I'm a big fan of new journals--the crisp white pages (lined, obviously!), the perfect binding, the unfrayed edges, the way none of the corners have been torn off to scribble down a phone number or dispose of chewed gum. But then I start to use it. And I cross out the third word I write. And I rip out page 6 because I wrote down something that doesn't deserve to be preserved in ink. And I toss it in my purse and the corner gets mashed and then water spills on the back cover.