Ode to Office Supplies

I started a project because the idea wouldn't let go of me. It's a celebration of office supplies. And ode. A hymn. It started with John Updike's death a few months ago. He was a man who loved his office supplies. Ink. Paper. He loved the tools of his trade -- as do I. Lately I have been thinking so much about the Olivetti typewriter my dad worked on when I was a child. It had green keys. And this particular hum. I wish I had that typewriter. I may have to go onto ebay and try to find it. It has to be the one with green keys, though.

But as I mused about Updike and Olivetti's, I began to look at the tools I use every day and to think about them and want to capture what I loved. I have been taking photos and putting words to them. I'm not a very good photographer, but I kind of don't care. I'm having such fun. I do this work instead of the work I should be doing. And that's good. That's how creativity works. It grabs you. And you listen. And maybe something comes of it, and maybe it doesn't. In either case, I'll post something here soon-ish.

But here's the interesting thing: I haven't been thinking about what I will be writing next; for many weeks I have been out of the business of novel-writing. My brain has been blank. But once I started messing around with my Ode to Office Supploes, I started thinking about the next novel. That's how creativity works: you open the door a crack and the world rushes in.