Your Writing Notebook

You know how sometimes some little thing happens to you that prevents a larger accident? Like, "wow, good thing I forgot my jacket or I never would've run back into the house and noticed we'd left it unlocked!" or "if I hadn't missed the turnoff for 101 and decided to take 280, I would've been caught in that traffic jam for hours" or "man, if Jennifer hadn't dumped me, I'd never have hooked up with Angie"?

I am a big advocate of the little Moleskine notebook. I carry mine around everywhere and I even use its pocket to carry my driver's license, cash, credit cards, so I'm sure I have it wherever I go.

One thing I might reconsider in the future is slipping my commuter train ticket inside it. Yesterday I'd sat down and took the notebook out of my jeans so I wouldn't have to dig for it when the conductor came around to check tickets. I like to be prepared, see. Well, I got involved in doing some writing--you can see where this is going--and they never did come around to check tickets. My stop came up just as I was shutting down the machine, so I jammed it into the computer bag, backed out of the seat (that's the part that gets me--I must have been looking down at it and didn't notice it at all), and hopped off the train, happily leaving my poor writing notebook (and cash, and driver's license, and credit cards) sitting on the train seat. And I didn't glance back at the seat to see if anything was missing. I didn't brush my pocket on the way down the stairs and realize that the notebook was missing. I didn't get asked for my ticket on the way out of the train (as I had that morning), forcing me to go find it. That little thing...never happened.

I realized before the train had reached its destination that my notebook (and cash, and driver's license, and credit cards) was missing. Called CalTrain and they said they would call the conductor on the train to see if he could find it, and if he did, or if someone turned it in, it'll be at the Lost and Found in San Jose on Monday. Cancelled all my cards, and it wasn't much cash, so really I'm just annoyed at myself for being scatterbrained, and at losing the writing I'd done in the notebook. And the new driver's license which I JUST got this week.

On the plus side, it doesn't LOOK like a wallet, and whoever finds it can have the cash as a stupid tax if they want. I'm more worried about the little things tucked into the pocket. My name and address and either e-mail or phone are in the book, so hopefully it'll turn up. But there's a lesson for you. Be careful with your ideas and don't lose them.

(Honestly, I'm not sure there's anything irreplaceable in the book. The thing about writing down ideas is it seems to fix them in my mind anyway. But it's annoying. Plus I don't want someone else out there to steal my crappy thoughts.)