Moleskine-ing

January 16, 2003 9:36 AM

Moleskine notebooksI picked up my first Moleskine a few months ago and have been carrying it around everywhere, jotting down notes to myself, more stream of conscious than a journal. The pocket notebooks come in a variety of styles, including a Japanese Pocket Album that is one 60 page long continuous fold out sheet for making timelines, long drawings or photo albums. Even my plain notebook has a small pocket in the back cover to stick keepsakes (ticket stubs maybe?) as well as a built in bookmark and elastic strap to keep the book closed. Other bloggers also love their Moleskines. Not to be a product ad, but the combination of design simplicity and utility really make these notebooks a functional piece of art. It also helps to have a nice, small pen to carry with the journal.
posted by jonah (79 comments total)

*gentle nudge to get Andre off his ass*
posted by machaus at 9:43 AM on January 16, 2003

Yeah, Ive been curious about what Andre is up to with that
posted by jonah at 9:46 AM on January 16, 2003

More Moleskine bloggers out there.
posted by jonah at 9:51 AM on January 16, 2003

These little black books are a godsend.

I replaced my PDA with Moleskines over a year ago. Now I carry the datebook (daily format), address book, and one unlined notebook (not the sketch paper). I also keep a journal in a lined Moleskine, but that stays home usually.

I find them more immediate and convenient than any other pad or device I've used. I take notes faster than anyone else in the meeting (who use PDAs or laptops), and it fits in my pocket (unlike a steno pad). I've not found another notebook that's as small, lays flat when open, and has a bookmark and a pocket (which I use for business cards and receipts, mostly). I never have to worry about batteries or syncing. My preferences for organizing information never meshed with any PDA on the market-- and I've had them all, technophile that I am. I prefer to adapt the medium to me, not me to the medium.

I've even got my wife using one to track her medical treatments.
posted by Cerebus at 9:51 AM on January 16, 2003

Makes my Palm Pilot's lack of romance so apparent. (I still love my Palm Pilot, though.)
posted by boredomjockey at 9:56 AM on January 16, 2003

1 revolution, 2 coup d'etats, 3 moleskines. tanks for the memories.
posted by azul at 10:02 AM on January 16, 2003

Anyone know of a place to get these that isn't impossible to navigate around (i.e. no Flash, no white-text-on-white-background, just a straightforward catalog site)?
posted by wanderingmind at 10:06 AM on January 16, 2003

That site is moving about as fast as a mole through granite.

I just lost my trusty (damn you! I trusted you and now you are lost!) --er, sorry -- mini-Filofax format binder which is address book, sketchpad, stamp holder, phone card holder, note pad. As the calendar changed or the blanks filled up I'd remove pages, adding newer ones and archive the old in spare binders from Muji. Just one thing bugs me about it. It does not fit as comfortably in my pocket as I'd like. Should I go moleskin? /wondering
posted by Dick Paris at 10:10 AM on January 16, 2003

I love my moleskines.... I couldn't do without them. And anyone who tried to make me would be beaten into sure submission by my Large Sketch Book.
posted by fooljay at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2003

I got mine at the Giant Robot Store near my house. You can also order them online from then.
posted by jonah at 10:16 AM on January 16, 2003

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the Moles?
posted by jonson at 10:19 AM on January 16, 2003

I buy mine online through Vickery.com since there is a significant dearth of decent stationers where I live. The only place I've ever seen them on the shelf and in the flesh was Barnes & Noble, and now they ony carry the address book. 8(
posted by Cerebus at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2003

So, are there any knock-offs of this wonder-notebook? Something with all the fabulous functionality but half the "used by famous european intellectuals" cachet and list price, I'm thinking.
posted by cardboard at 10:32 AM on January 16, 2003

Picked up mine at the local Barnes and Noble. Very unromantic, I know.
posted by trharlan at 10:35 AM on January 16, 2003

I ran across these on my last trip to Paris and fell in love with them. Unfortunately FNAC, where I first found them, and the other places I checked didn't have the unlined, thin-paged versions that I was after. I ended up buying one of the small sketchbook ones, which I use as a journal (almost full) and some of the lined ones.

The first thing I did when I got home after Christmas week was dig up a store on the internet and order myself some of the unlined pocket size. I adore them. They go well with my mini fountain pen.

Having used a keyboard and let my writing skills & handwriting go to pot for so long, it really is a pleasure to take up pen and ink and make something lasting. It's a shame my cursive is so poor - but I'm working on it. :)
posted by gkostolny at 10:38 AM on January 16, 2003

What I'm looking for is probably similar to what Cardboard wants, crossbred with a Filofax. I've discovered that I can get a fairly good sketchbook (good enough for my use, anyway) for very cheap by buying 3-hole-punched printer paper and a cheapo 3-ring binder at any office supply store. 500 pages at a shot, refillable, easy to reorganize, easy to take pages out and give them to people... Problem is, it's a little too big to fit in my pocket. Does anyone make cheap plastic pocket-sized binders and paper to go along with them?
posted by wanderingmind at 10:42 AM on January 16, 2003

Moleskine pocket protectors, anybody?
posted by matteo at 10:46 AM on January 16, 2003

wanderingmind, it seems to me that the smaller the binder, the higher the price. I used to try to make notebooks for university the way you make sketchbooks, but wanted small ones. I eventually found myself raiding recycling bins for blank paper and getting the paper cut and spiral-bound at the local copy shop. You might want to do the same - the copy shops usually charge a per-cut fee to use the die cutter, which gives you nice, evenly-sized small sheets, and then a per-book charge to get the sheets spiral-bound. You wouldn't get the same ability to give the sheets to people (without tearing them out), but it's cheap and you can choose your paper quality.
posted by some chick at 10:47 AM on January 16, 2003

I'm sure that the pomp adds to some of the price, but the quality and features of the notebooks make it worth it to me. The small pocket in the back that accordians out is so simple, but so useful and sturdy. The book opens flat, not like the sewn paper notbooks that get curvy near the spine, easier to scan if you want. The book mark I thought was useless at first, but now I find handy to flip open to the current page. The elastic strap that keeps the book closed also seemed to be unneeded until I noticed that in my pocket things don't get stuck in the pages.

You are paying more than for a standard notebook, and it's not a necessity, but it's worth the extra dough.
posted by jonah at 10:48 AM on January 16, 2003

I have one of these; it's a mini-accordian-folder. It doesn't actual have pages, just about ten pockets. It is phenomenally useful, since no matter how many notepads I carry around I always end up writing on random scraps of paper anyway, and this way I can just put them in the moleskine. Along with business cards, ticket stubs, receipts, declarations of undying passion, etc. I always thought it would be neat to never throw any of that junk out, just buy a new notebook every month and label them, and have a really huge collection of nicely-organized ephemera in a few years. But at the prices they are charging I am thinking more like every six months.

And, they have a cool beat-utilitarian minimalist esthetic going on.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 10:48 AM on January 16, 2003 [1 favorite]

Check out MoleSkineUS for a faster running site featuring this wonder notebook.
thanks, Google!
posted by jazon at 10:50 AM on January 16, 2003

These Moleskine things look good. I'm used to carrying the ubiquitous steno in my back pocket, but sometimes it gets a little bent. And about half of them have this problem where all the pages stick together.

As far as a small writing utensil for a pad, I'd go for the Zebra Mini Pen, which comes as either a mechanical pencil or ball point. (For full size pens, though, it's the Pilot G-2, all the way.)
posted by Happydaz at 10:51 AM on January 16, 2003 [1 favorite]

Yes, Wanderingmind. That is exactly what I use and recently lost. Mine was cardboard but a plastic version is available. I even have a mini-Filofax hole punch.
posted by Dick Paris at 10:52 AM on January 16, 2003

handy: fits pocket. Attractive: binding. costly: just enough to make you think a bit before writing down dumb things. Special: because it doesn't look like the stuff at Staples and Office Max. In sum: love them.
posted by Postroad at 10:56 AM on January 16, 2003

I don't get it. I went to the MoleSkineUS site and can't really see what all the hoopla is about. I have a really similar book cover for work, with the added advantage of not having the pages stitched in, so I can just slide replacement drug-store notebooks in it. These books seem to have some nice additions, but they hardly seem like a wonder-product.
posted by Salmonberry at 10:58 AM on January 16, 2003

Wandering mind, like this but not metal and smaller. I don't know why but they are not at the UK Muji site and I don't know any Japanese so it's taking me a while to navigate. Praise be to Safari though -- all the text displays correctly!
posted by Dick Paris at 11:03 AM on January 16, 2003

salmonberry:
The History of a Legendary Notebook
posted by mkelley at 11:05 AM on January 16, 2003

Heh, jonah: From Little Red Boat:

Started to give her practice in writing, and the discipline of doing so, it soon became a somehow read thing, a phenomenon to her and thereby an addiction.

Isn't that how it goes? For me, at least, someone tricked me into starting a 'blog so my lazy ass would write more. Then he advertised my 'blog on his 'blog and, realizing I now had an immense audience of anywhere from 1 to 5 semi-devoted readers, I suddenly felt compelled to attempt two 'quality' entries-per-week.

How did everyone else get started? Or did most of you just realize that everyone in the 21st s. world has a 'blog, so you better have one too?
posted by Shane at 11:06 AM on January 16, 2003

I love my Moleskine. I had just discovered them before I made a transcontinental move. I (foolishly) did not get a couple of extras before I left. Now I have yet to find a book seller or stationer that carries them. Needless to say, thanks for the online connection. These will do nicely until I can get my fix in person.

Metafilter - improving my life daily.
posted by Verdant at 11:06 AM on January 16, 2003

"I don't get it."

It's a notebook. Just that. An extremely wonderful notebook. A notebook so incredible that people feel compelled to share stories of where they bought theirs. The mother of all notebooks. A stupendous and magical notebook. It's freakin' legendary!!! Oh my God is it cool or what?

Or maybe people are just silly.
posted by y6y6y6 at 11:09 AM on January 16, 2003

Dude, come -on-.

The only reason anyone gets a Moleskine is the fact that it says right on the front of the damned thing that this is the notebook used by Hemingway and everyone rushes out to get one and jot notes for the next Great American Manuscript.

If you really are looking for archival-quality paper rig that has the guts to survive on the road, get a Cavallini & Co. Most decent bookstores carry them and you'll usually find them in the megastores in the "gift" section.

I've used two on extended trips through Europe with my load on my back and they've come out looking better than when they left. I'm a rollerball kid, and the pens stick nicely under the flap with no ill-effects on the book.


$30/120 pages. Nice paper. Smells good.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:12 AM on January 16, 2003

ordning and reda, folks!
posted by amberglow at 11:13 AM on January 16, 2003

i got married last week. we dispensed with vows and whatnot and just said really nice things about each other.
some of the things i said were originally written as a loveletter using pages ripped in a passionate frenzy from my moleskine. more romantic, i feel, than reading them from white 70g A4.
posted by nylon at 11:17 AM on January 16, 2003

Or maybe people are just silly.

Yes. People are silly about a lot of stuff, especially in the creative worlds.

I've always been able to think better with a blank sheet of paper in front of me. I have generally awful (though improving) penmanship that slows down the stream of thought and allows more inline editing.

Saying "paper is paper" is like saying "food is food". Perhaps, for you, this is true. A nice pen on a nice tablet purrs as it goes across the surface, and perhaps you've either never experienced this or would find no joy in the words singing out beneath your hands.

For that, and for the fact that you are a hater, I feel sorry for you y6y6y6.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:22 AM on January 16, 2003

Anyone know of a store in Chicago that carries these?
posted by sfz at 11:25 AM on January 16, 2003

It's fun to be in on the fun. It's fun to carry what is fun for everyone carrying. Fun is everyone carrying everyone's fun. It's fun to be in on it. It's carrying everyone's fun, and you're in on it. You are it. And everyone is so fun.
posted by four panels at 11:37 AM on January 16, 2003

it's the Pilot G-2, all the way

god yes! viva the G-2! i'm looking at my mug full of them right now...my x-mas present to myself, how sad is that? got 'em in bulk from Costco...

as for the moleskines, for them and all other things stationery (wocka wocka), i go to Bob Slate in Cambridge, MA. they have those cool french spiral ones with the plaid covers too.
posted by serafinapekkala at 11:38 AM on January 16, 2003

And, they have a cool beat-utilitarian minimalist esthetic going on.

I keep mine in my knitting bag, next to my Lomo.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:38 AM on January 16, 2003

WTF? Am I the only one with a shoebox of grocery store receipts and scraps of paper with notes and song titles and names of books and ideas scribbled on them?

Fancy schmancy notebooks...
posted by Shane at 11:48 AM on January 16, 2003

Yeah, I was tempted to buy one of these, because they are nice and fancy, but came to my senses. I print out calendars from Outlook and fold them up and carry a 50 cent spiral-bound notebook for when I need to write down a musing.
posted by drobot at 11:55 AM on January 16, 2003 [1 favorite]

Doesn't anybody use their forearm anymore?
posted by Stan Chin at 11:57 AM on January 16, 2003

Actually.... While most appear to be "Just Notebooks" The japanese Accordion one seems to have a lot of potential.

I think I might get a couple and start an analog version of An Exquisite Corpse. among my friends.
posted by KnitWit at 12:01 PM on January 16, 2003

KnitWit - the original exquisite corpse is analog.
posted by drobot at 12:09 PM on January 16, 2003

more romantic, i feel, than reading them from white 70g A4.

If it's romance you want, ya gotta go 85g, minimum!
posted by Dick Paris at 12:17 PM on January 16, 2003

Yes, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives. But none lay flat, except spiral-bound notebooks-- and then you have that nasty spiral wire in your way, especially (for right-handers) when writing on the left-hand page. And the wire-bound books tend to catch on fabric when I carry it in my pocket-- or the cover isn't stiff enough to resist bending when I carry it in my hip pocket.

That's what makes it worth the cost, IMHO.
posted by Cerebus at 12:18 PM on January 16, 2003

The perfect compliment to a Moleskine (or any other notebook) is a Fisher bullet space pen. It fits in the pocket like no other.
posted by pedantic at 12:20 PM on January 16, 2003

drobot - thanks.

I vaguely knew as much but couldn't find the evidence quickly (who knew I was linking 'right next to it').

I once stayed at a B&B in Cape Cod that kept an ongoing moleskine next to the bed for all the guests to write their thoughts in. It was great to read and gather ideas from the past guests before heading out in the morning. I remember when I first sat down with it I looked at my girlfriend and exclaimed, "Look! It's like an analog blog!" I don't think she got the joke either.

(looking back a bit)



I keep mine in my knitting bag, next to my Lomo.

Dear God MrMoonPie please tell me you're kidding... That's the most neo-geek saturated phrase I've ever heard in my entire life.

Oh and my own two cents on the perfect pocket pen: Cross Ion - it's small and comfy, and I love the thick gel ink. Now I just wish I had better handwriting.
posted by KnitWit at 12:24 PM on January 16, 2003

OK, you people need to learn bookbinding. It's not really THAT difficult, and you'll like the results. No, really. I mean it.
posted by aramaic at 12:25 PM on January 16, 2003

pedantic- my dad gave me one of those pens LAST NIGHT!
posted by jonah at 12:34 PM on January 16, 2003

aramaic - any tips on where to start?
posted by jonah at 12:36 PM on January 16, 2003

I think there is a very delicious irony in using MetaFilter to talk about tiny paper notebooks and pens.

My wife gave me a Moleskine notebook last year for our eventual trip to Europe, and I already have a decent collection of pens to choose from. I tried to get into the habit of writing things down in a little notebook a few years ago and just couldn't develop into a note-taker. My Palm V sits unused and unloved on my desk at home, too.
posted by briank at 12:40 PM on January 16, 2003

jonah - you should be able to find classes in your area (they're fairly common in "community college" environments), but in the meantime you might try:

http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/book/
posted by aramaic at 12:40 PM on January 16, 2003

I crave a squared pocket moleskine, but the US site won't let me choose any country other than the US (I live in Canada), and the moleskine.com site says that the local dealer for Canada is in NYC.

Does anyone know of a site that will let me order one in Canada?
Must. Satisfy. Paper. Fetish.
posted by krunk at 12:43 PM on January 16, 2003

The Cross Ion pen is really fantastic--writes in outer space and all that, and fits very comfortably in my pocket. The only problem with it is that it looks to the untrained eye like a tiny dildo. Regardless, I carry it with me everywhere.
posted by vraxoin at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2003

Dear god, but you people have a lot of time on your hands. I come back in here and you've all turned into a bunch o' name-dropping brand fetishists! Lomos? Brand loyalty on a pen?

Seriously, this is a marketers dream thread.

And since I can't afford to be one of you, all I can do is make bitter comments. At least leave me that.
posted by Salmonberry at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2003

...as long as we’re offering pens...a Lamy fountain pen is yet another perfect complement to a Moleskine: they’re cheap enough you don’t mind carrying them everywhere and they’re pretty much as rugged as the notebook. And they make such nice lines on both the sketh and regular Moleskine pages. Really nice.

OK, you people need to learn bookbinding. It’s not really THAT difficult, and you’ll like the results. No, really. I mean it.

Getting it as right as Moleskine is tough though.

Dear god, but you people have a lot of time on your hands. I come back in here and you’ve all turned into a bunch o’ name-dropping brand fetishists!

Yeah, it’s pathetic, in a way.

The Cross Ion is nice too though.
posted by sherman at 12:55 PM on January 16, 2003

serafina

Bob Slate is heaven! I have this embarrassing stationery fetish (no fancy stuff but I love no-nonsense, beautifully made notebooks, pencils, yellow pads etc) and I love the place -- don't you love those Bob Slate 1930's style notebooks with a sky blue cover and the light green pages...
so beautiful
posted by matteo at 1:07 PM on January 16, 2003

I'd suggest a Lamy Pico as the ideal accompaniment to a pocket Moleskine if you like rollerballs. It's a small bullet-style thing when retracted, and when extended is the length of a normal pen.

As for fountains, while I really do like the Lamys, they're too big for my taste. I prefer 'mini' fountain pens, which are only 3-4" in length when capped. To that end, I found a nice stylish fountain pen from 'Jean Pierre Lepine' at a small pen shop in Palo Alto. Mine is black with silver accents. It was about $70, but now that it's broken in it writes beautifully, and I carry it with me everywhere. It takes standard international cartridges (no bladder, due to size).

If you're into something a little less common, take a look at the Namiki Vanishing Point series. They are retractable, with a nice gold nib (smaller than the usual fountain nib). I bought one as a gift for a friend a year or so ago, and she loves it.
posted by gkostolny at 1:08 PM on January 16, 2003

This Moleskine, which I use, is not at all the same as a generic steno pad. I haven't seen the pockets like this anywhere else, at least not in something this small.

And as for pens, nothing has the amazing solid weight of a NextPen. Nice polished chrome with no frills, and it feels like butter, in your hands and on the page.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 1:33 PM on January 16, 2003

Okay, I think I'm beginning to somewhat understand this thread. This Moleskine thing... is it kinda like my Model M?
posted by Galvatron at 1:44 PM on January 16, 2003

Galvatron: pretty much exactly.
posted by gkostolny at 1:49 PM on January 16, 2003

gkostolny -- Did you find your Jean Pierre Lepine at the pen shop in the Stanford Shopping Center?

Also, there's a little stationary store on University (in the vicinity of Borders and the Stanford Theatre). Would you happen to know if they have moleskine notebooks?
posted by DakotaPaul at 2:20 PM on January 16, 2003

I personally enjoy the Lama Li Travel Journals. I have had mine for the last two years. Here are some pictures [ 1 | 2 | 3 ].
posted by plemeljr at 3:09 PM on January 16, 2003

Oh, and I might add my favoritest pen of all...my Acme Studio Chagall Rollerball. Archive gel ink and a wonderful weight. Worth all $45.

Galvatron, I am envious.
posted by pedantic at 3:16 PM on January 16, 2003

For any of you who have an Art Store nearby, they may have the various models available for in-person fondling. (Well, the Georgetown one here in Washington, D.C. has a nice selection.)

And while I've never used a Moleskine, I've been carrying small black sketchbooks like this for years. Just like IshmaelGraves said way back in this thread, yes, you do wind up with a whole stack of these suckers after a while. What's really nifty are the little traditions you find yourself forming after you've filled up a couple, like saving the inside and back covers for various stickers and things, and saving the first page or two for whatever really great quote you know you'll find as you're carrying this particular one around. My current quote: "Wisdom begins in wonder", from Socrates. My favorite: "In Libertas Quirkas" (or something like that), which I came across in Fremont, Washington: "The Freedom to be Peculiar".

My friends grin whenever they see me pull my journal from my jacket's inside breast pocket, and one of my oldest friends has made me promise to bequeath all of them to her in my will. We'll see about that. :)
posted by dreamsbay at 3:27 PM on January 16, 2003

DakotaPaul: I did, but I don't know if the stationary store carries the notebooks. As I said far above, I got the first in Paris, then mail-ordered myself 5 when I got back to the states.
posted by gkostolny at 3:32 PM on January 16, 2003

I second bookbinding. I paper-cut a stack of square-ruled paper and a cardboard cover and followed the instructions in Readymade. I've seen Moleskine in shops, and while I agree they are nice, I prefer my own creation, just as I enjoy fondling a nice new road bike but ultimately prefer my fixie with a frame older than I am.
posted by Utilitaritron at 3:33 PM on January 16, 2003

plemeljr - great pictures! I love stuff like that, like the 1000 journals project
posted by jonah at 3:54 PM on January 16, 2003

Whenever I get near a pile of old computer gear, I'm on the lookout for the old Model M keyboard. Got a couple of 'em stashed. Love them.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:13 PM on January 16, 2003

Very nice jonah, thanks for the link. They appear to be somewhat hard to find in Canada, though.

For pens, my favourite is the Rotring Artpen (scroll to bottom). Mine, with a F sketching nib, usually has water-soluble ink in the refillable cartridge and is paired with a small water-colour brush.
posted by bonehead at 6:30 PM on January 16, 2003

just as I enjoy fondling a nice new road bike but ultimately prefer my fixie with a frame older than I am.
Struggling ... to ... keep from ... derailing thread ... by asking Utilitaritron about his fixie.
Ah, I can't resist it. No, wait, I have a better idea. Utilitaritron, why doncha start a thread about fixies? I have a really nice road bike, and I've thought about converting my unused 1985 Motobecane into a fixie, but I don't know a whole lot about 'em. 'Splain your fixie fixation, with links to how-to sites, in a front page post, please.
posted by Holden at 11:12 PM on January 16, 2003

Dear God MrMoonPie please tell me you're kidding... That's the most neo-geek saturated phrase I've ever heard in my entire life.

I am, indeed, kidding. The neo-geek saturation was exactly the effect I was going for. Thank you.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:30 AM on January 17, 2003

I must return everyone's attention to the previously posted Zebra mini-pen. I will swear allegiance to this pen as long as I live; I've had one in my wallet for about two-and-a-half years now (purchased from the also previously mentioned Bob Slate's). It costs less than $5, is refillable (the cartridges cost mere cents), lasts a LOT longer than you'd expect a pen of this size to do, writes like a dream, and is the most used and most marveled-at item on my person at any given time (yes, yes, I know that leaves me open to a number of ribald jibes, but it's true).
posted by grrarrgh00 at 9:05 AM on January 17, 2003

I just bought my first Moleskine notebook at my locally-owned art supply store, Wet Paint, on Grand Ave. here in St. Paul. It was marked as 11 bucks, and it was 20% off!

This little book will have one guiding principle--it is private. I will not publish what is written in it (especially online) nor will I even tell people that I have it. This will be the only mention of it... now I'm going to go write something.
posted by Hammerikaner at 9:54 AM on January 17, 2003

I've been using those notebooks ever since they first came out over here in Italy, in 1999. The first one I got as a gift from my mother - I really, really love writing stories, so she thought it would be a nice gift for me, being "Hemingway's notebook" and all that.
Of course it looked like little more than a glorified notebook to me at first, but hey, it was a gift, so I started using it...
...and well, I'm still using those Moleskines for my writing, years later. They're small and sturdy, which is a definite plus for me... I need to have a notebook with me always, for those random ideas, but most notebooks are either too large to fit into my jeans' back pocket or so flimsy that after a while they get torn and squished and difficult to write on. The small pocket at the back is great to keep small bits of paper in (store receipts I want to keep, cards with the address of a certain shop in Venice I want to visit again (I live 20 minutes by train from Venice), that sort of thing), and the elastic band holding the whole thing closed means I can put bits of paper and other things (small flowers I want to dry spring to mind) between the pages and they won't fall out.
So they're pretentious? Maybe. But they're useful, and I like them, and that's all that matters to me.

[writer fangirl] And besides, Neil Gaiman has said he likes them (September 23 post), too. [/writer fangirl]
posted by sailoreagle at 10:22 AM on January 17, 2003

Italian is such a beautiful language to behold; perhaps all the more so since I only speak French and English.

I don't really get how these replace a PDA. That said, looking at the Italian site (the English one doesn't seem built yet), I couldn't help think about the years I lived and worked in France, and used to carry a notebook around. I used to sit in cafés in Paris and try to inhale the atmosphere, and write about whatever, or write to the woman who had my fancy at the moment.

Writing on paper is, really, the best way, and probably the only way to write something meaningful. I get inspired with paper. The only problem: I tend to think on paper, which, and then want to throw away the mistakes; the drafts. So these little notebooks lose out to little spiral notebooks, or loose sheets of paper.

Thanks for the link, jonah: it made me think...

And on a barely related note: attention PDA users Japanese style chopsicks (the wood varnished ones which taper at the end) make the absolute best stylus--whether or not you've lost the orignal one. I saw them in half to fit in my PDA case. Much cheaper than replacement styli, too.
posted by ParisParamus at 10:24 AM on January 17, 2003

I don't really get how these replace a PDA.

Indeed. They don't play Tetris or check my e-mail. What good are they?
posted by kindall at 11:31 AM on January 17, 2003

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a follower. I've succumbed to peer pressure. I've driven to Barnes & Noble at 10 PM and picked up a pocket-sized square-paper Moleskine.

It's a very cool notebook, and more durable than the drugstore notebooks that are littered all over my office, and is a bit more presentable for travel.

But the feeling of uber-cool beatnik elitism better kick in soon or I'm going to be disappointed.
posted by mmoncur at 11:57 PM on January 17, 2003

Oddly enough, I also went to Barnes and Noble tonight, and was thoroughly unimpressed. I assumed that it was some lesser model they dole out to chain bookstores, while the truly valuable notebooks are kept in rustic alleyway curiousity shops, right next to the mogwai.
posted by Stan Chin at 12:01 AM on January 18, 2003