I know some writers observe the sacred Wordless Wednesday tradition on their respective blogs. But me? Not so much with the wordless.

Because there’s a story behind every picture. I make it my bidness to tell those stories. (Feel free to quote me on that.)

First up: the book I’ve already talked about this week.

In this case you CAN judge a book by its cover. Because: Humorous? I laughed. Heartfelt? I cried. Chuck Taylors sitting in front of an empty leather chair? Okay I’ll admit dooce may have lost me on that one. But still a fabulous read. I smell a Pulitzer nomination. Or maybe it’s those Chucks that I smell. But something DEFINITELY smells in here.

Next up: a four-pack of Mini Journals.

First off let me say that I feel no shame in admitting that I am a journal addict. I TOTALLY [HEART] JOURNALS! Big, small, fat, skinny, lined, blank, Moleskine, pigskin, cowhide, naugahyde, commercially manufactured, handmade, perfect bound, and coptic stitched. I love them all. And own several hundred. And will one day probably open the front door to find my family has staged a journal-buying intervention. But until then see this gorgeous set of four Mini Journals by Jill Bliss I bought? They are four inches by five inches so…yeah…perfect for slipping into a purse pocket. And each one has a different page layout: lined, unlined, grid, or pattern. Plus Jill Bliss has her own blog with lots of pretty pictures of shiny things, so if you know not of the Jill Bliss get on over there and edumacate yourself.

Moving along and speaking of Edumacation:

I know it will come as a shock to no one that my family of six spends most of our meals dining in fancy restaurants. And the single most important criterion for our fine dining patronage is Good Toys. We’ve collected Hot Wheels and slutty Barbies on skateboards not to mention several releases of Teenie Beanie Babies and whatever the hell that alien garbage was that Sonic gave out last month but hold the phone Myrtle because Chick-Fil-A just RAISED THE FREAKING BAR. Behold…Russian Language Learning for Kids. Ooo. Ahhhh. And let it be known that like it or not my kids WILL be listening to this CD a minimum of four hours a day this summer because why should I pay for ten hours of college Russian when they can just put in a little effort now and CLEP out later. Finally! A child’s meal toy that I WON’T be tossing in the trash the minute their little heads hit the pillow. Spasibo, Chick-Fil-A! (Thank you, Chick-Fil-A!)

And finally…the one I almost didn’t show you because this just proves I must love journals as much as Germans love David Hasselhoff.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. ANOTHER?JOURNAL? But wait! This is no ordinary journal! It’s an extraordinary journal! Let’s see why. Super-soft recycled fine leather cover in aqua? Check. Lined pages in nine (NINE!) colors? Check. Handmade in Italy? Check. Handy patented horizontal elastic closure? Satin ribbon placemarker? Check. Check. And all for the lowlowlow price of $16.95 plus tax. See? Extraordinary. Told you so.