A friend of mine, whose opinion matters to me above all others in regards to writing and journalism, sent me a notebook the other day.

A notebook and pen or pencil are the basic tools of our profession. You can't remember every thing you see and, even if you could, you must have a notebook to write down the exact things people say.

Forget a tape recorder, though it can come in handy if someone tries to recant what they've told you. Tape an entire interview and you find yourself spending hours going back and forth trying to find that quote you know you heard, but just aren't sure when. Journalists work in minutes, not hours. Tape recorders are just too slow.

Besides, your mind knows when a quote is important. It literally sings out to you. You write that down, make sure it is correct and listen for the next gem.

Years ago as a city hall reporter in another town I was interviewing a city manager about how the police department in that town had handled a certain case.

It was the city manager's opinion that the police had been incorrect in their decision to arrest a doctor.

"You see," he told me, "there are important people and not so important people...."

I just nodded my head and wrote as fast as I could. Eventually, that one little quote caused such a huge stir in the town that it spawned a temporary cottage industry: Bumper stickers that said: "Don't arrest me, I'm a VIP!"

But that was all done with just a crummy, cardboard-bound reporter's notebook. The notebook sent to me by my friend is special.

I could tell at a glance that it was unlike any notebook I had ever owned — stamped on the back cover is the word "Moleskine." Perhaps that means something to you, but it did not to me.

Then I read the enclosed history of the "legendary notebook."

As it turns out, the Moleskine notebook is just about as special as a notebook can get. It is this very brand of notebook that has been "used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries." The notebook is incredibly well-bound with acid-free, lined pages. At the back is an expandable pocket in which to keep, uh, whatever you need to keep.

Wow. I've never felt unworthy of a notebook before.

But as it turns out Ernest Hemingway used Moleskine notebooks. I can imagine that on the pages of his notebooks would have been the recipes for some of his favorite alcoholic beverages, something like: Bourbon, no ice; Bourbon, one cube of ice. That probably would just about have covered it.

I'm thinking that the reason my literary career has been somewhat, uh, stilted to this point is that I did not have a Moleskine to inspire me. Indeed, I'm beginning to feel inspired just holding it in my hands.

The history says that Picasso and Van Gogh also used a Moleskine notebook, which may mean that I will also have a future in art. Looking at my artistic endeavors to this point, I would have to say my works would be much more in the mode of Picasso, but you can never tell.

Here is the problem, though. I have had this notebook for a few days, I find myself intimidated about actually writing in it. Shouldn't whatever you put in a Moleskine be important? I'm worried I'm going to write something totally insipid and some future generation will look at it and think, "He used a Moleskine to write that?"

But, for a fact, I've been considering a project that means a great deal to me for some time — seriously. It occurred to me that maybe I got unknowingly sent this notebook to give me some encouragement, a little push.

In any case I'm going to take it as such.

When is a notebook not just a notebook?

Easy. When it's an inspiration.