Every day, the blank page is your batting practice. You’re not here because you’ve arrived, nor because you’re a superhero of focus and creative output. No, you’re here because you love it and you want to get better.
Baron Fig Limited Editions
Our friends at Baron Fig released some lovely limited editions over the weekend. The Three Legged Juggler is an orange colored take on their lined Confidant notebook. It comes beautifully packaged with a placard of the poem that inspired it. The Lightbulb is a purple colored take on their Apprentice pocket notebooks with a neat little lightbulb icon printed on the cover. Both are nice if you are looking for something a little bit different.
How much of the year is left
I realized last night as I finished yesterday’s logbook entry just how little time was left in the year. You can see DEC 1 on the calendar, but your brain doesn’t really register it the way the chunk and heft of the pages turned behind you does.
I was thinking the same thing the other day about my Hobonichi Techo. Another advantage to keeping a daily logbook or journal is the very tangible sense of time passage it provides.
Analog At Heart — The Saddleback Notepad Holder and Tibolt Pen
by Uri Fridman
Even though I live in the digital world, I am at heart still an analog person. Growing up in a time when digital was just appearing and analog was still a big part of the world, I learned early onto appreciate the power that good quality things can bring. One of the things that has stayed with me since then was the need to jot notes and ideas on paper as opposed to using software.
I’m on the road a lot, but I also have periods of time when I’m in the office. When that happens I rely on a Saddleback Leather Shop Notepad Holder to hold my notepad and pen. The pen, by the way, is a Titanium TiBolt made by Fellhoelter. Both pieces are extremely well built and provide years of use and abuse for the money.
Usually my ideas start in this notepad. I just create a brain dump of what I have in my mind and I begin sketching out the different options. it’s not unusual to have 10 or more pages full of notes and sketches at the end of the “session”. Usually, they are like a puzzle and you can line them up together to form the whole idea. To me it’s a great way to quickly and clearly begin working on the idea. From there, I call my team and we’ll translate this to a whiteboard, where everyone adds their part.
The thing is, having a good pen and a piece of paper makes you feel that the ideas, the information you want express, is actually alive. Sure, you can use brain-mapping software or just jot notes in a text editor, but on a piece of paper, with your hands… It fees real. It feels like it’s not going to be deleted and you can work with it.
Again, maybe it’s the fact that I lived through those years of analog and digital, but – like a good quality mechanical watch – I think some of the analog world is still superior to the current, increasingly digital world.
By the way, when I’m on the road I use a Baron Fig Apprentice to do exactly the same.
Uri is one of the writers at redteams.net.
Polaroid Journaling | My Polaroid Blog
Polaroid Journaling | My Polaroid Blog.
When I’m feeling down or a bit nostalgic I will reach for a stack of Polaroids and sort through them for forgotten moments in time. I discovered an even better way of looking at my pictures by keeping them in a small reporter’s notebook by Moleskine.
An interesting way to journal as well as a nice marriage of two analog mediums.
The Lettermate
An envelope addressing guide for those of us that have trouble writing in a straight line.
Only $15. What a neat idea.
My First Baron Fig — Shawn Blanc
My First Baron Fig — Shawn Blanc
My Baron Fig and I made a pact. I would use it for the most mundane, menial, impermanent things I could think of. And if I ruined this book by filling it with nothing of consequence, then I would order another to sit on the shelf and collect dust as it waited patiently for something more historic and epic.
A lovely ode to a dependable notebook. I love these sorts of “after I’ve used it for a really long time” reviews.
Connecting your paper notebooks with the digital age — Life Hacks — Medium
Connecting your paper notebooks with the digital age — Life Hacks — Medium
Most of the subjects I write about are related to abstract artifacts?—?emails, meetings, web pages, digital pictures. One of the things I missed most after switching to pen and paper was having a reliable way to reference these digital bits. However, I devised a plan to fix that.
What he comes up with is mindblowingly clever. Going to steal and implement the heck out of this.
Eraser-off | The Well-Appointed Desk
Eraser-off | The Well-Appointed Desk
I decided to put a few different types of erasers head-to-head and see which one works best. Its not the brand of eraser that is the key attribute but rather the type of material used to create the eraser. There are two common types of erasers for everyday use: plastic/vinyl erasers usually white and almost all are now latex-free and compound rubber a bit gritty with a pumice-like material embedded in rubber.
Educational. I learned more about erasers and the performance of a few of the better ones than I thought was possible.
The Product Free 2014 Holiday Gift Guide – Pen Paper Ink Letter
The Product Free 2014 Holiday Gift Guide – Pen Paper Ink Letter
This is a good generalist guide for gift giving to the pen and paper lover in your life. Good for any time of the year too.