Sir Davyd of the esteemed Knights of the Moleskine, Spirit and Ale passed on this disturbing read from Liberator. I have to say it’s somewhat disconcerting to know that the computer I’m using right now for my digital journals and stuff could be housing terrible evilness. Imagine the damage it would do to my gigantic collection of Dave Barry quotes.

Your computer may be possessed by a demon, a leading minister warns.

“While the Computer Age has ushered in many advances, it has also opened yet another door through which Lucifer and his minions can enter and corrupt mens souls,” said the Reverend Jim Peasboro, author of The Devil in the Machine. Demons are able to possess anything with a brain, from a chicken to a human being. And today’s thinking machines have enough space on their hard drives to accommodate Satan or his pals. “Any PC built after 1985 has the storage capacity to house an evil spirit,” the minister confirmed.

The minister estimates that one in 10 computers in America now houses some type of evil spirit. Rev. Peasboro advises that if you suspect your computer is possessed, you consult a clergyman or, if the computer is still under warranty, take it in for servicing. He says, “Technicians can replace the hard drive and reinstall the software, getting rid of the wicked spirit permanently.”

But as Sir Bowie of Greenbriar (a.k.a. David A. Kuhn) said, there’s always the holy Moleskine.

If you’ve known a writer, you know they can be picky (some might even say pretentious). But it’s really not that hard buying gifts for the writers in your life – especially not with TWFH on your side. Here we’ve put together a list of five of our favorite gifts and gadgets for writers.

1. Moleskine notebooks will forever be the signature of serious writers, artists, and notetakers. But the hottest thing for writers right now are Field Notes. These cute, compact memo books are great for scribbling down notes and ideas in a hurry – and at just under $10, they’re more affordable than the Moleskine line (it’s also rumored that Pulitzer-prize winner Bryan Monroe and Anderson Cooper love their Field Notes). Try ordering from the website or checking out this list of retailers.

You can read the rest of the article at The Write Blog.

Privileged Little Artiste Writing Something Oh-So-Precious Into His Moleskine Notebook

SAN FRANCISCO—After gently unfastening the elastic strap keeping his dearest musings safe from prying eyes, little literary artiste Evan Stansky penned a few more darling thoughts into his clothbound Moleskine notebook Wednesday. “These are much higher quality than the notebooks you find at CVS,” lilted the auteur, who couldn’t be bothered to use—dare it be said—a journal of lesser craftsmanship or pedigree, or one not famously used by such legendary artists as van Gogh and Hemingway. “They’re a little more expensive, but I try to write on both sides so I don’t go through them as quickly.” At press time, the princely scribe was seen finishing his apricot jasmine tea, asking a mere mortal sitting nearby to watch his literary accoutrements, and then prancing off to the Starbucks powder room, light as a feather.

The Onion

From Martin Ralya of Gnome Stew, the “most widely read blog dedicated exclusively to game mastering on the planet.”

I learned a long time ago to always have a notebook near at hand, and there’s a lot to be said for an analog solution. I keep a tiny notebook — a Moleskine Cahier — in my car, and another one at work.

But on the go, I don’t like carrying more crap than I have to. I’ve used the notes feature on my last few cell phones to capture ideas as they come to me, and that’s not a bad solution.

Once I got a smartphone, I started emailing them to myself instead. That way, I’d be forced to notice — and file – my ideas the next time I sat down in front of the computer.

Read the rest of the blog post here.

Here’s a really affordable Moleskine imitation. Tagged Molespobre, this is supposedly for those who cannot afford a moly, which can be really pricey in some parts of the globe.

Fun post, but we may have to deal with language issues (free Molepobre for anyone who can solve them) and will have to make do with the images to understand what’s what…

Read the rest of the instructional (mostly in Brazilian) here.

The Making of Molespobre

The Finished Product

Eric of Muffin Puddles goes on a Moleskine mission and realizes that being indecisive can be a positive attribute after all. Where’s the connection, you ask? Here’s an excerpt of his blog entry on being indecisive:

A few days ago I realized that I needed a better journal/notebook to write in. Upon this fact I remembered while at Borders that Moleskines are pretty awesome. After returning a day or two later, I sat locked indecisively trying to make up my mind which type of Moleskine I wanted to own. Perhaps I should explain a bit further. The tough time making a decision was made up by two factors: a) there are many different variables in the types of this brand of notebook, 3 sizes, lined, unlined, sketch book, red or black, soft or hard cover, etc. b) One of the things that I know most definitively about myself is that I am indecisive.

Read the rest of his entry here and find out how he deals with an attribute he sees as a liability on one hand, but a positive attribute on the other.

Image Source: The Heap Blog

After discovering the Moleskine in 2005, creative freelancer Ming and notebook became real pals. His dedication was so much so that he “forced hundreds of people to buy moleskines of their own.”

He describes how “it had become part of my identity, and psyche. It was more than a notebook, it was a testament to my creativity, a fashion statement, a mark of quality.” He goes on to describe how his “love affair had become an obsession.”

So if that was the case, why did he stop loving it? Go figure. No, seriously, you can read Ming’s story here.

Afterwards, try to see if you’d act the same way he did after he found out the things that led him to give up on his “best friend.” Would the grounds be enough to make you throw away a union you thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from?

Moleskine Spread by Ruben Fletcher

Ruben Fletcher has been “Starbucks drawing” on moleskine for years. But he thinks he has wasted an awful lot of time doing so because feels he should have spent it  on something more worthwhile. But what that worthwhile pursuit is, he has yet to discover as he plods on.

In my years of Starbucks drawing (Jesus! “In my years of Starbucks drawing”! What a colossal misuse of my time, which could have been allotted to whatever it is I should have been doing with my life, and it should be painfully clear that I still don’t have the vaguest notion what that might be. The old saw “Many are called but few are chosen” may be an old saw, but it still has sharp teeth, because apparently I didn’t even make the “called” cut. The celestial equivalent of Simon Cowell didn’t even see fit to let me get to the next round. Not that I sat by the phone or nothing, but it would have been kind of nice to have been awokened by a beam of light from above and a Leonard-Cohen like voice intoning, “How about EG-155429a, Exotic Aniimal Groomer? Care to give that a shot?” No, either the Heavenly Host lost my number or else decided to let me fend for myself, and if that’s the case, They have no one to blame but Theirselves, because this is just the way I fend)…

Read more here…

Image source: The Public Choice Capitalist

Mik of Slightly Mordant discovers an old moleskine containing an unfinished story about The Village and a resident “internationally renowned photographer” with a funny name (III1/4? )

Here’s an excerpt:

Arthur R <name> III¼ was an Internationally Renowned photographer; the fact that he rarely traveled outside of the village made the “Internationally Renowned” legend a bit less impressive. Arthur lived to take photos, mainly because being dead would’ve been a hindrance to good composition. Arthur was responsible for documenting all the local Weddings, Christenings, Parties, Graduations, cute smiling cats and kittens, local news worthy events and funerals (he had pioneered the documenting of wakes, his specialty shot taken from a low angle behind the coffin as the deceased point of view) which surprisingly were popular.

Read the rest of the amusing and “zany” work in progress here.

Moleskiners have various reasons for buying a moleskine. Some were merely curious, while others admitted it was the publicity that got them opening their wallets in exchange for the notebook.

But Xteena bought her moleskine because “it’s sleek and smells good.” Though she likes moleskines, she dislikes the “sticker” that says “the notebook Hemingway wrote in!” She blogs:

As if one could leech genius through similarly-patterned paper.

I don’t believe that’s true any more than I believe buying an overpriced cappuccino at Cafe de Flore makes you anything like Sartre. Or that walking in the New Hampshire woods on a snowy evening brings you closer to Robert Frost. If anything, such copycat behavior simply displays your unoriginality and desperation.

I think I love this girl. LOL.

More of her amusing blog entry here…