About six months ago I was sitting at my desk and I remembered a game I used to play with my son, Jerry. We would sit down with a sheaf of blank paper and one of us would make a squiggle with a pen or pencil. The other person’s job was to try to add to the squiggle in such a way that it was transformed into a recognizable picture of something. Then the roles would be reversed and so the game went on.
It struck me that most people like to doodle, either when they are on the phone, or waiting in a doctor’s waiting room, or during a long and tedious lecture in class. The only problem with doodling is that often you can find yourself doodling on lined paper, which somewhat spoils the work of art. So while I was sitting there musing about the various merits and demerits of this abstruse conundrum I had a flash of inspiration. What if there was a notebook that had blank spaces on every page, so that someone could doodle away in them without the effect being marred by lines running through it. And what if one of those spaces had starter squiggle, just like in the game. And so the idea for the Doodle Space Notebook was midwifed into the world and became a reality.
It took me a while to draw out a squiggle on each page and I found it surprisingly difficult not to repeat myself after a while. Nevertheless I persevered and after grueling toil and frustration I managed to produce the 100-page notebook and start selling it on Amazon.
The blurb on the back of the notebook goes like this:
“The Doodle Space Notebook is the only notebook that leaves proper space for doodling. Everyone doodles from time to time. How annoying is it when you’ve just completed an epic doodle only to have the effect spoiled by the lines on the page disfiguring your artwork? The Doodle Space Notebook solves this problem. Each page has, not just one, but three spaces in which you can doodle away to your heart’s content, while filling the surrounding lines with notes, poetry, nasty comments about your neighbors or any other literary masterpiece you like. Each of the 100 pages contains a starter squiggle that you are challenged to make into something recognizable by drawing on it using the squiggle as a basis. The Doodle Space Notebook combines sketchbook and notepad in a wonderful blend of art and literature that you won’t find in any other notebook or journal. It also comes with a tasteful and elegant cover that is reminiscent of the Victorian journals and diaries of many moons ago. All in all, the Doodle Space Notebook is a welcome addition to all the other notebooks, journals and scribble pads that you have collected over the years and can take pride of place on any bookshelf.”
So if you’re bored and find that you are of an artistic bent why not invest in your very own boredom-cracker in the shape of a handsome multi-purpose notebook. It’s available on Amazon.com for the ridiculously low price of $6.99 (and it’s even cheaper in the UK).
