Moleskine proselytizing.

I think that it's moderately natural for a person to spread the means for happiness when one finds it. How many of us have found a book, a film, a song, a spiritual message or even a rice sidedish that we love so much and find so much happiness in that we just have to share it with those closest to us? I found a great line of cleaning products called Method, and the first thing that I did after cleaning my bathroom with a cucumber-scented spray was to call some family members back to Maryland to urge them to get theirselves to Target for some of these heavenly cleaning products.

It's even greater for less...mundane things. There was a time when I was into meditation. A family member called me in Boston one night and was having a hard time with another family member. I promptly ordered some books on meditation on Amazon.com and had them sent to this family member, to spread the little happiness I found in meditation at the time. I would like to think that people spread happiness out of some kind of goodness, though I'm sure that this is not always the case. If for no other reason, I suspect that we do this because it's difficult to remain happy around unhappy people. If we can make those around us happy, we gain two benefits. One, we get to make other people happy. Two, we get to keep our own happiness. I've found that Moleskines are one of the things that people share with one another on a very extensive level. I have bought Moleskines as gifts for several of my friends and a few family members. And what even the person who I bought it for doesn't know, is that the first Moleskine that I ever bought was not even for me. It was a birthday gift for my friend Chris in 2002. I've been trying to get my wife to try the diaries for well over two years. Finally, her academic planner ran out, and I found one place that still had some 2005 diaries for sale -- and on sale at that. I was also able to replace my pocket daily diary for a pocket weekly diary (at about half price), which hopefully will not similary pull my pants down from the weight of 380 pages, like the daily version tended to do. That fat little book doesn't like pockets, no matter how small it is. With my wife and Moleskines, t's like throwing a baby into a pool and watching this little baby do a prodigious backstroke. It's like she's been an M-person all along but never actually owned one. She is actually a reporter, so I suspect the purchase of a reporter notebook is not far off. There are already seasonal stickers in her new diary, and a nice gerbera daisy sticker on the cover. Wait, I don't mean to imply that my wife is childish, lest I find myself on the couch this week. You get what I mean. But why did I feel this over-whelming urge to spread around a little notebook? I did the same thing with Space Pens. I'm at the point now where literally everyone that I could buy a Space Pen for (those who would like and use it) already have one. Hell, the gentleman at the store sent me a free bullet pen and some refills when I ordered two engraved pens for my mother (who's always wanted one) and my mother-in-law this past Mothers' Day, since I've ordered so many. Why the need to share our little gadgets/tricks/sources? I think it's a good thing, but I don't understand it. And I don't understand why this need so often manifests itself via the Moleskine notebook. [Apologies at the poor image quality. Something's up with Blogger, so I'll fix the photos later.]