I am a notebook addict.

What I mean by that is this: I love the look and feel of a notebook. I love blank ones and I like writing in them. Recently, I've become interested in the many ways people use notebooks - it's becoming a kind of trend to abandon electronic ways of organization for "analog" things like notebooks.

I also follow some webcomics and many of these artists use notebooks and sketchbooks. Something appeals to me about jotting down ideas. I have journaled for a long time, and it has always helped me to get things down on paper

So, in the spirit of notebooks and how cool they are ... I have these links

1. How to steal like an artist. Artist/poet/sketchbook user Austin Kleon's cool post about "10 things I wish I'd heard when I was in college."

My favorite: "Write the book you want to read." For me, this means: preach the homily I would want to hear, celebrate the liturgy the way I would want to see it, be the priest I would want to encounter.

2. Another from Austin: On keeping a logbook. If you want to journal, but find that you don't have time or can't commit to actually writing, this may work for you. It's more of a list-based summary of your day. Just write down what happened. Then you have a record of what your life was like. The examples Austin shows even have some random feelings describing the events. Whatever it takes to "capture" your day. Give it a try!

3. And finally: Notebook Stories: A Blog About Notebooks, Journals, Moleskines, Blank Books, Sketchbooks, Diaries and More