Sharpen your pencil.

I met the beautiful Martha Lent for a cup of coffee and requested that she “Please, Martha, run into Restoration Hardware with me, real quick. There’s a giant leather trunk on wheels that’s really a desk inside.  You have to see it. Lordy, it’s cool.”

Anything on wheels or surrounded by pencils is cool in my journal. I sported the unsharpened pencil behind one ear, pretending to be writing with another unsharpened pencil look. I sometimes wear the sharpened pencil behind one ear look, although that’s much more dangerous.  All this pencil-talk made me wonder if there was a scent based on the delicious smell of pencil shavings.  Wonderwood by Comme des Garcons it is (ok, that’s what she said-ers, calm down).   

Here’s a clip from The Brothers Quay celebrating the bergamot, pepper, nutmeg, caraway, sandlewood, vetiver scent.

What’s your story? Use your sharpened pencils along with your sharpened senses to write or sketch in your destination journal. Begin even if you have only a few short moments. Imagine the time it took for me to sit at this desk on wheels, gather my wits, and have a photo snapped. Jot down first impressions of the setting. Take time this week (perhaps when the turkey or tofurky is browning) to create something high or lowbrow in a more permanent location.  Sharpen, erase, and roll along with what you’ve started.