Silence

Is it happening again? Am I abandoning a project that showed such promise?

Uh, yes. For now.

The reasons are twofold:

(1) There are personal things going on in my life that are occupying a substantial portion of the space in my brain, which is limited to begin with. Don't worry (if you were so inclined), it's nothing bad. In fact, it's generally good stuff. But it is, nevertheless, stuff.

(2) When I started this blog, I picked an almost absurdly narrow focus. A really narrow focus is fine when it is paired up with equally deep dedication. The problem is, I've been fooling you all a little. I like my Filofax, to be sure. But I am not, in fact, obsessed with it. On the weekends, I sometimes don't even look at it. I know, what kind of self-respecting Philofaxer am I?

The issues obliquely referred to in (1), above, are substantial, and would themselves justify some period of extended silence on my part. But the issues discussed in (2) are, in some ways, a cover for my own laziness. I never intended for this blog to be solely about the mechanics of Filofax-usage. Rather, I intended that my use of my Filofax would be a jumping-off point -- a straight man, as it were -- for broader diatribes, odes, and miscellany. So my silence goes as much to my lack of inspiration as a writer as it does to my lack of inspiration as a Filofax-user.

So there it is. I make no promises about anything (ever, in any part of my life, for any reason). For all you know, I may spray off a series of ten blog entries in ten days. Then again, I may not speak again for weeks. Stay on your toes! Isn't this exciting?

Successful Hack Deployment

I would like to report a successful deployment of the cross-referencing hack I described earlier. Today, I had to make a notation of an appointment at 8:00 a.m., on January 30th, for a plumber to come replace our kitchen sink. You see, our current kitchen sink is so old and disgusting that, regardless of soap and scrubbing, all dishes and kitchen gear emerge from it dirtier than when they entered it. The garbage disposal, too, makes ogrish grinding noises and launches minced foodstuffs skyward when its gears turn. Oh, and don't forget the faucet. Hot water leaks from it in an annoying stream unless you use extreme leverage to twist the hot water knob beyond the usual point at which water flow ceases. We have been forced to use duct tape in order to apply this leverage constantly.

So the whole apparatus has got to go.

I noted the appointment, but there was so much information to accompany it! The name of the company, their phone number, the name of the person with whom I spoke, the price I was quoted, the name of the person who will be coming that day. That would dominate the tiny area for January 30th. So, I simply wrote "8:00 a.m. - Plumber (N7)". Now I know that page 7 of my Notes section contains the relevant data. Page 7 contains other, unrelated data as well. It doesn't matter, as long as it is all accurately cross-referenced.

Voila. Now I can do other things that day.