Friday, August 21, 2015

Moustaching Awesome!

Roughly a month ago I stumbled upon Moustache Stationery when they liked a photo that I had put up on Instagram promoting a blog post that featured my story The Traveler. Intrigued by the name, I clicked on it and browsed their Instagram account. The bio line is: “A monthly box of AWESOME stationery with FREE worldwide shipping!” Even more intrigued, I clicked on the link to their web site and read up on them. It didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted in. I signed up and sat down to await my first box of stationery.

Well, that box has finally arrived and I could hardly wait to open it up and see what was inside. The contents are pretty awesome! Three notebooks, two pens, a pen loop, and a Moustache Stationery sticker. Definitely a useful haul of writing supplies. Now, to most people a monthly box of stationery might seem pointless. But to me, it’s golden. A nice pen gliding smoothly over a sheet of paper… It’s like skating on fresh, clean ice. And as a wannabe writer I love a good pen and notebook. Anything to inspire me to write is always welcome.

And now for the contents of the box:


As I sat down to write out the draft for this post (most blog posts start off written by hand in my Fox notebook before being typed out on the computer) I broke out the Fountain Pentel Fiber Nibbed Pen, put it to paper, and began to write. I am quite pleased with it. It writes quite smooth for a fountain pen (I find that they aren’t the smoothest of writing utensils) and depending on the side that you write from with it, it has a different feel. Definitely a unique pen. That’s for sure.

The next item is the Pentel White Hybrid Gel Pen. I haven’t tried it yet (as it has white ink and I don’t have any dark coloured paper) but I can imagine that it writes like pretty much any other gel pen. Smooth and flowing. It fits the Black and White theme of the box for the month.

Don’t you hate it when you have your notebook out to do some writing and then you have to go digging for a pen? What? You forgot your pen at home? For shame! Supplied in the box was a handy-dandy Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop. It has a self-adhesive on the back so that you can secure it to the back cover of your notebook. Never forget your pen again!

The Leuchtturm1917 Black Softcover Notebook may just become my new go-to for writing out stories. It has 121 lined pages that are all numbered and 8 of which are removable, a Table of Contents, and an envelope to fill with scraps of paper for when I’m at work and filling ideas out on receipt paper. A winner in my books.

And the final item(s), not one, but two Leuchtturm1917 Jottbooks. One is lined and the other is blank. Both have 60 pages (32 are removable) and a Table of Contents page. For when the Notebook is just too much, the Jottbooks will keep you writing.

I’m looking forward to breaking in all these items and I can’t wait to see what next months box has in store! You can find Moustache Stationery’s write up of the contents here.



Sinceriously,


-Chad

Friday, August 7, 2015

Why Stay?

I was reading a comic the other day (no surprise really) and came across a line of dialogue that made me stop and think. The dialogue comes from Bryan Q. Miller’s run on Batgirl (Issue 3, v.3 2009-2011). It’s a great run, with Stephanie Brown (former Spoiler, former Robin) taking on the mantle of Batgirl and being mentored by Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl.

To set up the scene: Steph dons the familiar cape and cowl and becomes Batgirl. Babs isn’t too pleased about it and reluctantly aids Steph in hunting down Scarecrow, who is selling a new version of his Fear Toxin as a drug called Thrill. During her fight with Scarecrow, Batgirl is exposed to Thrill and begins to hallucinate. However, before her confrontation, she had inoculated herself against the Fear Toxin. When the inoculation counteracts Thrill, she’s able to come to her senses and go through this little speech that causes Babs to accept that maybe Steph CAN be Batgirl after all.


Page 13
Panel 3 – BATGIRL: A GUY ASKED ME A QUESTION THE OTHER DAY ABOUT WHY PEOPLE RUN WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH.
Panel 4 – BATGIRL: THAT’S  EASY - - YOU CAN BECOME SOMEONE ELSE, WHEREVER YOU LAND, RIGHT? WHO’S GOONA KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?
Panel 5 – BATGIRL: SO WHY STAY? WHY SET YOURSELF UP FOR MORE FAILURE? FOR MORE PAIN?
Panel 6 – BATGIRL: ALSO EASY - - BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING ELSE.

Page 14
Panel 1 – BATGIRL: SO WHY STAY?  WHY OPEN YOURSELF UP TO ALL THE BAD YOU’VE TRIED TO LEAVE BEHIND?
Panel 2 – BATGIRL: “THE ONLY VARIABLE YOU CAN CONTROL IS YOURSELF.” YOU CAN FORGET WHO YOU ARE, OR YOU CAN BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE.
Panel 3 – BATGIRL: THAT’S WHY YOU STAY. YOU STAY FOR A SECOND CHANCE.
Panel 4 – SCARECROW: BUT IF YOU STAY, YOU’RE FORCED TO FACE YOURSELFNO ONE IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO FACE WHO THEY REALLY ARE!
                 BATGIRL: I AM - -
                 SCARECROW: AND WHO MIGHT THAT BE?!?

Page 15
Panel 1 – BATGIRL: I’M BATGIRL

Now that I’ve completely typed out three pages of comic script… Why do we stay? Why do we run? To be honest, I agree with Steph’s answers to both questions. But what takes more strength? Staying or running? I, personally, would argue that staying takes more.

Yes, leaving takes a great deal of strength. To pack up and leave your everyday normal. That takes strength. To leave everything you’ve ever known and start over elsewhere. I have great admiration for people that are able to do that. It’s scary, but it’s an adventure nonetheless. And adventures can be fun. To explore, to journey into the unknown, to create your own path… Again, I have great admiration for people that are able to find the strength to do that.

However, one of the issues of running when things get tough is the fact that you’re still running from something. Eventually things will catch up with the runner. You’re not really escaping from anything, you’re just changing settings.

Staying. Staying forces you to get to the root of the problem. Sure there’s more pain and failure that comes with staying, but there’s also hope and second chances. Just because you’ve had a crappy day/week/month/year doesn’t mean you should run away (unless you really have your heart set on it). Who knows what second chance might be waiting in the wings for you.
 
But as Scarecrow says in the comic: If you stay, you’re forced to face yourself. And no one is brave enough to face who they really are. I somewhat agree with him. It’s a scary thing, facing yourself. That’s part of the reason why we wear so many different masks in our everyday lives. I also somewhat disagree with the fear addict. EVERYONE has the capacity to be brave enough to face who they really are. It just comes down to if you’re ready or not. There is hope out there. Go hunt it down.


Sinceriously,

-Chad


(Batgirl and Scarecrow are trademarks and copyright by DC Comics. Script excerpt is written by Bryan Q. Miller and copyright by DC Comics. Batgirl issue 3 cover art by Phil Noto. Artwork used is by Lee Garbett and Pere Perez and is copyright by DC Comics)