moleskinerie

Notes from the High Country

"My whole life I have had this secret vice. I am addicted to fine paper and fountain pens. I cannot pass a stationary store. When I moved to Germany, fifteen odd years ago, the first place I went to was a small stationary store in Fischbach FRG. The first thing I bought in Germany was a wonderful Pelikan fountain pen. It is not the kind of vice that was acceptable in a generation that ingested vast quantities of drugs in the increasing need to escape our inner-demons and conflicts. I have always felt alone in this little secret vice, but no more.

There is something to the heft of real paper that calls out to me. The same is true of the scratching of a fountain pen over thick paper. I have just about every fountain pen currently made -- except a Sailor -- and all those little boxes and tins of ink cartridges. I even enjoy the feel in my hand and it moves across the texture of the paper. I love calligraphy and have always wanted to try my hand at illuminating a manuscript or even a single page. (I saw the Book of Kells as a teenager, when it first was exhibited in the United States.) The thing about writing in a Moleskine with a fountain pen is that it slows you down. It forces you to be mindful, to be aware as you write. We live in a world of constant distraction, rhetoric, and noise that tries to suck us into the maelstorm. The act of sitting down with a pen and notebook is one of defiance to modernity. (Ironic that I compose this on a computer. Trust me, the irony isn't lost to me.)"

Web Gecko
Boulder, Colorado, United States
Visit his blog, "Notes from the High Country"

Sharpie® Retractable

I don't see myself using a Sharpie® on my Moleskine™ but for all the thousand and one other uses for this versatile pen, there's an even better version:

"Sharpie® Retractable

Features & Benefits

No cap, No fuss, Just click.
Same great Sharpie ink, now in a retractable marker that allows easy one-handed operation!
No cap to remove or lose
The Safety Seal TM Valve design prevents dry out!
Permanent on most hard-to-mark surfaces
Quick drying, AP Certified nontoxic ink formula
Available in 8 bold colors to make your mark unique- black, red, blue, green, orange, lime, berry, turquoise

Common uses:

Marking on a clipboard
Measuring wood
Writing Phone Messages while on the phone"

Sharpie®
[via Gizmodo]

Hi Joe!

Danny Gregory's newest family member: a 14 week old, miniature long-haired dachshund named Joe.

"If he ever slows down, I shall try to draw him."

Visit Mr. Gregory's blog, "Everyday Matters".

Lovemarks

"A safety blanket"

The Moleskine notebook that resides permanently in the bottom of my bag is not just the best notebook I've ever had but also somewhat of a safety blanket. Containing all my useful details and numbers, dates and to-do lists it is also the home to sketches and doodles, thoughts and feelings from most of the places I have been to over the years. They are warm and friendly, inviting to write in and something special to keep. It's like an old friend to me, soft to the touch and gently worn around the edges from the constant use. Beautiful.

Rachel, United Kingdom - 25 August 2004

"A treasure box of thoughts"

Physically, the right size and shape to easily, quietly and calmly carry around. The notebook is hidden in plain sight. Psychologically, not a container but a purse, a treasure box of thoughts and impressions and feelings and data. A message to myself that need not be mediated by the perceptual idiosyncrasies of others. My playground of the mind and heart. The elastic band serves a dual function of physical closure and psychic mind latch. Possibly its greatest design feature.

Daniel, United States - 24 May 2004

Lovemarks

[Thanks Lise!]

A little black book of value

There is often a mighty contest between a writer and his strongest opponent, the blank page.

Laptop computers, digital tape recorders and cameras, pocket digital whatevers, they all offer to help us tame that wild and wily beast, the empty page that dares us to proceed, to show our mettle, to endeavor to fill the page with something worthwhile.

I am a notebook lover. I revere them. The blank pages no longer frighten me. They beckon me, enticing me, promising me that this time what I write will be important. Right now, on my person or in my bag, I have two pocket-sized reporters’ notebooks, a steno-sized pad in a zippered case, a Miquelrius notebook made in Spain and a Moleskine notebook.

Moleskines are my all-time favorites. They’re made in Italy and the name is pronounced “mol-a-skeen-a.” The little pocket-sized notebook is covered in black oilskin, has a ribbon bookmark, a little pocket in the back to hold snippets of paper and an elastic band to hold it all together. The manufacturer claims the books were favored by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Henry Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, André Breton, Pablo Picasso and travel writer Bruce Chatwin.

Ivan Miladovic

"Somehow when I was on the internet, I stumbled upon the website dedicated to a very young and VERY talented ex libris artist named Ivan Miladovic. I've pasted his picture with a crooked window and guard in the front cover of my last Moleskine and the picture still dazzles me. It holds metaphoric meaning to me. Anyways, I'm rambling. But check this guy out. Dark work, but I love it.

Crowe"

Visit Ivan Miladovic

Biro-web

Biro-web

[Thanks Christine!]

David Paull

"My wife and I just returned from a week in the Napa Valley and we started a new Moleskine as our wine journal for the trip and for the wine we will enjoy now that we're home. We use wide strips of packing tape to stick over the labels and remove them from bottles of wine we drink and affixed them to one side of the journal. On the opposite page, we write about the wine and our other experiences."

David Paull
Portland, OR USA
perceptionanalyzer.com

View a larger image at the Moleskinerie Gallery

© 2004 DP

Help us start a new media revolution

"TV can be better. Much better.

Want to see more than just reality television? Tired of news outlets that cover celebrity trials instead of tackling critical questions? Bored with shows that don't challenge or engage you? So are we.

The sad reality of TV is that young adult viewers are coveted, but not really asked to participate. You can be characters, but rarely creators. We want to change all that. And with your help, we will create shows that are bold, irreverent, intelligent and relevant to the passions and experiences of our audience.

We are an independent media company led by former Vice President Al Gore, entrepreneur Joel Hyatt and a growing team of industry professionals and young creatives. We are coming together around a common mission: to share the world's most dominant media platform - television - with people who want an outlet for their creativity, their voices heard and their perspectives valued.

Last May we acquired an existing television network that is currently available in almost 20 million U.S. homes. In 2005 we will debut our new programming on this network, shows shaped by a new generation of media-savvy creators."

INdTV

Icetrek

"The new Icetrek website is now online.

Features include guided expeditions, products and services, past and upcoming treks and a comprehensive magazine of galleries and articles. You can even contribute your own stuff for publication on the site, like Rob Rymill and Ben Deacon's recent Greenland traverse...

Comments on the new site welcome and please report any errors, omissions or broken links.

Happy adventures,

Icetrek Expeditions"

Link: Icetrek

Sign Here!

"Some artists’ signatures are self-expression, some are design elements, and some are just fun

One day in Antibes, not long after the war, Picasso was treating a group of friends to lunch at a restaurant. As the lunch went on and on, and his guests were getting restless, Picasso—famously a bit of a cheapskate about small things—finally requested the bill. When it came, he did a little drawing on it and handed it to the restaurateur, saying, “How about I give you that?” The restaurateur replied, “How wonderful! But maître, do you mind signing it?” Picasso answered, “I’m buying the meal, not the restaurant.”

Jack Flam, author of the recent Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship (Westview Press), relates this story—probably apocryphal, he notes—to illustrate what he calls the “power of the signature.”

Interest in the artist’s signature didn’t begin with Picasso. Artists have been signing their works since the Renaissance, sometimes placing a name or a monogram in a conspicuous place, sometimes hiding it so the viewer has to search for it. Just what does a signature mean to the artist—and to the beholder or the scholar? And what does it mean, as in the story about Picasso (who frequently signed his paintings), for posterity? "

Sign Here!
By Mary Haus
ArtNewsOnline

[Thanks Alex!]

New Moleskine Styles

"Two NEW Moleskine Notebook styles have just been introduced! The Music Notebook and the Storyboard Notebook! The Music Book was designed for musicians, sound designers and song writers and the Storyboard book for advertising creatives, graphic designers and film makers. These new Moleskine notebooks come with all the same quality Moleskine notebook features that you've come to expect -- helping your creativity in new ways."

"MUSIC NOTEBOOK

The notebook for musicians, sound designers and song writers, for jotting down harmonies and melodies. Each page consists of 8 staffs, each staff consists of five horizontal lines, with four spaces between, on which musical notation is written."



"STORY BOARD NOTEBOOK

The notebook for advertising creators, graphic designers, filmmakers, and cartoonists. A sequence of frames for drawing your mini-stories provides. The first half of the book has two frames per page - the last half has four per page along the left side, with room to write text to the right of each frame."

To learn more visit Moleskine US

Headphone Beanie

The Headphone Beanie
@ Burton

Fudejiya

Performance Japanese calligraphy

"Welcome to my page Japanese calligraphy(Shodo) art shop"Fudejiya"!! We stick to hand writing Japanese calligraphy to offer to customers. We send a real writing Japanese calligraphy work to you from Japan. However the conditons of Japanese housing,it is hard to decorate too mach. Japanese styles on room, so we create new Japanese calligraphy styles for you. Please ask us to make cheerful Japanese calligraphy with your request!!"

Visit Fudejiya

[via Plep]

New Optics

"As he spoke, the music changed from a low wailing to furious trumpet blasts, and a horde of demons, with fearful faces, came rushing out into the court."

-Daughter of the Mountains
L. Rankin

I finally got my glasses today. I haven't worn any for years and putting them on made quite a difference. Maybe I'll take up reading again, starting with this old children's book I loved as a kid and searched all over until I found one on eBay.

AFK* :Blur

Recent shots, away from the computer. View larger images at the AFK* Gallery Enjoy the weekend, M people! ^_^

Moleskine Decoration

Ricardo asks: Do you have any kind of decoration on the inside cover of your moleskine? If so, what is it? (a photo, drawing, etc…)

Pragmatik:
Baudelaire in there. In the inside cover of my 2004 diary is a photo of Charles Baudelaire with the lines from "The Voice":

"how many truths I trade away for lies,
and musing on heaven, stumble over trash..."

Samantha's 'Skine Mod

Diane:
"What about the outside of a Moleskine? Since Moleskines look identical, I have to decorate the outside to tell them apart. I've found stickers usually work pretty well. (My current journal has parrots and musical notes on it.) Are there any other materials you use on the outside?"
...
Joachim:
"I pasted the image of a singer I like. and because the surface was too big for the cover on the (little) moleskine, I pasted one big part on the front, and the remnant of the image on the back ..."

Discussion: The Moleskinerie Community @ ORKUT

Muriel Spark

"since 1949 onwards I have thrown away practically nothing on paper."

"The Muriel Spark archive is unique among the National Library of Scotland's collections of papers of Scottish writers. No other author has so deliberately and carefully preserved a record of their life.

The earliest papers date from the 1940s, when Muriel Spark made a decision to keep all kinds of documentary evidence. The early sparse records of wartime poverty that chart the struggles of an unknown author are joined by scores of diaries, numerous accounts and cheque books, and tens of thousands of letters, growing in number as her fame has risen."

Visit: The Muriel Spark Archive
The National Library of Scotland

[Thanks Joy!]
...
Update:
Muriel Spark 1918-2006

JPG

"They're called "photobloggers" - a sloppy term for sloppy times. They're people who, armed with cameras ranging from cheap to expensive, film to digital, wander the streets documenting their world and posting the results to the web.

In another time they would have been called artists. Personal documentarians. But we have a simpler word for them: Photographers.

JPG Magazine is for photographers like us who fall somewhere in between the strict definitions of "amateur" and "professional." People who, enabled by new technology that makes imagemaking and self-publishing easier than ever, have fallen in love with photography and sought out others with the same passion.

We're here to embrace the joy of photography without any attitude. We don't care about what you shoot or how. We're not purists of any stripe. We just love photography – images that challenge, explore, captivate, and surprise."

Manifesto
JPG Magazine

Coming in November

The Geneva Declaration

Sign onto the Geneva Declaration, change WIPO!

Last weekend, I represented EFF at a meeting in Geneva of several disparate activist and non-govermental orgs, working to draft a joint doc called "Future of WIPO," (or, more formally, "Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization"). This doc is a call to arms to orgs that would see WIPO revisit its role in the world, to take into account the public interest when formulating and promulgating IP policy. The doc has been finalised and is online -- we're collecting signatories for it, and you're invited.

Humanity faces a global crisis in the governance of knowledge, technology and culture. The crisis is manifest in many ways.

* Without access to essential medicines, millions suffer and die;

* Morally repugnant inequality of access to education, knowledge and technology undermines development and social cohesion;

* Anticompetitive practices in the knowledge economy impose enormous costs on consumers and retard innovation;

* Authors, artists and inventors face mounting barriers to follow-on innovation;

* Concentrated ownership and control of knowledge, technology, biological resources and culture harm development, diversity and democratic institutions;

* Technological measures designed to enforce intellectual property rights in digital environments threaten core exceptions in copyright laws for disabled persons, libraries, educators, authors and consumers, and undermine privacy and freedom;

* Key mechanisms to compensate and support creative individuals and communities are unfair to both creative persons and consumers;

* Private interests misappropriate social and public goods, and lock up the public domain.

Link to declaration
Mailto link for signing on (via Copyfight)

Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

Shooting the Franklin

"The current would take over, sending the canoe on a different course … Log jams were a hazard … In the excitement of departure we left behind the carefully soldered tins of wheatmeal biscuits, our staple diet. If Weston hadn’t shot a wallaby with a .303 army rifle we would have been forced to abandon the trip earlier. The other disaster was that somehow we managed to get nearly all of our matches wet.”

One folboat was lost after it jammed under a waterfall. The four of them packed into the remaining craft — “but progress was too slow for starving men. It was time to walk out.”

Map-covered notebooks used to record the gang's adventures

Shooting the Franklin
By JOHNSON DEAN
...
Special thanks to Allan Moult, Editor & Publisher of Leatherwood Online who writes:

"I have personally been using Moleskine notebooks for years in my journalistic travels, and somehow the notes in them have been the genesis of my best articles.

Keep up the good work and enjoy a browse through Leatherwood Online -- Tasmania's Journal of Discovery.

Visit Leatherwood Online

What kind of writer are you?

What kind of writer are you? Take the QUIZilla. via Baldric's Trousers

Note-taking and Myth-making

I have two notebooks with me on this journey. One is slim and black and clamps its own pages shut with an elastic belt. Attached to the spine is a woven cloth bookmark and in the back is an elegantly engineered pocket for loose slips of paper; included here is a history of the famous little black book to which I will return presently. The other - the one into which I am entering these words - is slightly bulkier, is encased in translucent plastic and comes with its own inkless pen which slots invisibly into its body.

The two items which have accompanied me to Paris are in some ways both small icons of an age: the Moleskine ruled notebook and the Handspring Visor, a handheld computer which I use to expand my brain's rather limited memory capacity. I'm in France's capital for a day or so, mostly waiting for trains to take me elsewhere, and this is rather fitting since Henri Matisse was apparently also a fan of the Moleskine notebook. Heaven knows what he used it for; this is of course the territory of myth-making, so one might imagine our friend Henri using the leaves of his own to sketch down a few ideas for 'Bathers by a River'. But who knows, I've never seen his notebooks. It's tempting to believe that every gesture of a great artist is a direct expression of genius; every picked nostril, every rolled-up and lazily ejected ball of snot an artistic statement of incomparable significance. Matisse probably excreted better art before breakfast than most will produce in a lifetime, but I'm more inclined to believe that he used his own Moleskine to write shopping lists with: "Buy milk, bread, cheese, tube of ultramarine blue".
...
Continue reading Note-taking and Myth-making.

Originally posted 3.3.04

Kompagnon

From Moleskinerie friend Daniel Kiowski:

"I found your site when I googled for the name of Lisa to find the website of her new store-project (as you know, she ain't got the R.S.V.P. store any more). When I read your article about the Swedish copy of Moleskine I thought I should tell you that German industry isn't sleeping as well. There's a fake moleskine on the market here, too, called "Kompagnon".

In my opinion this is just ridiculous to copycat something just because its good (and the BRUNNEN"-version of the notebook though cheaper can't reach for the original's quality)."

Links:
Brunnen
Kompagnon
Post on Swedish Moleskine copies

Image: Brunnen

Searching for the perfect pen

I don’t think I have THAT high expectations for the pens in my life. I want something reliable, easy to hold, that uses waterproof ink, that’s refillable and (I suppose here is my problem) has a certain something that makes me want to pick it up, hold it, use it, dare I say love it...yes, love it.

I’ve come quite recently to drawing. A health problem has meant I’ve finally admitted that it’s time to stop making large, energetic paintings. Now I make small drawings of the things around me and I like it. I’d like it more if I could find just the right pen. I’ve spent far more on pens than on my fat cat’s not insubstantial food bill these last few months. I have piles of them. None have been quite right.

I started by just going into every art shop and stationers that crossed my path, picking up pens I liked the look of, scribbling quickly on the tiny pads provided for such purposes and then heading to the till. Soon however I discovered lots of what I bought either wasn’t waterproof, ran out quickly or became blocked. None really inspired any deeper emotions in me.

I decided to become more systematic. I searched the web for advice. On the wonderful Danny Gregory’s blog (http://www.dannygregory.com/weblog) I found my first mention of Rotring. He sings the praises of the Rapidoliner. Still ignorant I thought one Rotring would be much like another and so when I couldn’t
find any Rapidoliners anywhere I ordered a bunch of Rapidographs - refillable, waterproof ink, plenty of different nib sizes and nice to look at and hold. I began to wonder if I could fall in love. Often I would pick up one, try to make a mark, only to find the pen was blocked. I felt just a touch betrayed.

2005 Moleskine Diary

Hello there!

I am from Germany and recently bought my first Moleskine. While I was preparing for 2005 last week, I found, that the Weeks are differently numbered, than in my other calendar.

For example Week 1 starts in Moleskines on December 27th (2004) and in my other calendar on January 3rd...

This of course brings the whole year in confusion if I make appointments with other people.

Would you be so kind and check with you other calendars if this is a phenomenon or simply a mistake???

Yours,

Jörg Niklas
...
Update 1.21.05
Moleskine will reinstate the earlier design in the 2006 edition.

Radio Free NYC

"But there is something extremely punk about this book. I can’t describe it. Maybe I’m easily bought to the marketing thinking that I am using something that the greats used.

But I have been writing lots more in it than I have in months in any other notebook. I think I just want my $20 bucks worth.

But let me write in it for a while, I’ll do some scans of some of the better stuff and put it up. Of course you guys will have to read my handwriting. I feel sorry for you guys then."

- Mylo
Radio Free NYC

Urban Blossom

in the city the strangest plants begin to bloom...

anti:freeze
by karrie higgins

"blossom"
color the sky with you

AFK*: Millennium Park, Chicago

Detail, Jay Pritzker Pavillion by Frank Gehry "Cloud Gate", The Kapoor Sculpture on SBC Plaza Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa Asleep near the Cloud Gate Birthday greetings to Mary Kindred (September 19) Enjoy your weekend, everyone! View larger images at the AFK* Gallery © 2004 A.B.F.

Sweet Moleskine Action

"Cablemess" yak_tg "Kind of a self portrait" yak_tg Sketch Thread - September '04 Yayhooray.com [via sordid]

Make.

"The First Magazine for Technology Projects

Make brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. Make is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. This is a magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

Coming early in 2005, Make is a hybrid magazine/book (known as a mook in Japan). Make comes from O'Reilly, the Publisher of Record for geeks and tech enthusiasts everywhere. It follows in line with the Hacks books and Hardware Hacking Projects, but it takes a highly visual and personal approach."

Join Make.

Mark Frauenfelder is Make's Editor-in-Chief.

The Swedish Moleskine-copies

"A well established Swedish maker of calendars, Almanacksförlaget has a new line of notebooks - identical to Moleskines, but cheaper and of slightly inferior in quality. The size is the same, they have a similar black cover, elastic band, bookmark ribbon, and most damning: expandable pocket in the back. They are so similar that you could easily pick the wrong one if you're in a hurry. But you'd find out at the counter: they only cost half as much as Moleskines.

However, the quality, as I said, is inferior. (That in itself is no big deal, it's just a notebook, right? :) But this is a comparison.) The paper has a too-white, glossy sheen. The covers are plasticky, more blatantly faux leather than the moleskine... well, let's call it oilcloth.

All in all - I think that it's just weird that a notebookmaker should just leap for an apparent trend instead of trying something new. There was no response from Almanacksförlaget regarding this issue.

- Niklas Dahlin
Stockholm

Link:
Almanacksförlaget
...
Best wishes to Uanderson Oliveira on his birthday today, September 16 from all of us @ Moleskinerie!

Poco Profile

"Poco Profile is a small Australian owned business set up in 1989 to manufacture a range of organizers and refills. Like many small businesses it was started in the lounge room, graduated to the sunroom and laundry, took on a second bedroom, and then in 1994, whilst still staying pretty small, it grew into "proper" premises.

Whilst there is lots of leather and other materials around the work-place, binders are not made there and refills are not printed on site. Poco Profile works with artisans and tradespeople - Australia's finest - to develop and manufacture products under the Poco Profile brand. After working with typesetters since the beginning, all pre-production of refills is now done in house. The Poco Profile premises is where it's all put together and sent out - mostly to the local Australian retail marketplace."

Poco Profile

[Thanks Stephen]

Craft Time

Alphabet 1 " button set from
Poranger-AL
Design : Masayuki Sato & Rollingcradle

Not for commercial distribution

ArtistShare

"ArtistShare is the first and only company of its kind. ArtistShare is completely redefining the way people purchase and experience art.

At ArtistShare we firmly believe that the true value is found in artists and their creativity. The creative process is a timeline. It is a living, breathing thing. An artistic product (CD, photo, painting, etc.) is just a quick snapshot of that timeline. The moments of brilliance an audience hopes to experience when purchasing that artistic product exist throughout the entire process. Through today's technology there is no need to limit the experience to one snapshot. Best of all, the artist's creative process is something that cannot be copied or pirated.

ArtistShare also believes that allowing the fan to become part of the process leads to an intensely personal experience for both the artist and the fan and a lasting long term relationship."

ArtistShare

"The technologies that record companies blame for the downturn in retail music sales -- computers, CD burners and the Internet -- are allowing musicians to do more of the things that record labels used to do. In a three-part series, NPR’s Rick Karr profiles some of the artists and Internet sites embracing these emerging business models:

Part 1: Searching for a Patron

Looking for someone with deep pockets to finance an artist's creative impulses is a time-honored tradition -- Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, attempted to enlist the help of the Margrave of Brandenburg to pay for his household expenses and the salaries of an orchestra. His request for help came in the form of the now-famous Brandenburg Concertos. Nearly three centuries later, modern composers are looking to do the same. Karr profiles an artist connecting with patrons through an Internet site called ArtistShare, which provides a viable patronage business platform for artists who have a core of die-hard fans, but not the million-selling appeal that major labels require. He also looks at another artist who's gone the patronage route outside the ArtistShare network..."

Paying for Music in the Internet Age
Morning Edition, NPR

AFK*: Cody Payne

I recently met Cody at a local Starbucks where he is frequently seen working on his 3D models. The ex-Marine believes that making art in public does the society good.

Cody is currently doing some prop work for an independent movie being shot in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Model of the moment: "The Mummy".

View larger images at the AFK* Gallery.

Recent comments

Hello from Germany!

I´m really addicted to my moleskine! I think it´s one of the most useful and at the same time one of the most beautiful littel thing which has ever been invited. By the way, I think the only right way to write in a moleskine is to use a pencil. There´s nothing better then write down an idea which just came in your mind imedially in your moleskin. I hope my moleskin will at least live as long as I. And if somebody is interested to read it, that would be fine; but if not I won´t care because it was just so much fun to write in it!

- Jasmin

"Greetings to the Moleskinerie Community! I recently discovered the Moleskine and I cannot even begin to describe how thrilled I was to find it!

I had been searching for such a notebook for a long time and nothing ever worked out quite right until I found the Moleskine. I now use a large ruled Moleskine as an "everything" Book. Notes, scribbles, doodles, thoughts, journal entries -- a little bit of everything goes into my Moleskine.

I find though, as a web designer/programmer by trade, that the Moleskine is a bit to small to use in my professional work. So, for that, I use the Notabilia ruled notebooks from Levenger. Those work quite nicely. I wish Modo & Modo would make a Moleskine in that size -- about 7 x 9". That would be ideal!

I must say that I find the postings here on Moleskinerie to be quite facinating. I especially like seeing and reading about how other people use their Moleskines."

- Chris

Image: presentsdirect.com

Álvaro Lopez

From Álvaro Lopez in Spain, a photo of the M button with the rest of his collection.

Visit his blog and fotolog:

Spirit of Romania

"Dobrogea

Although mostly known for the Danube Delta and the Black Sea resorts, the Dobrogea county has to offer much more than that. A painter would surely describe it as the land of its dreams. In the summer, the gold fields of mustard and rape, spotted from place to place by the passionate red of the poppies are turning later into a sky that seems to have descended on the earth - the flax in bloom."

Liberation of the Moment
Visit Spirit of Romania

[Thanks Anca Echim]

Introducing the Hipster PDA

"The Hipster PDA (Parietal Disgorgement Aid) is a fully extensible system for coordinating incoming and outgoing data for any aspect of your life and work. It scales brilliantly, degrades gracefully, supports optional categories and “beaming,” and is configurable to an unlimited number of options. Best of all, the Hipster PDA fits into your hip pocket and costs practically nothing to purchase and maintain. Let’s make one together..."

43 Folders

[Via mrdankelly]

Four Stories

"Fifty hand-crafted and hand-stitched books make up the edition of "Four Stories". Each limited edition book contains over 28 original pieces of art. printed by the artist and four stories also by the artist. The exquisite typography in the book is emphasized by the embossed quality of letterpress printing."

Four Stories
@ Fablewood

Thanks Iaian !

J. Herbin

"La societe J. Herbin, sealing wax manufacturer, was established in 1670. Louis XIV, the Sun King, was 32 years old. M. Herbin was a sailor, and from his many journeys to India he brought back to Paris formulas for manufacturing sealing wax. His special lacquer formula improved the quality of seals in adhesion and neatness, helping him to become famous throughout the kingdom. The house was established at rue des Fosses Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois.

Then as today, sealing wax was used for documents and correspondence, but also in decoration and bottling. J. Herbin has supplied Channel from its beginning with wax used for finishing touches on their perfume bottles.

J. Herbin is the oldest name in ink production in the world. By 1700, the company was producing "l'Encre de la Tete Noire," followed by the "Perle des Encres" (The Pearl of Inks) and "l'Encre des Vaisseaux" (The Ink of Ships).

The Pearl of Inks is still produced, and is available in 26 beautiful, radiant colors. J. Herbin uses all natural dyes in their fountain pen inks. This relatively "natural" composition is reflected in the very neutral pH of the inks."

"Les Plumes D'Oie" - Goose Quills Authentic goose quill pens

J. Herbin
Visit the website.

Thanks Michael

I just received a large Moleskine notebook from Michael Pusateri of the ABC Cable Networks Group in California.

I've been sending out notebooks for a while now but this is the first time I got one as a present. Thank you very much, Sir.

-Armand

The Writing Desk

"The Writing Desk is run by Anna Roberts BA(hons), Solicitor, with help and encouragement from husband Martin.

We run our business from our home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. As this is a home run business we prefer not to put our address or telephone number on the website. If there is something you wish to discuss over the phone rather than by e-mail we will be happy to call you.

As we work from home we do not stick to "normal" working hours so we check our e-mails regularly through out the day and evening and we aim to reply swiftly to your enquiries whatever the time of day.

Although we run an automated "shopping basket" system on our website we always deal with each order personally. Our philosophy is to provide the best possible service in all aspects whatever your order - large or small."

The Writing Desk

[Thanks Rebekah]

Trevor Hill

"I have a new theory.

In this world, we should try to find the right balance in everything. That is, in society, in law, in technology, our overriding goal should be just to prevent our systems from breaking unrecoverably (e.g. everyone dying).

Evolution guides all these processes, and everything else too, it seems. So as the ideologues battle, I'm going to try to keep a bit of perspective. I'll try to remember that theories and ideologies are merely forces nudging the evolution of our systems, and can never be entirely self-coherent. They are only coherent inasmuch as they recognize they would fail if implemented in toto, and that they are only one part of a much bigger, much slower process.

Well, maybe it's not really new. Maybe it's just the Dao."

Trevor Hill
Visit his site.

'Skine Mod

A reader sent us this picture of a modified Moleskine notebook cover.

"I applied 2 coatings of gesso and painted a "permanent" sleeve on my notebook using acrylic paints then used a special varnish spray to protect the artwork."

Thanks Samantha!

Evan Lim

The King welcomes you to Route 66.
Seligman, Arizona

The afternoon sun reflecting off the Getty Museum.

Evan Lim is a web designer living in Pasadena, CA. In his spare time he is an amateur photographer and a computer geek.

Visit his blog and gallery.

Fancy Notebooks

"If you just can't get into PDAs, consider getting a Moleskine, and making it your analog PDA (a PAA?). They come in two sizes, with several different paper styles. OK, big deal, but it's the little touches. An attached ribbon bookmark affords instant access to your current page. An expandable pocket in the back holds receipts, business cards, or other small, loose materials. Finally, a built-in elastic band holds the whole works shut when not in use. The extremely touchable oilcloth cover makes you feel smarter just holding one. Combine with the fanciest pen you can afford, a quiet corner of a coffee shop, and you have a writer's wet dream."

~stevenf : macintosh, gadgets, and general geekery
Visit his blog.

In Memoriam

We remember all those perished on September 11 and victims of terrorism all over the world.

September 11 Triptych

"Pop, Liberty and Justice For All" "Candles, Cookies and Cream. A Bittersweet Remembrance" "Looking Back. The Towers Live" Photographs taken along IL 173W in Alden and Hebron, Illinois Copyright 2002 A.B.F All Rights Reserved

Recent Entries

"Yup, I keep a large stash of notebooks on hand just in case the paper making industry comes to a grinding halt.

I found my first Moleskine in a little artist's coastal town called Mendocino California. I started writing in it that night. Years later, I'm still writing. (Many notebooks later).

High price or not, This is the highest quality notebook I have ever found. I hope they never change.

Here's to my brothers and sisters in writing."

Stephen
...
"Greetings from Portland, Oregon. I'm a long-time Moleskine user and really like your blog. I use a large lined journal as a phone log and for meeting notes. It's the one I have with me all day at work. I also use a small lined journal for brain-dumping, the contents of which are as random as it gets."

David Paull
...
"Yo! from Philadelphia, PA. I just discovered Moleskines on a trip to NY. I use them for daily journal entries so my family can look back at my life in 50 years and know what I was doing. I'd love to know what my great-grandparents were doing 50 years ago."

Eric Lowry

Recent entries
The Moleskinerie LogBook

Red Phones are hot...again

The Pokia "Hotline"

"A cellphone so clunky, it's funky"
-Chicago Tribune

Pokia
(now number one listing on Google for "phones of the future")
Visit the site.

Blogs Illustrated

"Blogs Illustrated is a blog ring specifically for blogs written/run by artists and illustrators, amateur or professional, who illustrate their blogs with their own work, whether that work be created in the real world or the virtual. It is not a home for fluffy hamster paintings, floaty computer-generated pixies with a tear falling from their starlight eyes or for manga/anime wannabes, there's plenty of that already. This is THE place to find peoples' lives blogged with pictures."

Visit Blogs Illustrated

Cigares, etc.

Joachim Beleg Le Blaugue à Beleg

The Awful Artist

Brett Helquist says that he was born in Ganado, Arizona, grew up in Orem, Utah, and now lives in New York City. He purportedly earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Brigham Young University and has been illustrating ever since. His art has appeared in many publications, including Cricket magazine and The New York Times.

HarperCollins
Lemony Snicket

World Market

"Any trip to the grocery store can include visual delights beyond produce and seafood. If I have the time, I usually browse the ethnic and country sections offering imported delicacies. While I don’t typically buy anything in those aisles, I always enjoy the unusual (to me) labels and packaging. As a companion piece to yesterday’s flurry of produce and seafood wonders, I present a sampling below of some interesting food packages from around the world. Armchair traveling at its finest!" Gary Varner Inkmusings

How I learned to stop worrying and ditch the PDA

"I really loved PDA's for a long time when they were really useful. I think it'd be nice to take notes on an iPaq or something, but to be honest I have really been enjoying writing things down on paper lately in a Moleskine notebook or two, and haven't really had a big need for anything other than that.

It turns out I don't need to spend four hundred bucks on a PDA after all, and quickly felt very guilty for my retail therapy of buying a new gizmo I didn't really need or even want to use anymore after spending half an hour with it. It turns out I wasn't completely crazy when I told my Tungsten T3 several months ago. It just wasn't attractive to carry more things around with me."

R. Emory Lundberg
MobileWhack

English Handwriting 1500-1700

"And ar't return'd againe with all thy faults
Thou greate Commander of the all=go=naughts
And left the Ile behinde thee? what's the matter
Did winter make thy Chapps to chatter,
Could not the Surging, and distempred Seas
thy queasy Stomacke (gorg'd) with sweete meats please
Or didst thou sodainly remooue thy Station
throughe Iealousy of Hollands supplantation
Or was't for want of wenches, or did'st feare
the king (thou absent) durst wrong'd Bristoll heare,
Or didst thou hasten headlong to prevent
A fruitlesse hope't for needfull Parliament?
All these noe question with a restlesse motion
Vext thy bespotted soule, as that blacke potion"

A professional italic hand, c. 1630. Greek e and the generally angular appearance, as well as some secretary forms (e.g. majuscule C in 'Chapps') and traditional contractions (e.g. superscripts t and e) confine the date to the first half of the seventeenth century.

English Handwriting 1500-1700
Sample Transcriptions

The moleskine notebook of the web

"I have reservations about the moleskine notebooks. Personally, fancy brands make me nervous. Ask anyone who knows me. My favorite supermarket is Lidl (especially good for cleaning products and the odd hardware special, and the chocolate is excellent too) and my fave airline is Ryanair. (I'd fly on 'em more, but they are quite expensive to go Dublin-London on, when you take all the costs into account).

I like the product, I like the story and I like the idea, but at the core, 14 euros for a notebook with an oilcloth cover is a bit of a rip-off. For me the value of brands is quality, consistency and a connection with the manufacture and design of the product, not the snob value. I'd buy a cheaper notebook in a minute if it had the same handy features. Not that I begrudge Modo e Modo their money; if they can find people who are prepared to pay, good for them."

Antoin
Eire.com