paint Art

4. January 5th 2008 @ 09:04. katyzzz Says:

A beautifully 'scribed' post Jo, you really touched me but on this topic I am easily persuaded. Love the name of your blog, very clever, so I have found you which is good, glad you took part in the game.

katyzzz

5. January 5th 2008 @ 09:13. Anonymous Says:

Hey Katyzzz

My blog name is a play on the title of my book Secret Mothers Business, don't know if non-Aussies get the reference, but love the word 'secret' anyway. Do you check out Postsecret ever? It's my one addiction. I love secrets. Other peoples - know what I mean?
And kudos to you on this idea - I have been leaving comments in places like edible flowers for goodness sake. But otherwise, I love the generosity of networking your post invites. Thank U.
Jo

Flick Wit

6. January 5th 2008 @ 09:57. Michaelie Says:

Jo,

I also love lead pencils, worship whiteout, savour staplers and stickytape, stencils and stamps...

You're right, there is something beautiful about a blank page.

Unless inspiration has deserted of course! Then it seems to be making a mockery of me!

Great post.

Michaelie

Flick Wit

7. January 5th 2008 @ 10:08. Michaelie Says:

BTW, will be buying Things Without A Name when it comes out!

Michaelie

8. January 5th 2008 @ 10:13. Anonymous Says:

Thanks Michaelie - good to know I have one hard fast sale out there! If you're in Sydney, I'll flick you an invite to the launch which will be in May sometime, possibly at the Sydney Writers' Festival.
Love your posts too, and great to make the connection,
Jo

Casper Blue

9. January 5th 2008 @ 10:25. JD Crew Says:

I can totally relate.

So far I have 5 diaries for 2008 in every style you could imagine.

I have also given strict instruction to family that oneday when I die, I want to be cremated with half my ashes sprinkled in Officeworks (preferably under a shelf so that I'm not swept up straight away) and half at sea....hehe.

Flick Wit

10. January 5th 2008 @ 10:27. Michaelie Says:

Hah - I'm sure you needn't worry! I live in Melbourne now but may be in Sydney sometime in May, depending on work. Sure I'll be talking to you many times between now and then anyway!

Don't know whether you saw it, but I left a comment for you on katyzzz's blog - I read your condom post last month or whenever and really liked it, but couldn't find you again. Then you left a comment on my blog and a few others, and I tried to click on you but it wouldn't work.

Anyway I think - but bear in mind I'm hopeless at computer-ish things - that if you type in 'Joanne Fedler' in the Orble tag box when you leave a comment it should come up with the proper links and won't bring you up in notifications as 'Anonymous'. Once on your computer should do it, then it will save the... cookies? See I may have no idea what I'm talking about and you may not care anyway - but just thought I'd tell you!

Michaelie

11. January 5th 2008 @ 10:42. Joanne Fedler Says:

Thanks for that Michaelie, I can promise you I am even more hopeless at computer-things. Am still finding myway around Orble, and not sure how it all works, so any advice and assistance is very welcome. Sometimes when I try to leave a comment, the whole set up seems different and I don't know what the hell I am doing. And can't seem to find myself on Orble sometimes, so how's that for an identity crisis?
Will try to be more solid in my presence and accessibility, and yes, we'll be chatting a lot between now and May. That fact alone has finally made me feel like all this blogging is not some silent banter into the empty ether.
Jo

Flick Wit

12. January 5th 2008 @ 10:52. Michaelie Says:

Haha 'I need to find myself' has become a technological predicament.

If you felt like it was a bit onesided it could have been because others couldn't find you either, so hopefully that will right itself. Do keep going Jo - I haven't been here long myself but I find it very rewarding so don't give up!

Michaelie

One other thing when you can be bothered - using a picture/photo (doesn't have to be of you if you don't want) will help you get noticed. A lot of people skim over the posts on the Orble page which don't have pics, because they are so often spammy trash, or just low quality Orble blogs. You have a domain - and really great content - so you are at an advantage.

13. January 5th 2008 @ 10:56. secretwritersbusiness Says:

If only I could figure out how to add a pic - I have some vague concerns about what is and is not copyrighted, so am truly a little lost about where to find appropriate pics.
This is a bit of an experiment for me - not sure about you, but hoping to find some community, some sense of shared interests in thought and writing, and will I guess, figure things out slowly. Thanks for all your very generous help.
Jo

Flick Wit

14. January 5th 2008 @ 11:10. Michaelie Says:

You needn't do this if you don't want to, I'm just letting you know because I was so lost myself when I started:

Click on My Orble at the top and it will take you to a menu where you can change anything. In one of them (settings?) there is a place to add profile photos. Mine is of me so I didn't have to worry, and others on my posts are credited to the source. If you don't want to use yourself, do you have a photo you've uploaded from digital camera of a flower, or some inanimate object you think appropriate? Anything would do, and is better than Anony tag.

I am here for the same reason as you - not the place to make a living! - and it is definitely worth a go.

15. January 5th 2008 @ 13:14. tlcorbin Says:

Hello Joanne, this blog touched a raw nerve, I have enough office stationary and 'stuff' to open a small store. For example, there are enough loose paper clips on my desk that it would be possible for me to shuffle then until time lines turned back upon themselves, and Christ returned to turn them into whine..., oh, that was me.

The Carpel Tunnel, isn't that located on the highway to Gnome, just out side where the Flourish River runs into the Blue Bearing Sea?

Sleepy Cheers, Raven

Pictures aren't the issue, it's getting them to behave and format properly. Now that's a task.

I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds

16. January 5th 2008 @ 15:53. Dianna G Says:

Eeeeeee new blog.

And damnit I do the same thing. Or would if I had the money. But I USE the notebooks.

Poor man's laptop

Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory

17. January 5th 2008 @ 20:00. Mr Nice Guy Says:

I used to love writing pads and new pencils!

Perhaps it's genetic given Mrs NG and I have also discovered that daughters No.1 and 3 can't wait to get their hands on new stationery.

Officeworks is a dangerous place

Cheers

MNG

18. January 5th 2008 @ 21:13. Rose Says:

I don't think it's an illness Joanne, or if it is then I have it too. It is a relief to know I am not the only one mad about stationary. I just cannot resist buying it yet, like you, most of my work is done on my laptop. I suppose it is one of the more healtier addictions we could have. Maybe you can help me - at the moment I am looking for a wooden pencil case that has two seperate levels that slide apart. I had one in the 1970s when I went to school and I'm desperate to get another one. I just can't seem to find one anywhere and it's becoming an obsession! Love you blog!

19. January 6th 2008 @ 00:34. secretwritersbusiness Says:

Hi Rose

You're right, as far as addictions go - there's no SAA as far as I know (Stationery Addicts Anonymous). I don't know where you can get that little wooden pencil box from, but will keep my eyes open when I next skulk into a stationery shop.
I have a cute tin one in the shape of a taxi my dad gave me and I just adore it.
Are you in Australia? Do you know the Smiggle stationery line? Now call me what you like, but I have to say that despite its commercial success especially with girls my daughters' age (10 and up), I find it totally uninspiring. Every time I walk into that shop I think how much more fabulous they could make it, but I guess it's what appeals to little girls. I spent my childhood collecting erasers - I have hundreds of them still, never used. What is the point, I have to ask myself...?

Thanks for your kind words - am still in 'finding my way around' phase here on Orble, and will assess in a few months time whether it's worth the time and effort,

Take care
Jo

From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop

20. January 6th 2008 @ 05:58. Lilla Says:

Hi Jo,

Great Post!

The leather-bound ones, the canvass covered ones, the ones swathed in smooth linen. I feel the paper. I can tell just by touching it, smelling it, whether a fountain pen would bleed or smudge. Whether a ballpoint nib would glide or slip. I have deep instincts about stationery.

I have two boxes of these type of critters filled with words now, as I took up keeping dream journals ... and found a use for them. *lol* very satisfying ... however there are still empty ones and I have to agree with all orblers who find officeworks a dangerous place.

My world went into a positive swoon when gel-pens came into existence!

But you are right, becuase the endless typing over writing does not satisfy the same way... and perhaps those empty books and journals are just trying to remind me, that I have many more words to pen, before I'm done?

Lilla ...

21. January 6th 2008 @ 06:20. missnomer Says:

Hi Jo..

My idea of heaven would be an unlimited spending spree at Officeworks....I would have to win a competition though, couldnt be my own money, I walk in there for a ring binder or an ink cartridge and leave at least an hour later with a trolley load of items I cant live without and another dent in the credit card!

Great Post!

Miss Nomer

22. January 6th 2008 @ 08:30. Christine Says:

Hi Jo

Oh my God I love stationary! Maybe it's a writer's thing. I can smell a W.C. Penfolds a mile away (I like the smaller shops) and I stare lovingly on pen displays wondering if it's silly to want more pen and pencil sets.

Love the blog and this post esp. Thanks for your comment on mine too. I'll definitely tune into your hints and thoughts more often.

Christine

23. January 6th 2008 @ 09:00. secretwritersbusiness Says:

Hey Lilla and Miss Nomer

We should get Officeworks to advertize on Orble and offer discounts to addicts like us - where you can download a voucher and get 50% off. I'm with both of you. Officeworks is a complete turn-on for me.

Glad to know this is a common condition.

Jo

24. January 6th 2008 @ 09:00. secretwritersbusiness Says:

The Pagan Path
I Love Herbs

25. January 6th 2008 @ 16:49. Lynn Smythe Says:

I love stationery, calligraphy supplies and journals. I even used to have a business selling all that stuff. I closed the business last year but still have tons of journals and other supplies left.

I can't go to a bookstore without going down the aisles with all the journals. My husband and kids just roll their eyes when I bring home another one. "But you already have 900 of them at home!?!"

I keep a journal for gardening, one for new recipe ideas I'm working on, one for my writing projects, one for retail store ideas (I'm thinking about opening my own craft studio one of these decades), one for North Carolina (we have property their and one year will hopefully move there). I can't freakin' survive without my journals, pens, papers!

Movies and Life

26. January 6th 2008 @ 22:27. Tracy Says:

Hello Joanne

What funny synchronicity. I was just on my way back from a family weekend thinking about my new 2008 diary and wondering which one I should commit to using. Through kind presents at Christmas, I accrued three, all of them I like, so it’s a bit of a quandary. But as we are meandering though January, it’s time to make a choice.

Also, I thought I was the only one that seemed to hoard empty journals. I don’t think they are ever wasted, as I feel comforted by knowing they are there waiting to be used at the right time. Plus, I love looking at them.

Tracy

Flashes of memories

27. January 7th 2008 @ 06:17. Ash Says:

Hi Joanne

oh stationery sends my heart into a flutter too! My desk is cluttered with the stuff that I hardly ever use and the drawers hide even more... bits of paper, pens, pencils (I have an addiction to pencils!) and notebooks galore.

I think it started when Crayola first introduced those tiered stationery holders that held every possible colour crayon ever made.

And then those cool flick pens that hold several different colour pens in the one.

And the smell of the paper of a new journal, the way that the page feels when you run your fingers along it`s smooth face.

Yep I`m addicted too! Forget the clothes. Forget the shoes. It`s stationery all the way!

Ash

From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop

28. January 9th 2008 @ 22:22. Lilla Says:

Hi Tracy,

HAPPY NEW YEAR, I have a similar quandry and just a thought on how I usually solve my problem.

One diary by the bed, used as a quick dream journal of the prominant symbols I remember on waking.

One diary as a Gratitude Journal, where I write five things I am grateful for down each day.

One diary for the day to day lists that we all need to remember who we are and where we are trying to go *laughs* not always easy...

Anyeeway, just my thoughts on making use of these gifts.

Lilla ...