I Write in the Best Notebooks

If you’ve read the About the Filmmaker page you’ll notice that I am a filmmaker and a writer.  This means I have attributes of both. (I’m forgoing the deep psychological stuff for now because that’s not where this post is heading.) For instance, I dress like a filmmaker. Sneakers? Vans. Shirts? Vintage. Glasses? Nerdy and vaguely hipster-ish.

Like any writer, I have my  fetishes. I have a mug I use exclusively for my coffee when I’m writing. I keep a small rug under my feet when I write and this rug travels with me when I do artist residencies. When I edit a paper manuscript I only use Paper Mate Sharpwriter #2 mechanical pencils. And for A Life’s Work, I have a series of notebooks, a different one for each subject.

Here’s one I’m currently using for the next subject:

This notebook was made by my friend Jenn Chen, a talented writer who loves her crafts.  The front and back cover was  taken from a page from a Japanese calendar (Jenn and I share a love for things Japanese and Prince). A Life’s Work is very much about the long haul and starting small and growing big – how fitting that on the back cover there is, in the middle of the dates of the month, two acorns.

The binding on this one differs from the other two she made, and it’s a shame it doesn’t show up well on the jpeg.

I love the silky texture of the notebook’s cover and the rough edges of the unevenly cut paper. (Jenn’s notebooks have never given me a paper cut .) The notebooks are a constant companion as I prepare for a shoot and they are always close at hand when I conduct an interview. Looking at them reminds me of my friends’ support; without that I wouldn’t have managed to keep working on this film.

Thanks, Jenn.