With the looming Notebooks

[syngent]

So as we are "Its Coming" close to not one but two launches (aren't we a spoiled little sub forum) how many of you already have a notebook routine, and how many will start their journey with these products...

For those new do you know how you are going to use it, Journal, correspondence, by the phone for quick note. How do you imagine yourself making a notebook part of your life. I got my hands on a Midori notebook not that long ago, and now it comes with me everywhere, I use it for everything and now wonder how I ever lived without carrying something with me. It has saved my bacon a few times... when I think of things to drop in the nib on the go I can write them down instead of forgetting and losing out, not to mention I can work out longer posts before I'm ready to make it public. So I know a lot of you are excited, but how are you going to use your new books once you get them ?

 

[SmoovD]

I keep smaller sized notebooks for daily notes. For a daily journal, various sizes, paper qualities are fine. The past months have finished a few different sizes of Kokuyo, a Moleskine (A5), an unbranded handmade and a Mead comp. My current paper is a kokuyo cyo-bo, 100gsm and all sorts of awesome. No matter the size or paper, my daily journal is a way to recap the day, focus my thoughts and a form of release.

 

[Craig9802]

For a while now, I've been considering starting a journal (or two) to fill with letters to my daughters. I'm not sure how the logistics will work out - save them for when they go to college, or get married, or annually on their birthday, or whatever, but it's a tradition I'd like to dedicate some time to. I've just begun to realize that we spend so much daily time just getting through the day, and we rarely make time to sit down and talk about the larger issues in life or even just try to make each other laugh. In one way, it may be selfish (I'll have a captive audience, with no chance for back-talk), but in another sense I realize that I may not have the opportunity to cover all the ground I'd like. The men in my family don't have a great track record in that regard.

On another note (no pun intended), I may keep a new one and give one of my older journals as a gift, with a fresh refill. I have a couple of family members who would appreciate it.

Danny Downer, out...

 

[syngent]

I thought your name was Craig

 

[John Von Wuggz]

I've got to spend more time on this forum. I've always wanted to learn cursive (American educated and it got skipped) and get into the world of pens. I am so ingrained with using my phone for notes, journaling, correspondence, etc that I hardly know where to start.

 

[syngent]

lol well we can always help with where to start,... believe me there will be a LINK lol

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

I have a cheap journal sized thing I keep in my back pocket at work. I have a larger journal that I keep by my bed but sadly don't write in it much. I usually write a letter or two instead. I'm excited for both and will try to fit them into my life.

 

[andrew98]

lol well we can always help with where to start,... believe me there will be a LINK lol

Ha! Yeah. Where to start and a million places to end up!

-Andy

 

[The Nid Hog]

I usually have a pair of Rhodia webbiies going all the time. One is for daily notes at work, the other is for more long-term projects that I'm thinking about. I don't really keep a personal journal as such but that stuff usually ends up in one or the other of the notebooks I'm using. I also have a Rhodia #12 with a cover to stick in my pocket or my bag for quick notes. Beyond that, I have a stack of bound notebooks from Muji--about the same size as a webbie--that I use for individual projects that I'm working on.

In the end, all of them get transcribed and digitally archived. Sometimes I scan the webbies and save them as pdfs too. Even so, there's something nice about writing it out first.

 

[maxman]

For me it depends on the size.
I have a full size Saddleback folio that I use at meetings. It's big and heavy but I love it for toting around to a meeting because I don't have to be careful with it.
I hope this one is going to be small enough to carry everywhere.

 

[rider4life]

I plan on getting one of each (depending on prices of course, but I'm hopeful!!!). One I'll be using to write letters to my child once a week or so, and gifting it to them sometime after they are born. Probably right away, maybe reading to him/her from the letters instead of a book.

The other I'll be using for myself. I've had it in my head for a few years now (about 10...) that I want to write a novel. I'd like to get my ideas down on paper and actually start. I've written paragraphs and pages here and there. Unfortunately all the stories I've written so far have been for different novels with very different characters/universes/ideas. I'm hoping a nice journal will help me focus on just one. Mind you, that will also depend on whether or not I get a job where I'm not driving 1.5hrs each way every day. One where I can take transit and/or just not have to drive. Where I can devote that 3 hrs of my day (or even 2 of it!) to writing.

Cheers,

M.

PS. Writing "my child" was really weird for me. I think that's the first time I've put that to a page. Weird, but good.

 

[jzuzphreek]

After the success of making a midori "styled" passport notebook for my wife. I'm in the process of making one for myself. I think I'm gonna buy us both some inserts though.

 

[syngent]

I love my pocket notebook, but I need a desk pad of some kind, and by need, I mean I would like one it would be nice

 

[Slivovitz]

These notebooks loom, do they? Currently thinking that I probably won't buy one, but if they're less pricey than I expect, and if they hold a size of notebook that I already use, that could change.

I've got a journal for home, another one for when I travel, a small notepad for any notes I need to make during a normal day, and a tiny notebook that actually fits in my wallet so that I'm never without something. Plus a log book that I use for mundane record keeping on some personal things, and some other books with poetry, and with fiction that may or may not ever be finished. The journals contain the kind of blather that helps me get my thoughts together. Most of it is best kept to myself, but when I see it on the page, I can decide whether I want to talk about it with other people. If I tweeted, or had a Facebook account, I'd constantly be regretting things.

To write at length, it seems to be best not to go with too small a notebook, although where "too small" starts is open to debate. Constantly flipping over small pages makes it harder for me to think connectedly, though.

There is something appealing about a leather cover for a travel journal or notebook. Currently I have a perfectly good heavy duty nylon cover, but it's a rather loose fit for the travel journal, and too small for what I use at home.

 

[syngent]

My Midori holds up well, and I imagine both coming offerings will be of a high quality then the leather used on them, not that the midori is low quality mind you, and it holds up well being tossed around a bit.

I like having it around, feels funny when i forget it in the car or at home

 

[Toothpick]

I'll be continuing my education starting in August so I'm hoping to find an academic calendar insert for "it".

If not, then "they" would make a good gift for myself to take school notes with.

 

[Bob L.]

I just bought a Staples Sustainable Earth Pad, 9.5" / 6" (100 pages), for each of my classes. (I keep a daily journal for each class I teach. This gives me a written recorded of what worked well and what needs improvement on my end as well as the kids' end.) The kids get 5 minutes at the end of each class to sum up their version of the class and what they need to focus on during the next class. This is written in their journals.

The spiral rings are stiff metal. They are going to hold up very well. The notebook will lie flat like a book or lie flat like a pad. Pages flip easily and do not catch. I used a broad stub with Noodler's Polar Blue ink for today's entry. The nib and my hand liked the paper. No bleed through but, the blue ink can be seen as a shadow on the reverse side of the page. That's fine with me. I use the right hand sides. The backs are rarely touched. Not bad for $3.79...

The kids are going to get cheap composition books. (The ubiquitous sewn and taped essay books.) The big challenge for them is holding on to them across the entire school year.

 

[Eeyore]

I always have a notebook in my laptop bag. Until now, I used the inexpensive notebooks supplied by my employer. However, I just bought a higher quality notebook.

At home, I have a Moleskine notebook that frankly doesn't see too much use.

 

[purerockfury]

I actually found an old pad I forgot I had. It's called red & black by hamelin paperbrands. I messed with the Safari on it and actually I really like how the pen glides on the paper. No bleed or ghosting (that I have seen) and no seeing shadows through the other side. for now I will use this and eventually use the Rhodia I picked up with the pen.

 

[Snargle]

I actually found an old pad I forgot I had. It's called red & black by hamelin paperbrands. I messed with the Safari on it and actually I really like how the pen glides on the paper. No bleed or ghosting (that I have seen) and no seeing shadows through the other side. for now I will use this and eventually use the Rhodia I picked up with the pen.

The Black 'n Red books are quite good. I stocked up on several when a local office store was closing and they had them for 75% off. Good paper and very fountain pen friendly. My only complaint is certain wet ink/pen combos can be very slow drying.