My favorite Brit Jonathan Beckett of Life and Times fame, has written a rather racy, and somewhat erotic piece about Moleskine. Jonathan muses:
"The Moleskine notebooks have something of a history - they were “the legendary notebook of Van Gogh, Chatwin, Hemingway, Matisse and Céline“. Perhaps through owning and using one I might stand on the shoulders of such literary giants, and channel their talent through my pen."
I started wondering what those literary giants, and others would say about this medium of ours if they returned today? What might they be inclined to write in blogs, given the opportunity?
Create with todays technology, Say Ernest out to Sea with his Mac book Pro, Frida and Diego at opposite ends of The Blue House, each with Photoshop and Dreamweaver...
Gauguin telling his Islanders to hold on while he re-booted, Van Gogh ordering Oxycontin from off-shore Pharmacias, Klee and graphics, Picasso and fractals,
And all the while, apprenticing under a mommy blogger from Toledo. Ending sentences with smilies, what would Emily Bronte's text message to Matisse read like...
"henre wats up? R U goin out 2 nite? call me l8tr; )"
Could the giants function at all without us? Would they love or hate our current state of technology? Would Virginia Woolf know the same freedom of expression the mommy blogger from Toledo knows?
Do we take for granted the ability to express in full, the ease with which we exercise our first amendment rights?
I can't imagine my world without this communication form, this art medium. We have tapped into something so expansive, the possibilities for growth are endless. I suspect the giants, if returned in full regalia, might feel likewise.
One can only ponder whether or not there'd be shoulder-standing upon their arrival, and in light of technology, who would be the standee?





Woohoo! I'm famous :)
Excellent post - one of the most interesting / thought provoking posts I have read in ages.
I still haven't bought the Moleskine.
Posted by: Jonathan | Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 07:21 AM