Finally, in the quiet of night, I found time to sit down and pull up the images I've snapped (with my new phone) of my Paperblanks for the Marie-Claude and JL project.

First and foremost, I needed a notebook. Usually, from Paperblanks, I buy mini or midi sizes with no real preference for when I get what, it depends on what's available in the designs I want, really. This time, however, I decided to be bold and try an ultra! It's the biggest one and I did have to get used to the volume of it, how much table space it requires to be worked properly, but honestly - for such a big project as this will be and the kind of notes I'm already doing for it (a lot of stick-it notes, a lot of attached loose pieces of paper), ultra is pretty perfect. It's also unlined, because I've realized with time that it's my preferece over lined notebooks. More room to write whichever way I want. The design is their Emily Dickinson handwriting one, which is in an absolutely gorgeous scarlet/purple-ish colour which was fitting for various reasons and most importantly, the cover is so smooth to the touch, it's like touching old worn leather. Gorgeous. I'm very, very satisfied with it and am already using it extensively.





Next, for the calendar project, I'd bought a daily planner in the Gaudi's Sun design which looked bold in the promotional photos but is honestly twenty times as bold in real life. The colours are so stark, the pattern is just... huge! Again, to have a page for each day of the year, I had to go ultra again and the thing is enormous, it does feel like that fashion Bible thing from The Devil Wears Prada. But as I broke it in yesterday, I found there's a lot of room to work and space to fill out, which is just perfect. When buying a calendar from Paperblanks, you can get the insides in various languages - German, French and English - and I went with French, since that is Marie-Claude's main language, in-characterly, even if she speaks all three languages fluently. I realize just how little French I remember myself, though, reading it over, hahaha, but luckily it's simple enough terms, I can look everything up, if I need to be sure of something.



Just look at that pattern! Isn't it gorgeous??







I bought a pencilcase, as well. To be fair, I have a couple of pencilcases already, one pink one with Babooshka dolls that I bought in Berlin ten years ago and a fold-out one like this, but in faux leather, both in decent quality, but I saw this design and just - with my Ancient Greek/Roman obsession - had to own it. It's the "Spring" design, featuring a painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema and seeing it live, I have decided I'm very glad I didn't get a notebook with it but opted for this instead. It's so intricate, detailed a design, a notebook - if you ask me - would have gotten too much. On this smaller scale, it's very, very rich but doesn't overwhelm the eye.

There's also a photo of how much you can fit inside! Right now I have the four "Kara-ori" Japanese kimono pattern pencils I also bought, as well as two pens, an eraser, a pencil sharpener and a highlighter (I like pink, okay) and there still is room for a pencil or two more, I think. The pencils are very pretty too, though kinda lacking in glitter and gilding, which is a feature of the notebook and calendar designs (yes, even the pencil case has a little glitter) that I really like!



Finally, I bought bookmarks!

I bought three, but one was for a gift, so that had already been sent off, when I could take these photos - hwoever, it was the "Morris Pink Honeysuckle" design which I already have a notebook in and it's lush. The remaining two are "The Canin Rise" (the golden one) that is my favourite. It's the same design as one of my notebooks for the Lest They Leave project and brings back that 1920's vibe! The other one is "Poetry in Bloom" which is one I have a notebook in that I've used for the Lilith project. This one was my girlfriend's favourite, so I later gave it to her, saying she'd need a bookmark for all the reading she would need to do, writing these letters between Marie-Claude and Jean Louis and she was so happy, it made this big purchase worth it all on its own.





And you honestly have no idea how long I've waited to be able to take pictures with my phone again!! It was the first thing I did, once I had my new Samsung Galaxy home and ready. I took a picture of my girlfriend, and I took a picture of these things. Haha, they are my favourites.

Thanks for coming to my Paperblanks TED talk.

First off, Paperblanks heard my prayers.

My stuff arrived Friday to be picked up by my girlfriend and unboxed by me under so much excitement.

The Emily Dickinson notebook is so smooth to the touch, the colour is absolutely gorgeous and although I will have to get used to the ultra size, I think I will grow very, very happy with it as time goes by.

The daily planner is also gorgeous, very vibrant and stark in its colours - and huge. It reminds me mostly of the fashion bible from that movie, The Devil Wears Prada, honestly, it's enormous. Very fitting for my calendar project and I will be starting in on that tomorrow later today, hopefully.

The three bookmarks were a very nice quality, thick and with structured paper. K. and I each had our own favourites, she liked Poetry in Bloom best and I loved the Chanin Rise! The third one, something something Honeysuckle, was a gift for the girl who has done some translations of Anise Koltz poetry into Danish for me and whom I'm sending my old, worn copy of the English translation to ASAP.

Then, there was the pencilcase which is gorgeous. After seeing it live, I'm not sure I'll get the Spring design in notebook-form, but as a pencilcase, it's so nice and with this structured, gold-sprinkled surface. So luxurious. In it, I put the Kara-ori pencils, though I've only sharpened one of them, so I can use that first and take out the others as it becomes necessary. The pencilcase is also a good size. Right now I'm fitting four pencils, two pens, a pencil sharpener, an eraser and a highlighter in there and I do think there's still room for a little bit more!

I would include pictures, but my phone is old and dated and can't manage pictures anymore. I will be getting a new one today, though! Finally! It's a longer story, but it means my final reliance on my parents will be severed and I will have my very own phone for the first time ever. In control of my own mobile subscription, payments, everything... Sad to say this has never been the case before in my almost forty-year old life, but some things are like that. Anyway, it means, once we've set it up, my girlfriend and I, I can take pictures again! I will spam you, have no doubt.



Speaking of my parents, I took charge of the situation with their visit Monday and just cancelled it, setting up a new meeting in a few weeks at their new house instead. It's not because I particularly want to go, but it will make them happy and, most importantly, put me in control of my own engagement with them. It will be my choice. It was a very important step to take and I felt elated afterwards, very relieved, too. So no, it doesn't make me more inclined to want to see them, but it makes me the decision-maker on when and how. That is, by all definitions, easier.



This weekend we had a 24-hour write-athon in my Danish writing Discord server and I almost managed to pull an all-nighter, though age came to hunt me down and I had to give up after 4 o'clock, napping until 6, when I got up to write some more and accidentally fell soundly back asleep again around 11am, so I actually missed the big finish.

However, what I didn't miss was finishing the piece I was working on for these 24 hours, the Marie-Claude essay I have had in mind for so long. 4k words it ended up being and most of those were written during this write-athon. I was very pleased with my efforts.

The essay ended up pretty good. I think one of the chapters, the second-to-last, needs a bit of tweaking still, like, majorly, but the rest is satisfactory and the beginning especially is something I'm really proud of. The red thread is a pretty dry, academic walk-through of the types of government known in the Ancient Greek world, with a recurring circling around Aristotle's view of democracy. It was a lot of fun to research for! But from these adacemic musings, Marie-Claude collects her personal views and experiences with power and mixes it all together. I do think the concept is really something.



K. was off visiting her grandmother yesterday, but read the whole essay (20 pages, she's a fast reader) in the evening when she got home and was so inspired by it, she actually wrote the first 3 letter snippets from Jean Louis to Marie-Claude in response, her first try writing him in 1st person. It was amazing! Seeing the way they speak within the same frame of reference, yet coming from two very different, opposing almost, approaches and with two very different voices. I was so inspired, in turn! Simply can't wait to really get started exchanging these letters. My girlfriend has a very busy week ahead this coming week, with plans every day, but on the other side of that? Definitely.

We've been wanting to do something like this for years and years and to finally really start working on it? I can't put the feeling down in words. It's such a gift sharing this with her.



My next solo project, the coming week, is going to get started using the calendar I bought and stylize some key dates in the timeline of the first year when Marie-Claude starts corresponding with Jean Louis. I think I'll be starting with August and fill that out, since that's the month when JL's first letter arrives for her, so I kinda get a sense of before and after. Then, I think I'll fill out February and March, following the election period the first month and her first time as Prime Minister after that. Then, from there, we'll see.



It's almost 4am and I have the choice between going out into the kitchen and make a cup of chamomile tea, hoping it will settle me for the rest of the night/early morning or forcing myself back to bed straight away. I'm just feeling a bit too chipper to sleep, even if I am tired, too. Tired but restless.

Chamomile tea, I think. Must be the solution.