A confession

June 9, 2006

My weakness isn’t pairs of shoes, gadgets or collecting DVDs. I’m continually tempted to buy new notebooks. No, not the electronic type, but the paper variety. Oh, and especially Moleskines… which until recently I had mis-read as Moleskins.

Notebooks

There’s just something so nice about starting a new notebook with sketches, clippings, doodles, writing. I’m not the biggest fan of organisers which divide all the days up into equal-sized boxes - the plain or lined variety is fine. Here’s a photo I just snapped of the corner of my desk:

Notebooks

You can never have too many notepads and I love looking through old journals full of old sketches from over the years. While digital is such a powerful medium and my wacom pen is lovely, nothing beats the satisfaction of doodling on a piece of paper.

I’m limiting myself to just taking one notebook with me as we travel. But if I see a gorgeous Inca notebook, you know I’ll be bringing home more than one.

Comments

  1. hehe - I was just looking at little Moleskines notebook and wondering if it might be time for a new one…. I mean it is just over half full!

    For someone who spends so much time typing I sure like the idea of notebooks too :-)

    — Darren, June 9, 2006

  2. I’m with you on the Moleskine crutch. I was actually misspelling Moleskine as Moleskin for the longest time until I ran out of clean pages and went hunting for replacements. They’re the studiest notebooks around. Hands down.

    — Derek Punsalan, June 9, 2006

  3. Me too, although I think the Moleskine thing is in danger of becoming a fad.

    The ideal notebook has to be functional, not too luxurious, otherwise I find it stays on the shelf for too long, always awaiting some special purpose and eventually provoking remorse.

    — Fred, June 9, 2006

  4. can you please hook me up witha link to acutally BUY one of these Moleskine notbooks? something like(or smaller) the one on the right of your picture.

    — drazin, June 10, 2006

  5. You can purchase Moleskines at Eastgate

    http://www.eastgate.com/catalog/Moleskine.html

    Also some lovely Italian journals

    http://www.eastgate.com/catalog/ItalianJournals.html

    And watercolor notebooks for travelers, Tinderbox, and all sorts of other nice stuff.

    http://www.eastgate.com/catalog/Tools.html

    — Mark Bernsteinht, June 10, 2006

  6. I am the same way and have been all my life. I cant go to the store without looking at office supplies. It is just something about pens and notebooks. In fact I just bought a new moleskine last night because my prior was filled up. Gotta love it!

    — Dennis, June 10, 2006

  7. I keep a big notebook with me at all times that has become a repository of ideas on all sorts of different topics. I will love looking back on it in a few years and seeing what hair-brained schemes I had envisioned

    — Gareth, June 10, 2006

  8. Notebooks are fab, and essential. I normally have one for everyday things I note down while on the phone, and then dozens for other things, I keep finding them and forgetting why I even bought them. I’m sure you will find a fab one on your travels!

    — Pete, June 12, 2006

  9. Me too, although I think the Moleskine thing is in danger of becoming a fad.

    The ideal notebook has to be functional, not too luxurious, otherwise I find it stays on the shelf for too long, always awaiting some special purpose and eventually provoking remorse.

    That’s ridiculous. While the somewhat higher prices of Moleskine notebooks may cause some to hesitate before checkout, understand that Moleskine’s are one of the most, if not the most, durable pocket notebooks that I’ve used. No crumpled pages. No unglued binder…

    — Derek Punsalan, June 20, 2006