Tag: writing

The scribe with the scarf

A photo of a snowman wearing a scarf and a Sierra Nevada Celebration T-shirt is displayed in Stateline, Nev., on Dec. 14, 2013.
A photo of a snowman wearing a scarf and a Sierra Nevada Celebration T-shirt is displayed in Stateline, Nev., on Dec. 14, 2013.

While I have lived in cooler climes for about 20 years or so, I was never big on scarves. I was rarely outdoors for extended periods of time, so they just seemed like extraneous fabric. The first scarf I recall buying was primarily a prop for a Christmas card photo in 2013.

My attitude gradually shifted over time, especially as I dove into soccer fandom. I now have one practical scarf and about eight decorative scarves.

I do appreciate a scarf’s ability to help keep part of my body warm, but there aren’t necessarily lots of opportunities to wear the fashion accessory outside of a handful of soccer matches and some of the cooler days during the year.

That changed this year as I started writing in a brand-new 18-month journal for 2023-24. After mostly finishing another similarly lengthy chronicle, I’ve found the tome can be awkward to write in. I have long sought objects to help angle the book just so to make it easier to write in.

Enter the utilitarian scarf.

Instead of hunting down a box or random book to help prop up my journal, I can wear my scarf wherever I go so it will always be at the ready when inspiration (or what counts for it, in my case) strikes me.

A folded scarf helps prop up a part of a journal at Salt Lake City's Main Library on May 17, 2026.
A folded scarf helps prop up a part of a journal at Salt Lake City’s Main Library on May 17, 2026.

I think it may look a little odd for me to wear a scarf to random places — it might give off the mostly true impression that I’m a really big fan of certain soccer teams. The fabric does help my shoulders to feel a little warmer at times.

In addition to convenient portability, the scarf offers wonderful flexibility in supporting my journal. One side of the book often needs to be lifted higher than the other. The solution is simplicity itself — one folds the scarf as many times as is needed to reach the appropriate height.

Douglas Adams once wrote in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” about the utility of always bringing a towel. I can definitely see the versatility of the towel, but a scarf offers a little more panache.

Introducing The20 writing project

Writing in a journal at the Chipotle on Mangrove Avenue in Chico.
Writing in a journal at the Chipotle on Mangrove Avenue in Chico.

I’m trying something new on my blogs. For years, I haven’t done a great job of keeping things up to date, letting months go by between updates. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say. I have had plenty of things to write about — and now’s the time to write about them.

Starting today, I’m launching a daily item called The20. Every day, I want to set aside 20 minutes to write anything on any topic that catches my fancy. It could be a review of a TV show or move that I’ve seen recently, it could be some thoughts on the weather outside, recapping some recent adventures or taking a deep dive back into some events that I would enjoy recounting. To maintain impartiality and professionalism, I’ll stay away from politics.

As you can tell, the topics will be pretty random, but I hope it will be enjoyable. I know it will be for me (and I seem to be the primary reader on these sites). A while ago, I re-read some old blog posts I wrote about karaoke when I first moved to Chico in 2005. They’re nothing earth-shattering and they didn’t follow the time limits I’m proposing for this column, but it was interesting to review my brief chronicles of an activity that I still have a lot of fun doing.

That’s the other component of The20 — it will contain everything I write in 20 minutes. It will be interesting to get a sense of how much I can write within the time limit. I may break some topics or subjects into multiple part essays to help bridge them over multiple days. There are journeys that I’ve taken or moments in my life that I don’t think can fit into a single, 20-minute chunk.

While I’m worried that I won’t be able to get everything out in 20 minutes, the opposite may be true. After 15 minutes today, I’m finding that I’ve written most of what I want to say on this subject and I’m largely just editing my post at this point.

None of these are going to be hard and fast rules — I’ll probably do some editing and adding photos after time is called. There will also be some topics where I will go long (Monday’s essay on Lake Oroville is an example).

I’m excited about this new project. Everyday, I spend so much time away from work just randomly reading websites or watching TV. I eventually reach a point where I feel I’ve read or seen everything I care to for a day. It will be nice to focus some of this energy on actually creating something.

There are a lot of things I’d like to share with others, but I need a plan. Although I can be slow to pick up the pen or start typing, I can get totally engrossed in the process.