Two-pocket folders!
I went to the mall to buy two-pocket folders.
It is actually the dying mall. The Gap moved out and the tattoo parlors have moved in. Signs at the entry invite you to tweet a picture of yourself. Heavens, who ya gonna tweet at the mall? I have no electronics in my purse.
First I went to Target. A few years ago I stood in line behind a woman who said she could live anywhere with a Target. That would be anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. I know what she means. I love Target.
I carried a big plastic basket into the office supplies section. Cute notebooks, but I have cute notebooks. The two-pocket folders had cover art featuring Hello, Kitty! and superheroes. Disappointing.
I moved on to the office supply store. I naively believed the Notebook section would have notebooks. No, it was electronic tablets! In the ’90s I wrote an article for a business magazine posing the question, “Is the dream of the paperless office dead?” It was then, but I fear it is alive again.
Finally I found suitable paper products. How can you go wrong with folders with floral designs and polka dots?
I also bought pens, because I like to have the option of writing in purple or pink ink.
And then there are the post-it page markers. I wanted the kind shaped like arrows. They have no such thing. Has anyone used these post-it markers in books? Do they ruin the paper? There is a warning: Test before using. Not for my first editions of Raymond Carver, Andre Dubus, and Barbara Pym!
One dreadful thing happened at the mall. I was wearing a bicycling outfit instead of a bicycling/shopping outfit, and when I passed a mirror I was appalled to see the threads hanging from my 15-year-old t-shirt. I rushed to a clothing store. I went through the sales racks and found a suitable top. “I’m going to wear this,” I told the cashier, who blipped her scanner at the tag.
The dream of a suitable shopping outfit isn’t dead!
mirabile dictu 
Target didn’t work out in Canada and closed all their stores here at the end of March. It’s hard to explain. I think we may prefer shopping at Target when we have to cross the border. Perhaps it’s more exotic when in the US. Here it just looked ordinary. Anyway, it’s cheaper in the States. On Wednesday I bought a moleskin notebook at the Plattsburg Target.
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Oops, I got my information from Wikipedia! Our Target has everything, though I did not buy my two-pocket folders there.
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P.S. I knew Wikipedia was unreliable!:)
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I too write with purple pens in my 1001 notebooks, I use pink highlighter. But my new thing is the Blackwing pencil. Google it and you’ll see what I mean.
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There is something about purple pens. Ooh, I can’t wait to get a Blackwing pencil!
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Ah, stationery. Love the stuff – perfect shop would be a combined book/stationery store – I would just move in and live there. We don’t have target but we have a lovely chain called Paperchase, and a new store has just opened up next to our branch called Tiger which also has lots of the stuff – oh, the temptation! 🙂
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I wish we had stationery stores. There was one in my neighborhood–gone! What a good idea to combine the two! I love coming home with more paper!
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Instead of Post-its, have you tried Book Darts? (https://www.bookdarts.com) They’re handy, don’t destroy books, are easy to slip on and remove, and they’re pretty.
I have to say I’m disappointed with my Blackwing pencils. They’re not as dark or as gliding as I’d hoped. However, I love my collection of fountain pens and inks, my current favorite of which is Noodler’s Nightshade.
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Ooh, I’ll look into the book darts.
I’m behind in the Blackwing pencil thing clearly! You know, I don’t have a fountain pen: maybe I should get one. I haven’t had one since grade school: I remember changing the cartridges. We were expected to learn to write with pencils, ballpoint pens, and fountain pens.
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What a fun time at the dying mall (are they all dying?). Nothing better than shopping for stationery supplies.
Staples has become my go-to stationery store…for its colorful composition notebooks, mechanical pencils, and throw-away fountain pens by Pilot Varsity. (There is even one with purple ink!) I do have an inordinate amount of expensive fountain pens, but for traveling I like to take a disposable one in case I should lose it.
The Paper Source here is a wonderful stationery store that sells all manner of papers and gifts. Sometimes I like to create my own note cards and its stock of folded cards, blank sheets, and envelopes in rainbow colors is a treat to behold. I may just have to go today on a autumn shopping spree!
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We have one healthy mall here. It’s huge and built way, way out of town. It seems to have killed the other malls. Yes, i love Staples, too. So nice to have a real stationery store. Nothing like a visit to one!
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