Here’s the latest Notebook Addict of the Week, found on Flickr:
They are filled with drawings and collage in a very raw style, by Kier Cooke Sandvik of Norway, whose profile reads as follows:
transsexual, atheistic anarchist.
I’m Other.
See all the Flickr images here, (though I’m not sure the original set is still on Flickr) and more on the artist’s blog here. (Caution to anyone who may be offended by adult material.)
So the first question about the new Moleskine Folio sketchbook is “HOW BIG IS IT?” Is it this big?
Is it this big?
Is it this big?
Well, when you stop having fun with perspective, it’s really this big:
I had seen the measurements before I ordered it– 11 3/4 x 16 1/2″– but still, when I actually held this sketchbook in my hands, I found it rather awesomely large, and the comparison to a pocket-size Moleskine was amusing.
Aside from the size, it’s very much like any other Moleskine, but scaled up– the paper band is wider, the elastic is slightly wider, and the Moleskine name stamped on the back is larger. Inside, the space for writing your name and a reward is larger, as is the Moleskine logo on the inside front cover. The ribbon marker is also extra-long. The proportions of these details are not just a 1:1 ratio with smaller Moleskines, but somewhere in between.
The paper quality seems very similar to previous Moleskine sketchbooks, though for the first time, these are indicated to be FSC certified/Mixed Sources. The paper also doesn’t seem as stiff in this size– it’s very creamy and flexible, and feels quite luxurious. You can see the comparison to a pocket sketchbook below:
Also, on closer comparison, the color of the paper is less yellowish than one of my older pocket Moleskine sketchbooks.
When I tested some pens and watercolor paints, I did notice some slight differences– one of my pens feathered a bit in the Folio, and watercolors seemed to bead up a bit more when using a light wash. (The Folio page is on the left below– at right is the pocket sketchbook.)
With a hard pencil, I found I couldn’t get as dark a shade on the Folio paper, but that is just an observation, not really a criticism. Soft pencil was fine on both, but as always with Moleskine, the paper is so smooth, it isn’t the ideal texture for charcoal and soft pencils, at least if you like the textured effects you can get with rougher paper.
It’s interesting to note that for these notebooks, Moleskine has changed their country of origin language to “Designed by Moleskine in Italy–Manufactured in China,” rather than the previous “Printed and Bound in China– Designed and Assembled in Italy.”
Specs: 160 g/ sq.m. top quality acid free paper, Mixed Sources FSC certified
96 pages
11 3/4 x 16 1/2″
List price: $40.00 but available for $26.40 at Amazon
Bottom line: if you like Moleskines and want a larger page to write or draw in, the Folio line should make you very happy. Those who are very particular about the smoothness or color of the sketchbook paper should beware the slight differences, but I’m sure most people will not be too disappointed. (I haven’t tested the regular lined and plain versions
I also purchased the A4 size Moleskine Folio version of the “Memo Pockets 
DIY Planner has a comparison of the Moleskine, Rhodia Webnotebook, and Cartesio pocket notebook. I won’t spoil it and tell you who wins!
Powered by Twitter Tools.
They’ve got some very cute notebooks on sale at Orange and Pear. The original prices on these range from $12-25, and they are now priced at $10– nice deal!
Orla Kiely’s notebooks are just beautifully made with a cool pear print or her signature stem design embossed on the cover. The inside of her journals are lined with a modern print and she always has a ribbon handy for marking your spot. Sukie is a husband / wife team based in the U.K. I fell in love with their retro, chic and witty images. The paper inside their notebooks are recycled and ruled. The travel notebook is quite unique with little pockets sewn in the binding to store business cards, receipts, love notes, who knows? Delphine’s mini notebooks have letterpress covers with a scroll design or a pretty image of a polar bear or penguin. It comes with a colored band to hold your place and you get 2 journals in a set!
What would you expect to find in Jack Kerouac’s notebooks? Probably not this:
Jack Kerouac — Mr. On the Road, the King of the Beats, who begat the beatniks who begat the hippies who begat the hipsters — Jack Kerouac, the fountainhead of cool — that Jack Kerouac was obsessed with — guess what. Freedom? Alienation? Restless, rootless wandering? Mad pursuit of the beatific vision? Nope. Jack Kerouac’s deepest-rooted, longest-lasting obsession was … fantasy baseball.How obsessed was he? So obsessed that, years before fantasy baseball existed, he invented his own version of the game, with whole teams and leagues named for colors and makes of cars, and series and seasons played out with marbles for balls and toothpicks and matchsticks for bats. So obsessed that he filled notebooks with meticulously recorded stats, made illustrated team rosters, and wrote letters back and forth between his various team-managerial personae, haggling over trades.
From The Huffington Post, who unfortunately have decided that this particular aspect of Kerouac is “uncool.”
Here’s a pretty basic notebook from the mid-1980s. I used it for a while in high school to keep track of school assignments and such– I dated each page, and noted each day’s assignments and deadlines. It’s got a nice clean design, but is otherwise quite boring! I’m not sure why I favored it at the time, other than just wanting something cheap and simple to write in.
I got a kick out of the page below– a very exciting thing at the time, driving lessons!
I used lots of simple spiral notebooks like this, many of which I still have. This particular one was made by Roaring Spring/Top Scholar, of Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania. I have another notebook made by Top Scholar– it appears to have been a separate company based in Columbia, MD, so I guess Roaring Spring must have bought them out. I can’t find any information on the companies, but I’m sure it was yet another link in the chain of notebook manufacturing companies consolidating and then sending their operations overseas… this always makes me feel sad!
A few years ago, former Senator Bob Graham, then a presidential candidate, raised some eyebrows when it was revealed that he kept extremely detailed diaries noting how he spent every minute of his day:
12:50: Cissy thinks she’s going into labor
1:15: Cissy preparing to leave for Baptist Hospital
1:20-1:30: MLTH. Bedroom, bathroom. Dress in blue slacks
1:30-1:45: Rewind Ace Ventura
2:00: Adele ready to go. Drive to Baptist Hospital
2:15: Stop at to return Ace Ventura
6:00-7:05: Cissy in examining room, delivery room, watch ABC News. Cissy commences preparation for labor
7:05-8:40: Drive to Bennigan’s Restaurant with Adele. Listen to New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins (39-35)
7:20-8:25: Bennigan’s. Eat supper (ham and cheese sandwich). Return to hospital
9:05-9:10: Waiting room. Read NYT, mingle
11:00-12:45: Waiting room. Watch CNN, CBS News
12:44: It’s a boy!
Since then, he’s retired from politics and his notebooks have been archived at the University of Florida. Now they’re in the news again, as he claims they show that the CIA did not brief Democrats about interrogation tactics as often as they claimed:
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham said Friday that his detailed diaries show Democrats were told less about the interrogation of terrorists than the CIA claims.
Graham said the CIA claimed he was briefed four times about extreme interrogation techniques as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
He said he called the head of archives at the University of Florida, where his notebooks are stored, to check if he had listed the briefings.
Have you ever done this kind of detailed life-logging? Have your records ever come in handy later, to answer a question or prove a point? And does it really take 15 minutes to rewind Ace Ventura?
Updated: I just found this article, with more details on the notebooks, and an image of Bob Graham’s official portrait, which was hanging next to the governor’s office in the Florida capitol in 2003. There he is, notebook in hand!
I just barely started using my small lined Piccadilly notebook this week (as a reading journal where I’ll keep track of books I’ve read), but I’d noticed even before I started that the elastic was already getting loose– the parts that hit the edges have lost their stretch, though the middle of the elastic still has some tension to it. I’d heard other users complain about the same thing. But as others have said, you get what you pay for, and the price differential between these and a Moleskine may still outweigh the quality differential for many people.
So far my large unlined Piccadilly seems to be fine. I also noticed that I like the paper better in that one– it seems smoother than the paper in the small unlined notebook.
Does anyone else have any feedback on how the Piccadilly notebooks stand the test of long term use? Are they back in stock at any Borders stores yet?
Powered by Twitter Tools.
