It may sounds weird, in the era of computers, Internet and mobile phones, to carry in your bag or suitcase a scratch pad. Well, in my bag, there is always a notepad or scratch pad, to keep my travel notes, as well as the feelings and memories of places I visited and people I met.
I normally don’t record my interviews on videos, as quite often the presence of a camera puts the person who is telling his story in a false, unnatural condition. And the person who speaks, even unwittingly, begins to act and you can feel a lack of sincerity. Therefore I prefer the old methods, like pen and paper. I listen to my person, and afterwards, I try to put on paper that baggage of memories and experiences conveyed. The details are basic as without them you can’t tell the rest.
This is the philosophy I share with Germana Cabrelle, the “mother” of Moskardin, a pocket notepad of Venetian inspiration: “tacuin” in the Venetian dialect also means wallet, briefcase. It recalls something which is destined to cherish floating thoughts, like the tentacles of the musky octopus. Therefore, you pass from the squid to the inkwell, in a sea of invisible ink connecting Italy from North to South and from Veneto makes this notepad arrive in Puglia. I already love to take it with me and pull out to take notes of my meetings and my memories.
The only problem? To choose among the many available cover colors, all of them very tempting, that Germana offers!
(Traduzione di Monia Saponaro)
