Once, I had a friend named Whiteboard

I haven't seen him in a while. Oh, he is around, I just have no space for him in my current living situation. I used to use him all the time to scribble outlines, notes, and random story ideas on, but now he sits on my floor. He's tucked away, more than halfway hidden by one of my two desks, and our relationship has suffered because of it.

He's being slowly replaced by my new friend, Notebook. Notebook is more convenient, there for me when I need him, and far less distant. He also has much more space in which to write and doodle as I go about my life as a graduate student. He's a better friend than Whiteboard was. The last time I truly saw Whiteboard he had to hide behind my door all the time, but Notebook can go in my purse, my schoolbag, but not my pocket. (He's a little too big for that one.)

Notebook will help my writing to improve by allowing me to draw inspiration from the real, tangible world around me. Whiteboard could help me do that in a limited way, but Notebook can and has seen much more of the world and so will be a better observer of nature than Whiteboard ever was.