A journal of a thousand words begins with a single schlep - to our Writer's Corner!

It's a brand new year! The race is on to see who can stop writing 2012 on their rent checks first.

In the spirit of fresh starts, here's a small selection of the many many journals we sell:

Our pages await your delicious thoughts!

JOURNALS: combining the spiritual renewal of a gym membership/juice cleanse with the heady indulgence of eating ice cream sans pants. Resolutions are all well and good but now that the crazy gift-giving holidays are behind us, things get to be all about you again. Take a moment to let that sink in. What better way to take advantage of this intoxicating new-found freedom than by giving your brain somewhere to really take root? Trust me, you deserve it.

But maybe you lack the intestinal fortitude to be left all alone with your muse. Maybe the thought of blank white paper makes your palms sweat and your blood run cold. Maybe the symbolic stain of those first few inked thoughts is just a little too much to bear. I feel you, bro.

For the hesitant, here are a few unconventional journaling techniques to help you face down writer's block and blossom into that incandescent word-machine you burn to be:

- Write outside - or on the train, or at Starbucks on your lunch break. There's nothing sacred about a desk.

- Record your dreams - even the most vivid nocturnal phantasms fade from memory in the harsh light of day. Keep a pen and paper handy on the nightstand to assure that Fabio's marriage proposal stays fresh in your mind.

- Catalogue day-to-day inspiration - you know what we had before Pinterest? Paper.

- Keep a running tally of all who have wronged you - then, stew in your own resentment. Then burn the journal. Wait, don't do that, it's too pretty. Meditate on forgiveness (or vengeance, which might make for better reading).

- Bring your journal to a séance (AHEM) and let otherworldly spirits take possession of your motor abilities. This is a bona fide method for finding out where Great-Grandpa hid the family fortune. Or getting Abraham Lincoln's autograph.

- Make a yearbook - not just for high school anymore! Collect inscriptions from all your friends and co-workers. I recommend a multi-pack of neon gel pens to really amp up the nostalgia.

- Live-tweet your journaling experience:
        "Day 1. Wow I can't wait to unleash my inner Samuel Pepys!"
        "Day 2. Have unleashed inner James Frey. @booksmithtweets I blame you for this"
        "Day 3. S'all good - unleashing inner Joan Didion. My words are brutal beauty. Owe it all to Booksmith."

Curious George Finds a Final Resting Place

Photograph by Lindsay Metivier,

ruined via Photoshop by the author of this post.

On the last day of the 49th calendar year of the Booksmith, I came in to the store bleary-eyed and fuzzy-headed from my home, where a four-year-old Curious George junkie in recovery had told me just before the door closed "i love you that's why i'm going to give you a big hug."

Scheduled to train a new bookseller on the Atari-era computer system that keeps our records and manages our point of sale, I spent the first hour of the workday struggling to recall the litany of possible sales transactions that, after twelve years of wrangling the reg (pronounced rej) now exist as pure muscle-memory. The hour was long, but fortunately my trainee was patient, as I ended up spending more time chastising my fingers, which were skittering at their typically manic pace across the keyboard, than imparting actual knowledge. "Slow down! Even I can't tell what you're doing."

Release and relief for my cramping brain came in the form of Ric, Cool Ric. Leaving the continuation of the training to the zen master, I stepped down from the reg and immediately into a classic bookselling moment.

"I need something that will make a paper boat, do you have something?"
"...are you looking for a kit? Or a book that includes instructions?"
"I suppose I should tell you what this is for. The boat will carry a family member's ashes out to sea."

Now, a book has not been written about every specific subject, but I'm usually adept at finding needles in haystacks. The next part of this story would usually involve extensive searching down byways and through the crafts section, the card & gift room, google. And when the objective is something so personal and important, any bookseller worth the title would put off all other duties in the pursuit of the prize.

But me? Coming from where I come from? And that boy, who declared his love and his intention to express it, not two hours earlier?
Inigo Montoya holds aloft his beloved murdered father's sword, invokes the spirits, and is guided to the secret knot in the great tree. The six-fingered man is found. Curious George cannot hide his secrets when guided by the spirit of his greatest fan.

In the one where he rides a bike, George provides a step by step diagram explaining how to make a paper boat out of a newspaper.

This is a great day, for all of us.

Except Philip, who didn't learn a thing from me.