h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I went out yesterday afternoon to see my colleague L performing with her band at a local cafe. Somewhere between Latin and Gypsy in style, lyrics in five languages, L alternating between flute and vocals. When she performs she is completely within that space and so totally professional whether she's playing the flute or playing the sultry chanteuse.

It was a great gig. Most of the cafe patrons were there for the food not the music, so it was good to see them give more and more attention to the band as the session went on. I left convinced that I'd write today's journal about the show.

This is not that journal.

I should have written this yesterday when every detail was fresh in my mind. If I had, I'd have written something very different, something which caught the mood. It all sounded so good as I wrote it in my head on the way home.

Now, of course, I can't capture the mood. It's slipped past me. If I'd wanted to catch the moment and keep it like a fly in amber, I should have written it all down last night...

Let this be a lesson to me.

Ivan.

I get that feeling with almost every journal I write. They sound more interesting in my head, but by the time I get them typed out the seem to loose something.

So it's not just me who suffers for Art, then.

That's a very pertinent observation Ivan. Maybe we'll all end up with notepads in our pockets for times when a phrase just *needs* to be writen down.

I was on the beach the other day, by the water's edge - yellow flag flying because there was an unusual, strong, offshore breeze. I watched as someone playing on an inflatable airbed got blown further and further out to sea, and then battled for a good 30mins before safely making the surf and sand again. Whilst it was happening there was no sign of our lifeguards - it's a really long beach. My mind was full of things to use in journal. Of course all those thought and so on evaporated and I am just left with the bare bones of this non-drama.

I'm going to carry a note pad and pen in my beach bag.

I'd advise a pencil instead of a pen. It won't get grit in it and then let you down at a critical moment.

I know just what you mean, Ivan. At the time the impressions are so vivid you can't imagine how you'd forget them. By the time the morning has come they've drifted just out of reach.

Tend to use the notes facility in my mobile for short ideas, keep a notebook in my work bag and have an ideas file on my netbook. Still forget the majority of things I ever mean to.... oh....