so i'm quite positive that we have all know about and have seen the lovely, little, handy-dandy notebook known as moleskine.
you know::: notes, quotes, pockets for everyday paraphernalia you deem it necessary to keep, jotting down those music threads that might escape you, and hell even pulling out your watercolors for the little wonders...
well for a while now i've seen the little “city notebooks” that they seem to be selling at the Strand in New York (highly recommended if you've never been...hours have been spent there!) every Barnes and Noble...well since they came out.
and finally...
finally!
i found a reason to purchase one!
...though it is not for me...
in the spirit of giving and really wanting a friend who is coming to visit me soon in boston (once i return from my excursions of which he will be a part from serbia through london) to thoroughly enjoy this town for what it is...i decided to get him one. I also cleverly disguised the city notebook for boston amongst a cute little book about berlin art, getting around germany, and vanity fair (no, not the magazine). i went up to the counter to ask the salesgirl where vanity fair was in the bookstore and she gave me a completely blank stare and pointed to the magazines. i then suggested that i was looking for the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray (what a name!) and she totally snapped out of her daze and took me to where it was. in my own attempts to try to get insights into other cultures i like to try and read a classic piece of literature, famous author, or novel set in the place that i will be visiting. its really a nice way of making sure i get the classics that interest me (more so than most contemporary literature) read and thought about the country/city/region i will be heading to a bit more.
i'm so excited...the city notebook for boston sounds and looks and feels (?) so promising! Plus, the real deal-maker for me was the fact that the maps even show::::
MY NEIGHBORHOOD!
huzzah! so...thank you moleskine for recognizing my neighborhood.
and now it is time to finish preparing things before I head out in T-minus 3 days and counting. still awaiting suggestions for Frankfurt, Munchen, Budapest, Berlin, Koln, London, Serbia!
BONUS:::
some favorites/books that I have read in the past /am reading for some of the adventures that i've made/will be making:::
-The Rum Diary, Hunter S. Thompson -read before going to the Caribbean, Guadeloupe, to work on an excavation, drink rum, and be in the hot hot heat
-Solitude, Victor Catala and The City of Marvels, Eduardo Mendoza -read before going to Barcelona, city of wonder!, on two separate occasions
-The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway -read before going to Spain at a different time.
-The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho -read before taking a jaunt to Marrakech, Morocco
-Faust Books 1&2, Goethe -have read before i take this journey to Frankfurt (where Goethe was from)
-”Deutschland,” Heinrich Heine -of which i posted last summer and am glad to have read before taking this excursion!
