Diary of a Frustrated Woman

I recently requested and am now reading this book from the library. I totally love the volume they got me! It has a copyright date of 1931, and still has the original checkout system in the front cover, saying it was first checked out in 1937. The book itself is held together by brown duct tape. The book is in diary form, and is a delightful escape, as well! I mention this because I recently began a new sketchbook, and, because it has larger format pages, I seem to be drifting towards making each page a bit of a journal of my days.

Unfortunately, my days have been quite frustrating. Not, as in the book, because I can’t really afford the perfect gown for a party or the hat I want to wear to compete with the other grand ladies, but because things just seem to be falling apart around me lately. I won’t even mention the country - which I do see in the news to be falling apart around us all of late. But I will mention my Fitbit, which I have come to rely on, and which Murphy, the toothsome puppy, chewed to bits, requiring me to get a new one. And I’ll mention my iPad, which I have come to rely on for many things, which also decided to die on me, losing a lot of passwords, apps, etc permanently in the process.

 

My sketchbook has become a record of my days. Although I’m trying to not dwell on negative things, sometimes the frustration just needs to have its say. Mostly, though, I’m recording things and people I see that catch my interest. And the world has turned to Spring here, so there is a lot of beauty around me, as well.

 

These are some pages from my current sketchbook. They are not ‘great art,’ but each sketch takes me back to a moment, a day. There are birds and blooming trees and adorable children and interesting people to remember. Things that keep frustration at bay - even when a 3 month old lab puppy and new technology does their best to frustrate me. And maybe someday these sketchbooks will be held together with brown duct tape, and will bring all these moments and memories to life again.