Be prepared to work hard for years, sign lots of non-disclosure agreements, and secure a key to a secret bank vault if you want to join the select few get to see this notebook, which contains… an ancient alchemical recipe? A spell for a witch’s brew? Instructions for making an elixir of eternal youth? No, … Continue reading This Notebook Contains a Secret Formula→
Another recent NY Times spotting: Tom Verlaine Was a Mystery. His Archives Reveal More of His Story. I spy an Eastern Tablet Paper King composition book (small Paper King spiral notebooks were my favorites when I was a kid), and a small Pen-Tab spiral notebook (with yellow and black tape covering most of the spiral), … Continue reading Tom Verlaine’s Notebooks→
I recently read the book Erik Satie Three Piece Suite by Ian Penman. It’s not exactly a biography of Satie, a composer who is best known for some lovely pieces he called Gymnopédies. It’s more of an offbeat appreciation of Satie and music in general–a quirky book with a non-traditional structure, parts of which are … Continue reading Erik Satie’s Notebooks→
A lovely story from the Washington Post: Woman, 100, has journaled every day for 90 years: ‘No excuse for me not to’ Evie Riski’s father gave her a diary so she could follow his tradition of recording the day’s events in her hometown. It was a week before her 11th birthday. Nine decades and almost … Continue reading 90 Years of Diary-Keeping→
I came across a very interesting post on the website of the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Their Heritage Education Officer Ruth Butler writes about working on a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, in 2016. She found what she describes as “a treasure-trove of sketchbooks, diaries, letters and photographs … Continue reading Jack Parham’s Notebooks→
I was reminded of this phrase by a marketing email from Plotter, linking to this post. Techo Kaigi means “notebook meeting,” and the idea is that you should have a meeting with yourself to contemplate your notebooking methods and make sure they are right for you. This is generally done in the fall, when planners … Continue reading Techo Kaigi→
Every so often, I spot interesting looking Japanese notebooks and planners on Instagram. Without knowing any Japanese, it’s sometimes hard to figure out what the brand is, but sometimes I manage to click around in various hashtags and find at least a keyword or two that might lead to a link I can copy and … Continue reading Interesting Japanese Diaries→
In my post about Denbigh notebooks, I linked to a site that had a photo of a Denbigh notebook from the 1960s: Drew Family Diaries. These diaries are worth a post of their own! Roger Drew created a website to share this amazing collection of diaries kept by members of his family, starting with his … Continue reading The Drew Family Diaries→
After my recent post about Alwych notebooks, I kept thinking about the Denbigh notebooks sold by the same company. With Alwych looking like it might be discontinued, I wondered how long Denbigh would still be around… and I found myself coming down with a severe case of FOMOAN: Fear of Missing Out on A Notebook! … Continue reading Review: Denbigh Notebooks→
Cloth covers aren’t that unusual for notebooks, but how about a notebook made entirely of cloth and needlework– even the writing in it!?! [Candace Hicks’s] primary art practice includes recreating classic composition notebooks in cloth form, embroidering text into their fabric pages. The text is mostly composed of collected snippets that she finds recurring in … Continue reading Notebooks Made of Cloth→
Notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, diaries: in search of the perfect page…