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Moleskine | |
June 21st, 2018 | |
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In 1997, Modo & Modo reintroduced the Moleskine notebooks to the | |
world, taking the design from 19th & 20th century french designs | |
as described in the writings of Bruce Chatwin. There's a lot of | |
mystique surrounding the design and use, but what they really | |
represent is a mass-market blank book with a solid design for | |
pocket use. | |
I started carrying Moleskine notebooks in 1998 and still carry | |
them today. In fact, in 2001 I bulk ordered them and have | |
a stockpile stored away just in case something weird happens in | |
Italy. They're fantastic books, not because of some magical | |
quality of manufacturing or design, but because they are cheap and | |
moderately well constructed. If they were built to last I would | |
have a harder time using them. That's the point I want to get at | |
in this phlog. | |
When I first started keeping a journal it was just that, a diary. | |
I wrote thoughts in it and dated them. They were serious and | |
heartfelt as only a teen can produce. They were horribly | |
embarrassing and trite. I wrote six pages one night on the deep | |
philosophy behind wanting to grow out my hair, a work of literary | |
genius that boiled down to the essence: "I like Highlander." | |
It took me a while to develop a system for using the notebooks | |
that really worked for me. In the end, my system boiled down to, | |
"turn the page and write". The key to using the notebooks | |
effectively was to not have a category or a use or anything. | |
I pick out one book at a time, turn the page, write whatever | |
I need, then turn the next page. There is no system beyond that. | |
I keep all of my Moleskines. They line a shelf in my office, | |
multiple rows and stacks. If you were to pick one up and thumb | |
through it you'd find ideas for stories, notes from D&D games, | |
shopping lists, phone numbers, sketches, notes from phone calls, | |
and any number of other random things. This is not a problem, this | |
is the heart of the notebook. It is a book for using, a book for | |
capturing the moment in the written word (or drawing) and moving | |
on. That's what makes it special. | |
Whenever I doubt myself in this, I'm reminded of Leonardo Da | |
Vinci's notebooks. He was possibly the greatest polymath in human | |
history and his greatest works are scribbled next to shopping | |
lists. He sketched anatomy next to questions about the volume of | |
water traveling in a river. The juxtaposition came from | |
a practical desire to not waste paper, and that's a bit of what | |
drives my choice as well. I don't want to spend a lot of money on | |
a blank book. If I do, I'll be scared to write in it for fear that | |
my words won't do it justice. I'll set it aside and give it | |
a grand purpose. I'll say to myself, "You can write only your | |
observations from meditation here." Or maybe, "This will be your | |
travel journal on your next trip to Iceland." In the end, it will | |
stay on my shelf, unused. Instead, the Moleskine in my pocket will | |
capture those notes along with everything else. | |
If the Moleskine design isn't for you, check out the US Army Green | |
Logbook. They're a standard with any quatermaster and can be found | |
in many places around the globe. They're cheap, plentiful, and get | |
the job done. You'll be hard pressed to find a military officer | |
that doesn't have a shelf of them at home. |