moleskinerie

Moleskine on Courier-Journal

"This silent and discreet keeper of an extraordinary tradition, which has been missing for years, has set out again on its journey," reads the little history brochure included with each book. It's printed in four languages, another hint at the book's pedigree of travel. "A witness to contemporary nomad-ism, it can once again pass from one pocket to another to continue the adventure."

Is it just a blank book? Or is it somehow something more?"

The little blank book is a cult hit
By James Bickers
Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
...

Perrine @ Kikkerland is conducting a quick survey.
Check it out.

Advice on Novel Writing

"Different writers face different advantages and drawbacks in forming good writing habits. The circumstances of your personal life may make it easy or hard to find writing time, but time itself is not the real issue--it's habit.  Writing must be something you do regularly, like brushing your teeth. The writer who waits for inspiration will wait even longer for a complete, published novel.

Writing habits flourish best in routine, but the efficient writer also exploits opportunity.

Routine: Set aside some time every day when you can work undisturbed for an hour or two--first thing in the morning, during lunch, after dinner, whenever you can set aside other demands. Ideally, it's the same time of day. Your family and friends will soon build their routines around yours. With luck, they will resent your unscheduled appearances during your writing time, and will send you packing back to your desk.

Keep your writing equipment (paper, pens, software manuals, etc.) in your writing place, close at hand. Minimize distractions like interesting new magazines and books. Try to find a writing time when few people phone or visit. If a cup of coffee and some background music make you feel less lonely, by all means enjoy them.

Use household chores as thinking time: a chance to review what you've done so far and to consider where your writing should go next. Walking the dog or vacuuming the carpet can provide more ideas than you expect. This is really just ``controlled daydreaming,'' letting your mind freewheel in a particular direction: What the heroine should do in the next chapter, how the hero would respond to escaping a car bomb, how the villain developed his evil character.  But the process doesn't seem to work if you just sit and stare at the wall.  You need to be up and moving in some automatic pattern."

Developing Efficient Work Habits

from "Advice on Novel Writing" by Crawford Kilian

 

LINK

Image: nyla

Illustrated Watercolor Journaling

" Christina took a lovely trip to Paris in July with girlfriends and enjoyed the time away to play and get creatively inspired! A must for everyone; whether it is in the next town or all the way to Paris! This trip was extra special to me because it has been nearly 10 years ago that I came to Paris with different girlfriends and I started Watercolor Journaling for the first time. Full circle! Yay!"

"Journal writing has been catching on lately – so much so that it has become a new verb – "journaling." With everyone’s lives so busy in this rushed high tech world, it is nice to take some time, slow down and record some of life’s details.

As the world gets more immediate, more online and easy to delete, the journal is a low tech, highly tactile method of capturing aspects of your world. A variation on the written journal is an illustrated journal -- adding the richness of hand drawn images to words.

In the class, "Illustrated Watercolor Journaling" students learn how to pay attention to their world and see -- then draw -- things that are important to them. Anything might strike fancies – a child’s soccer game, the first tomato of the season, or images from vacations. Nothing will be boring again."

Illustrated Watercolor Journaling

Rightbrainterrain

Rightbrainterrain
The World's First Alternative Motivational Posters

LINK

[Submitted announcement]

Welcome summer!

The barbeque is over, the boats are in the pier and friends have gone back to the city. Time to start writing this summer's memories. 

© 2005 A.B.F.

What do you do when life gives you avocados?

OK, this one's too cool so I have to sneak this in.^_^

"Guacamoleskine:

6 ripe avocados
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1/4 purple onion, minced
2 teaspoons white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Please take care when working with the peppers; the oils can sting if they get in your eyes.  Also, the heat between individual peppers can vary greatly.  Start with one; you can always add the second later if it's not hot enough."

Christopher A. Shamis
LINK
© 2004 Christopher A. Shamis
...

I passed by this fiery accident on northbound IL 90/94 this morning. Just a reminder to drive safely and enjoy the holidays.

Memorial Day 2005

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep.
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

TAPS

Ravens

"Ravens"
by MontanaRaven
@ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© 2005 MS All rights reserved.
Used with permission

The world's next generation of creative voices in art and writing are in you. If you're between nine and 18, get in on the Wandering Moleskine Next project: put YOU on paper in one of fifteen Moleskine journals that will soon wander the planet, one kid at a time. Write. Draw. Paint. Share your creative voice with the world - then pass it on.

Be NEXT. Pass it on.

WMPNext. The Wandering Moleskine Project for Kids.
Coming soon.
...
Best wishes to our birthday celebrants at Moleskinerie/ORKUT:
Bradley Woods & A. J. Wright on May 24

On your way out please drop by the Moleskinerie Shop. Your purchase will help keep us going. Also, Perrine at Kikkerland need your opinions. Check out her short survey below.

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend everyone.  We will be back on Tuesday, May 31st.

Moleskine Survey

Hi Moleskinerie-bloggers!

My name is Perrine

I’m an intern at Kikkerland, the US Moleskine distributor and I would like to have Moleskine users opinion about the diaries. What do you specially like in yours and what would you like to be modified? All your suggestions are welcome.

Many thanks for answering me at perrine@kikkerland.com

Vive Moleskine !!

Moleskine on Food TV's "Good Eats"

"I was watching the always witty and informative Alton Brown on "Good Eats" last night as he searched for the ultimate barbeque process. I've been a fan of the show for a couple of years even though I remain hopeless in the kitchen.

One shot showed Brown explaining the science behind smoking meat when he looked quizically into the distance while trying to recall some cumbersome terminology dealing with thermal processes. He produced a pocket Moleskine and his confusion evaporated as he read off terms supporting his quest for the Ultimate Barbeque from none other than the Ultimate Notebook.

Not only was I pleasantly surprised to see the book, but also happy to discover that after conquering Hollywood, it has moved on to the culinary provinces of Georgia. If we can take Georgia, we can take the world!"

-deadmuse

Link to show

Fontastic

At FontShop, we believe a typeface can be as expressive as the human face. What font speaks for you? Show the world.

FontShop

[Thanks Christine]

Moleskine 3 for the price of 2 deal in the UK

"I'm not sure if this might be of interest for inclusion on the site for the benefit of people from the UK,  but anyway.

In the UK Moleskines are not that easy to find in retail stores. Waterstone's a major chain of book stores stocks them, though individual branches have widely differing stock levels. At the moment in my local store in the Devon there is an any three for the price of two offer. At £11.99 (UK pounds) roughly $22.55 a throw for the large lined version this is a serious saving. I don't know how widespread the deal is or how long it will last but if you can post it UK Moleskine fans may be able to score themselves a deal or two.

Yours  LB"

Ben Saunders

"We started the day with an enormous climb. Ten minutes after we’d set off, the incline of the glacier we’re on changed from flat to slightly uphill. Ten minutes further on, we were struggling up a surface so steep that (if it weren’t for the fact we were actually doing it) I’d have said it was impossible to drag sledges heavier than we are up it on skis. We climbed 500 feet in 45 minutes. ‘I’ve never done that before’, I said to Tony as we rested briefly, slumped in our sledge harnesses, at the top.

A little later on, we had to contend with something else I hadn’t tried before; skiing downhill with heavy sledges (I’ve spent nearly two percent of my entire life on skis, dragging sledges, but the Arctic Ocean doesn’t really have any long, smooth slopes.)

We sat at the top of the slope, chewing on energy bars and weighing up the options. As we saw it, there were three. One, to ski down, still harnessed to the sledge and hoping against hope that it wasn’t going to a) overtake you or b) run you over. The second was to strap our skis and poles to the sledges, lie on top of them and bomb down at high speed. We finally went for option three, ‘launching’ the sledges from the top and following them down, practising our telemark turns en route. It worked rather well, apart from one heart-stopping moment when my sledge caught an impressive but unexpected amount of air as it careered over the lip of a snowed-in crevasse."

Ben Saunders
Follow his journey to Greenland
LINK

Image: © 2005 Ben Saunders
Related link: earlier Moleskinerie feature

Moleskine versus Miquelrius

"My friend Jim was passing through town the other day, and we compared Moleskines. Or rather, I brought out my immaculate Moleskine and he brought out a black pile of something or other. I asked him to tell me about it in response to a comment from someone about the benefits of the Moleskine pocket..

The Moleskine is also more expensive, so using them more frequently adds to the cost...

It is narrower more difficult to do good shorthand. The width also limits your ability to sketch and draw, everything from organigrams to the scenery. My solution? Improvise with the Miquelrius to get something just right. Add a small envelope to the back. I use left over wedding RSVP envelopes.."

Jeremy Wagstaff
LOOSE WIRE

Related discussion on Moleskinerie

The Hedda Morrison Photographs of China

The Hedda Morrison Photographs of China
1933-1946

The Harvard-Yenching Gallery
of the Harvard College Library

LINK

[Thanks Christine]

Tale of the Genji

"In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The grand ladies with high ambitions thought her a presumptuous upstart, and lesser ladies were still more resentful. Everything she did offended someone. Probably aware of what was happening, she fell seriously ill and came to spend more time at home than at court.

It may have been because of a bond in a former life that she bore the emperor a beautiful son, a jewel beyond compare. The emperor was in a fever of impatience to see the child on the earliest day possible. When he was brought to the court, the paulownia was full in bloom in the garden.

The emperor's eldest son was the grandson of the Minister of the Right. The world assumed that with this powerful support he would one day be named crown prince; but the new child was far more beautiful."

Tale of the Genji
UNESCO Global Heritage Pavillon
LINK

Daily Type

"Daily Type is a creative project run by four russian type designers.
Day by day, they create original typefaces and post their results along with routine. "

idea by Yury Ostromentsky & Dasha Yarzhambek

LINK

"Harriet the Spy"

"She found that when she didn't have a notebook it was hard for her to think. The thoughts came slowly, as though they had to squeeze through a tiny door to get to her, whereas when she wrote, they flowed out faster than she could put them down."

"Harriet the Spy"
Written and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh. New York: Harper & Row, 1964

Holy H2O: Fluid Universe

"I recently visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, for the first time, and this is the second part of my reflections on the experience...

"La Siren" was the part of the show that really spoke to my heart, in particular the diorama of a bejeweled mermaid-woman rising out of the sea, with "Syrena Rene de L'eau" spelled out in a dazzling rhinestone script at her feet. "The Sacred Flags of Haiti" continued the religious symbolism that permeated nearly every piece in the show, from the sequined tapestry embellished with a vividly animated snake charmer mermaid by Nancy Josephson and Roland Rockville to a dozen other permutations of mermaids or sirens engaged in mythical and heroic acts (pictured here, La Siren Shrine by Nancy Josephson)."

 

Lauren Cerand

Lux Lotus

...

"In this world there is nothing softer
or thinner than water
But to compel the hard and unyielding,
It has no equal.
That the weak overcomes the strong,
That the hard gives way to the gentle -
This everyone knows,
Yet no one acts accordingly.
      --Lao Tzu 6th c. B.C.

 

The simple truth known to the brokenhearted, the mystic, and the physicist: what we think solid is not. What most of us believe constitutes the "real" material world - the stuff we can reach out, touch, hold, buy, and see - physicists all agree is actually not solid at all.   In fact, what appears "solid" or material in our world is really 99.999999999999 percent empty space made "solid" by a miniscule fraction of matter that may not even be matter but wavelets of energy. Light is a particle that when we try and measure by passing it through a narrow opening behaves just like an ocean wave passing through a narrow harbor. Once through the slender opening, light wave and water wave fan out, each forming a crescent pattern. A far more accurate characterization of our universe would be "fluid."

 

Even our human bodies are far more fluid than they are solid. Like earth we are mostly water--both in the range of 70%. Even human bones that feel so substantial are themselves 30% water and on close examination reveal pockmarked patterns of tiny rhythmic holes that mimic the flow of water that pits flow patterns into seabed rock. Our eyeballs, the very same by which we read these words, are washed 25 times a minute by water squirted from tiny ducts. Aquatic by nature, we begin life in a fluid mix, are nurtured in womb waters, born to suckle milk, and continue to take in fluids to survive. As the Koran sura 21.30 puts it, "We are made from water every living thing."

American Visionary Art Museum

EXHIBIT LINK
.................................................
Best wishes to our birthday celebrants at Moleskinerie/ORKUT:
Bradley Woods & A. J. Wright on May 24

10 Ways To Get the Creative Juices Flowing

"My brain is always working overtime.  I'm always thinking about different things like if God is real, just how evil is our government, what really is in a Dolly Madison Pie and do dogs dream in color.  However in coming up with concepts for clients, I always find myself against a brick-wall.  I especially have a hard time when it comes to creating, especially ones that are really obscure.  For example, I've got to come up with a concept that goes with the title "My husband has several women-friends whom he sees on a casual basis from time to time..."

How the hell do you come up with a concept to illustrate for that?  Do you draw a man messing around with a woman with a wedding ring and his wife peeking over his shoulder?  That doesn't work too well.  What about just having some arrows pointing saying "THIS IS A HUSBAND HANGING OUT WITH HIS NON-WIFE WOMAN FRIEND." 

So when it comes to things like this, I do some creative exercises to come up with some solutions.

Take a bath:  I know this sounds silly, but my best ideas come while I take a bath.  This gives your brain to tear away from the project and you can just let your mind wander while your refresh yourself.

Imagine you are the idea:  You can't fully flesh something out if you can't empathize with it.  So before trying to coming up with some concepts, BE the concept.  Once you've walked in the concept's shoes, what can you utilize from it?"

The Artsy Fartsy Blog

"Why Do I Love These People?"

"I've learned that it's not all rooted in childhood - that in fact, we all have situations to master as part of a necessary maturation that continues well into adulthood. A good childhood doesn't excuse you from needing to learn these things.

I've learned that you can feel orphaned for years, even if you're sixty when your parents die and you have lots of siblings alive.

I learned that the ambition we have for family today is a new thing, historically (that it be based on romantic affection and nurturing rather than property), but that doesn't mean it's foolish to think we can have it different, since family has always been malleable, altered by conquests and occupations, technology and economic necessity.

I've been reminded that families are the engine, the basic unit, fighting against the world's troubles. Families are what drive the great migration of populations, one sibling or parent at a time. Families have to overcome poverty, they have to transcend racism, they have to flee oppressive governments and war zones. In Belfast, a Protestant marries a Catholic. In Cincinnati, a black mother enrolls her children in white schools. An Afghan family flees the Soviet invasion. A Chinese family escapes communism."

Po Bronson
Preview of his forthcoming book, "Why Do I Love These People?"

Related link: "What Should I Do With My Life?" by the same author

Moleskine on WIRED

"It's the ultimate PDA! OK, it's really just a pocket-size notebook for odd jottings. But this baby is perfection: oilcloth binding, thread-bound pages, elastic band, mini accordian pocket. Writing implement not included"

- Mark Robinson
Shopping Cart - What the WIRED gang bought this month
WIRED magazine 06 05

Take Note of Note Taking

"Even if you’ve organized your life onto a computer and PDA, when it comes to taking notes at the office, chances are, you’re still a paper person. At least 87 percent of us take paper notes in business meetings, according to a recent study. Proving futurist John Naisbitt’s decade’s old prediction of the need for high-touch products and practices in a time of high technology, there’s a growing band of paper-based note takers, even among an influential group of trendsetters in the high-tech industry.

Most notable among the note-taking elite is the rebirth of the Moleskine brand of notebooks and journals. From the Italian company Moda & Moda, Moleskines (pronounced mol-a-skeen-s) are pricey bound journals that come in two sizes and variously formatted blank pages. The notebooks, part of a broader back-to-paper movement (see “My Gadget”), are spawning a cult following. Some users even scan and post their Moleskine sketches, thoughts and poems to personal Weblog galleries.

According to Modo & Modo, the notebooks have been around a couple of centuries and were used by Van Gogh and Hemingway, who, the company suggests, used them in preparing some of their best-known works. Whether this is historical fact or marketing mythology, there’s no debating that today, the Moleskine is inspiring a whole new generation of sketch artists, songwriters, poets and now business owners..."

Take Note of Note Taking
NFIB Business Toolbox

"Yume No Chikara"

Do you believe in "Yume No Chikara?"

LINK

Jasmine Notes

Jasmine blossoms
Image: A B. F.
© 2005 All Rights Reserved

The world's next generation of creative voices in art and writing are in you. If you're between nine and 18, get in on the Wandering Moleskine Next project: put YOU on paper in one of fifteen Moleskine journals that will soon wander the planet, one kid at a time. Write. Draw. Paint. Share your creative voice with the world - then pass it on.

Be NEXT. Pass it on.

WMPNext. The Wandering Moleskine Project for Kids.
Coming soon.
...
Best wishes to our birthday celebrants at Moleskinerie/ORKUT:
Ricardo Saramago, May 20 and Spencer Nick, May 22

...

A great weekend, may you all have.

BIG IDEAS/SMALL PACKAGES

"While initially seen as minimal, Owen's work quietly reveals a sense of humor and an affinity for invention. His products greet their users with what he refers to as "surpriseutility." The designer's detailing of these products is often rational and precise with an aversion to ornament. Within this use of simple geometries one finds unexpected, dream-like references to iconic objects from the domestic landscape. Questioning the boundaries of functionality and ritual in everyday life, each object has something new to offer in addition to its conventional function.

Equally descriptor and educational device, the book delves into the methods and practices that give rise to the objects displayed. The book, Josh Owen : Big Ideas / Small Packages, provides its readers with a glimpse into the creative process behind the work, including sketches, prototype imagery, thoughts from the designer and explanations of the innovative production processes used to realize the final objects."

BIG IDEAS/SMALL PACKAGES by Josh Owen
2005 Woodsphere Publishing $17.95
For ordering information contact Noam Kugelmass at Woodsphere (info@woodsphere.com) or buy direct online at fourxfourthestore.com
...
Sculptor/Designer Josh Owen will be signing copies of his book
BIG IDEAS/SMALL PACKAGES

Friday, June 3, 2PM
BookExpo 2005 June 3-5 - Javits Convention Center, New York City
Kikkerland Design Booth # 1524

For more information/press release: www.kikkerland.com

To register for BookExpo 2005 go to: www.bookexpoamerica.com

[Press Release]

Crippled Detectives

“Oh!” said Sylvia suddenly. “What?” said Lee alarmed. “Oh I have to go out with you to get firewood,” replied Sylvia. “Oh now I remember,” said Lee, and into the house went the two girls to get Lisette and Ben and the things they would need to chop down trees for wood craft and firewood. The sister and brother came out. “Where’s Anne?” said Lee in a worried tone of voice. “I don’t know,” said Sylvia, turning around slowly to see if she could see Anne from the distance. “Where are we going?” asked Ben and Lisette together. “To get kindling wood if we find Anne,” answered Sylvia. “Here I am,” called a happy voice. “Are we going to get wood again?” said Anne. “I found a place where the trees are thick.” “Oh Anne!” said Lee. “Well, are we going?” asked Anne. “Yep,” said Sylvia.

When they got to the spot Ben and Lisette cut down the tree while Lee, Sylvia, and Anne stood in a patch of ivy. Suddenly a wind sprung up and made the tree fall in the direction of Anne, Lee, and Sylvia. “Run!” screamed Lisette. They ran but they tripped on the vines of ivy. Before they could get up, smack! and blood flowed out. The tree had fallen on their middles where they had had serious operations. Lisette and Ben pulled off the tree and carried them home. Off to the hospital they went and were crippled."

Crippled Detectives
by Lee Tandy Schwartzman
stonesoup

Photo: Gwen Head

[Thanks JC!]

Grocery Lists

List No. 0139
The Grocery List Collection

LINK

Is that a Moleskine in your pocket?

Is that a Moleskine in your pocket?

Image: A.B.F.
© 2005

This I Believe: "Be Cool to the Pizza Dude"

"If I have one operating philosophy about life it is this: "Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it's good luck." Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.

Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness. I let him cut me off in traffic, let him safely hit the exit ramp from the left lane, let him forget to use his blinker without extending any of my digits out the window or towards my horn because there should be one moment in my harried life when a car may encroach or cut off or pass and I let it go. Sometimes when I have become so certain of my ownership of my lane, daring anyone to challenge me, the pizza dude speeds by me in his rusted Chevette. His pizza light atop his car glowing like a beacon reminds me to check myself as I flow through the world. After all, the dude is delivering pizza to young and old, families and singletons, gays and straights, blacks, whites and browns, rich and poor, vegetarians and meat lovers alike. As he journeys, I give safe passage, practice restraint, show courtesy, and contain my anger..."

""Be Cool to the Pizza Dude""
This I Believe
NPR

[Image: viarural]

Wollemi Pine

Seed collecting nets

"The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest plants dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. With less than 100 adult trees known to exist in the wild, the Wollemi Pine is now the focus of extensive research to safeguard its survival. By 2005/6 you will be able to assist in the conservation effort by growing your own Wollemi Pine and becoming part of one of the most dramatic comebacks in natural history."

WollemiPine.com

[via Treehugger]

What good is a fez?

"It keeps the head warm. It hides a bald patch. It raises the height of the wearer. It allows one to have a tassel to flaunt. It acts as a base frame for a turban.It finds a use for felt and colour dyes. It usually indicates that you are a Muslim male. Enough reasons?
Jack Hill, St Albans, England

What good is any hat?
Dave, Lausanne, CH

"What good is any hat?" Good heavens, man! You obviously don't encounter many summer days in the high nineties and low one hundreds. When you have a bald spot the size of mine, you need something to protect you from the blistering sun! Hats are also good for keeping one's bald spot dry in the rain. And you can look stylish at the same time!
Alasdair Patrick, Lake Forest, California, U.S.A.

What good is a fez? Pshaw! In these days of indifferent headgear - the bill-cap, the beer-can-holding "foam dome" and the ubiquitous gangsta sport-rag, the fez shines. It is a rare, stylish gem, a jaunty riposte to the diminishment of head-covering importance today. Put on a fez. Feel its style. The tassel; whether rakishly swinging, or scholastically subdued, is a luxury that other hats do not offer. The smooth red felt moulding to the head in sensual - yet stylish - luxury. The fez keeps us in touch with the history of haberdashery, keeps us aware of its ancient origins - something that the humble bowler, for example, cannot manage. And to be frank, it's the only hat you can wear with a dinner-suit. Would a trilby, a Stetson, an Akubra cut as elegant a figure as the tassel-bearing Fez? No. That's what good a fez is; it's a reminder that style still exists, even in the days of the all-encompassing beanie, toque or woollen hat. Cherish it.
Luke Martin, Sydney Australia

Nooks and Crannies
The Guardian

Image: booksdirect.com.au

Moleskine Montage

"New Zealand digital designer Grant Robinson's Montage-a-google is a simple web-based app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords (search terms) entered by the user. Not only an interesting way of browsing the net, it can also be used to create desktop pictures or even posters...

I tried moleskine images for above, view bigger image here. View Robinson's other amazing projects here.

Image © respective owners. All rights reserved.

Norman Nimer
Neither Monster Norman

LINK: Montage-a-google

First 'globe' map

"Tom Lamb, director of Christie's book and manuscript department in London, described the find as "truly groundbreaking".

"This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career, and represents the pinnacle in the history of map-making," he said.

Although Christopher Columbus landed in America before Vespucci, he was convinced the land mass was Asia.

It was Vespucci, after sailing there a few years later, who put forward the then-revolutionary argument that it was an entirely new continent.

 

In 1505 Rene II, the Duke of Lorraine, gathered a group of scholars at the Monastery of Saint Die des Vosges near Strasbourg, led by Waldseemuller, to create a new map of the world.

 

They worked from a French translation of Vespucci's voyages and, in 1507, published a work called "Cosmographiae Introductio" arguing the existence of a new land mass to the west.

 

They followed it within a month with the map showing the continent for the first time and clearly marking it "America".

BBC News

 

On Second Thought

"... I fell victim to a overpriced and amazingly marketed journal which is known as the Moleskine.

See I have a bad habit of not writing anything...at all. I never take notes, never write down phone numbers and I never remember a damn thing. So I figured this could help out, plus it'll be a place to put the rest of my writing. As of now there isn't a word in there but I love it, its the perfect size small enough to carry around everywhere but big enough to write normally."

Dano
On Second Thought

Espresso Stories

"She cried when he handed her a fistful of dandelions. "For you, Mommy." Yellow was her favorite color."

'True Love' by Barbara Forsythe
Espresso Stories

[via plep]

Image: botanical.com

Dog-Eared Moleskine

"There I was sitting right next to the front door at the Apple Store in Corte Madera, CA - The Village Mall - waiting for the Tiger Party to start. And this little puppy chose my jacket to take a nap on. This is my favorite. That's my moleskine he's got his head on."

"Dachsund Puppy at the Tiger Party 3"
Photo by Janet Tokerud
Moleskinerie @ FLICKR

Visit Tech Ronin

© All rights reserved.
Used with permission

Tips for improving your handwriting

"You’ve decided you want to improve your handwriting and you’re probably hoping a fountain pen will do the trick -- maybe a friend told you it would. Maybe you’re just adventurous and you want to try your hand at calligraphy (or you might, once your handwriting improves). Good for you!

A fountain pen may make your writing look a bit better, but if your writing looks as if frenzied chickens got loose on the page, chances are this won’t be enough. Most likely, you’ll need to retrain your arm and hand.

After coaching handwriting and teaching calligraphy over the years, I’ve learned to see the characteristics of those who’ll be able to pick up the necessary motions quickly from those who’ll have to work a bit harder.

Tight, crampy letters drawn with fingersCrampy, uneven letters are often the result of drawing the letters with the fingers rather than using the whole arm to write.

 

People who inevitably have trouble with handwriting and calligraphy write with their fingers. They "draw" the letters. A finger-writer puts the full weight of his/her hand on the paper, his fingers form the letters, and he picks his hand up repeatedly to move it across the paper as he writes."

Dyas A. Lawson
Tips for improving your handwriting
Papernelia

[Our apologies for a broken link earlier. Thanks Ted!]

Darth Vader's Day Off

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Do you know what I think about being ordered to sit on my hands and wait aboard Executor? Blast it. You heard me: blast it right where the Sith don't shine.

I woke up this morning in a foul humour coupled with the determination not to spend another day staring at the walls in my hyperbaric chamber. In fact, I smashed my hyperbaric chamber -- which may have been overzealous, but it felt really good.

Klaxons rang out and a platoon of stormtroopers rushed through the doors. I pushed past them and into the corridor, breezing past a flotilla of stunned-looking repair droids and into the lift. While it ran through the levels I cracked my knuckles and grumbled to myself. Blasted Palpatine! Blasted galaxy!"

Darth Vader's Day Off
The Darth Side

Crowd scene

"Crowd scene"
by Julia
JOURNEYS

 

The world's next generation of creative voices in art and writing are in you. If you're between nine and 18, get in on the Wandering Moleskine Next project: put YOU on paper in one of fifteen Moleskine journals that will soon wander the planet, one kid at a time. Write. Draw. Paint. Share your creative voice with the world - then pass it on.

Be NEXT. Pass it on.

WMPNext. The Wandering Moleskine Project for Kids.
Coming soon.
...
Best wishes to our birthday celebrants at Moleskinerie/ORKUT:
Roxanne Reynolds, May 15 &  Kristi Hernberg, May 16

Here's a fun site to visit. [via BoingBoing]
Have a nice weekend everyone. See you on Monday!

Michael Recchiuti Hazelnut Praline

"The dukes of Praslin-Choiseul stem from one of the most illustrious noble families in France, but they are best known because one of their pastry chefs invented the confection known as praliné in honor of his patron. Brillat-Savarin famously wrote "the invention of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star". Apparently it does wonders for a family's name recognition as well.

Praliné is basically a blend of finely ground hazelnuts and almonds and cooked with boiling sugar (otherwise, it would just be another form of marzipan). If it is mixed with chocolate, it becoms gianduja. If the nut fragments remain discernable in a matrix of caramelized sugar, the result is nougatine, one of the heights of French pastry-making. One interesting variety is feuilleté praliné, where the praliné is blended with pieces of extremely fine and crisp wafers to yield a confection that has at once the smoothness of praliné and the crispiness of a flaky pastry. When I was a kid, I would often buy "Lutti Noisettor", a hard hazelnut-flavored candy where the core had this same stratified laminated and crunchy texture, but it seems it has been discontinued, perhaps the fabrication technique was too complex to be profitable."

"My favorite one is the Hazelnut Praline, which is actually a feuilleté praliné. A safety disclaimer ought to be mandatory on the wrapper, as biting into a piece is an amazingly intense experience. The couverture is excellent, but it is the praliné that grabs your attention: rich, dark, clearly made with a high proprtion of nuts to sugar and blended with dark rather than milk chocolate, and with the delightful crispy texture of feuilletine. Everyone I gave a taste of this bar had the same reaction of utter amazement, it is that good..."

Fazal Majid
"Low-intensity blog"

Tools for serious readers?

"I like Levenger, sort of. It's a source for beautiful furniture, reasonably-priced fountain pens, and dazzling (and, yes, unaffordable) watches. I'm sitting at a Levenger carrel as I'm typing.

The problem with Levenger though is its tendency to turn any human endeavor into a sham--a mere exercise in conspicuous consumption. Consider its new product line:Bookography™, an array of reading-journals and accessories.

The company slogan--"Tools for Serious Readers"--looks pretty ironic in light of Bookography™. "It's never too late--or too early," the catalogue encourages us, "to start keeping a journal of the books you've read and are planning to read, and the truths and pleasure you take from them. We've found [sic!] a new and satisfying way to do so, which we call your Bookography."

Oh, my very own Bookography™!..."

Michael Leddy
Orange Crate Art

A stronger serum

"Though I'm not very big on comic books or American action films, I've always had a soft spot for Blade, both the original comic series and Wesley Snipes' interpretation of him.

One particular line he utters in the original film that always struck a chord with me:

 

"Make me a stronger serum."

 

...Tomorrow, I'm going to get up early, put my headphones on and go jogging, rain or shine. Then I'm going to take a bath, head downtown (leaving my cellphone and powerbook at home), have a nice meal at one of my favorite joints, and write in my moleskine over a hot cappuccino, while people-watching discreetly from behind my notebook. On the way back home, I'm going to stop by the dépanneur and pick up some 'Cheval Blanc' beer, then fire up my powerbook and finish tying up all the loose ends in projects that have been lingering for far too long."

Steve's Gallery

Moleskine Repairs

"my moleskine started falling apart not to long ago. i carry it with me everywhere and used to sit in my back pocket most the time. that was until constantly sitting on it start taking it's toll.

so i've managed to piece it back together with some selotape. but i was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how you repair your moleskines..."

alienai
Discussion: moleskinerie @ FLICKR

Unmasked?

"Reading blogs does feel a bit kinky at times. There's always the tease that someone might let slip Something Revealing, that the mask we typically wear around both strangers and friends might at any moment fall off to reveal Secrets dark and hidden: an emotional wardrobe malfunction where something far more interesting than a pierced nipple might flash onto our screens, unexpected.

If we grow increasingly voyeuristic reading the blogged lives of Invisible People we've never met, how much more alluring is the thought of meeting these Mysterious Ones in the flesh. How do their real selves compare to the online personas they've crafted and we've greedily consumed? Will we at some point see the Author Unmasked, a real life Toto tugging to reveal the (hu)Man Behind the Curtain?"

Lorianne DiSabato
Hoarded Ordinaries

Photo: © 2005 LD

 

"What do you write in your reading journal?"

"If you keep a journal based on what you read, how do you do it, what do you put in it, do you use a standard format, what do your entries consist of, etc? Newly inspired by the cool reading journal in the latest Levenger catalogue, I want to start one of my own, rather than just making and losing random notes as I have always done. I am not particularly interested in **buying** a reading journal, from Levenger or anyone else, but I do want to start keeping one, either in one of my blank Moleskins or in a loose-leaf folder or something. So I'd appreciate hearing about any cool tricks or formats or whatever that you use..."

Discussion @ AskMeFi 18428
...

Update: Related question posted May 15, 2005

"I purchased a Moleskine notebook yesterday (previously discussed at length in this MeFi thread), and I have a feeling that it will be the first of many--overblown marketing aside, the design of these things really is excellent. But $11 for a pocket-size notebook is pretty expensive. Where's the cheapest place online to find them? Bulk purchasing is a possibility."

AskMefi 18740

Recent comments

"I just want to say something about why I like these things.

My whole life I've wanted to write down my experiences.  But for some reason, it's never seemed right.  Like when you look over a menu and everything seems good but you just don't feel like any of it.

There is something about this notebook that makes me want to write in it. I have a ruled pocket.  When I feel it, see it, it just makes me want to open up...

I was talking with my wife the other day about people - there are few people that I find can talk to you without maintaining a consciousness about their social position in the world vis-a-vis you -- they remain aware of and thinking about the situation and the relationship. But my real friends don't have that.  They're just there, just talking. My moleskine is like that.  It removes everything unnecessary. Ironically maybe to some, I think it's unpretentious and simple. Small, and correct for what it does."

Trevor Hill

Image: Frank Meeuwsen @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
Some rights reserved. CC

Wind Eyes

"I’m not sure I will ever discover the elixir for remaining comfortable around others for long spells. Solitude has driven and called me ever since I can remember, and I follow the siren like a star-struck lover. What I find at the end of every little excursion I take alone into roads and lanes and trails doesn’t always bring out a kick, jump, and a smile, but the hunkering down, gazing about, and absorbing that sense of lungs filled to capacity with air has happened often enough that I keep returning for more. I’m not sure if it is the pleasure that is the prime motivator for seeking out lonesome experiences, but there is something to be said for arriving wherever it is you set your mind to, no questions asked."

Wind Eyes
Laughing Knees

Is stationery that bad?

"if Microsoft expects me to turn on my Hipster PDA or my Moleskine notebooks, they are out of their mind.

I have tried every form of electronic organizer, address book, PDA, etc. and I have deleted or sold every one of them eventually. I am an old-fashioned pen and paper man when it comes to notes and jottings.

Maybe I am one of those dinosaurs that Microsoft is trying to sell to."

"The Redmond Moleskine Police"
The Newest Industry

IMAGE/LINK: stationeryisbad.com

Prompts: Jung

"The fact that many a man who goes his own way ends in ruin means nothing . . . He must obey his own law, as if it were a dæmon whispering to him of new and wonderful paths . . . There are not a few who are called awake by the summons of the voice, whereupon they are at once set apart from the others, feeling themselves confronted with a problem about which the others know nothing. In most cases it is impossible to explain to the others what has happened, for any understanding is walled off by impenetrable prejudices. "You are no different from anybody else," they will chorus, or "there's no such thing," and even if there is such a thing, it is immediately branded as "morbid" . . . He is at once set apart and isolated, as he has resolved to obey the law that commands him from within. "His own law!" everybody will cry. But he knows better: it is the law . . . The only meaningful life is a life that strives for the individual realization - absolute and unconditional - of its own particular law . . . To the extent that a man is untrue to the law of his being . . . he has failed to realize his life's meaning.

The undiscovered vein within us is a living part of the psyche; classical Chinese philosophy names this interior way "Tao", and likens it to a flow of water that moves irresistibly towards its goal. To rest in Tao means fulfillment, wholeness, one's destination reached, one's mission done; the beginning, end, and perfect realization of the meaning of existence innate in all things."

- C.G. Jung
Collected Works

[via whiskey river]

Witold Riedel: this might be the perfect day to wake up...

"The birds outside of my window had their volume settings turned all the way to 11 and it was really perfect this way. I woke up before sunrise and yet did not leave the house to see the downstairs, the street, the park, the sky outside. The light wandered over the walls of kitchen and living room and now everywhere. The food had prepared itself over night and the tea almost made room for another tin box. It is cool outside and bright. What a day."

"The walls in the apartment are slowly but surely collecting drawings. Some of them do not want to stick to the wall, which is encouragement to draw more.

The windows in all rooms are open now and I want the wind to come in and maybe take down more of the work still…

If not now, when?"

Witold Riedel
LINK

Photos: © 2005 WR

Mirecle33 Creativity Patch

"Mirecle33 (mir-i-kel) Creativity Patch: What Creatives Crave

It's totally here. Our progressive times allow you to sport a patch on your body to maintain your hormone levels, curb your appetite(s), and cover your boo-boos. Now, thanks to Dunmire Labs, there's no good reason you can't have a slow, steady stream of creativity delivered into your system through the Mirecle33 Creativity Patch.

Try the Mirecle33 Creativity Patch today and see how much it 'miraculously' improves your creative output!"

CREATIVE SLUSH

Sumerian Proverbs

"ùkur-re a-na-àm mu-un-tur-re

é-na4-kín-na gú-im-šu-rin-na-kam
túg-bir7-a-ni nu-kal-la-ge-[da]m
níg-ú-gu-dé-a-ni nu-kin-kin-d[a]m

How lowly is the poor man!
A mill (for him) (is) the edge of the oven;
His ripped garment will not be mended;
What he has lost will not be sought for! poor man how-is lowly
mill edge-oven-of
garment-ripped-his not-excellent-will be
what-lost-his not-search for-will be

 

ùkur-re ur5-ra-àm al-t[u]r-[r]e
ka-ta-kar-ra ur5-ra ab-su-su

The poor man --- by (his) debts is he brought low!
What is snatched out of his mouth must repay (his) debts. poor man debts-is thematic particle-made small mouth-from-snatch debts thematic particle-repay

 

[níg]-ge-na-da a-ba in-da-di nam-ti ì-ù-tu

Whoever has walked with truth generates life. truth-with whoever walked life generates."

Proverbs in Sumerian Cuneiform
sumerian.org

[via Plep]

How To Cut a Bamboo Pen

"Reed pens are many centuries old. They are used for Calligraphy that needs a broad-edged, flexible pen. Ward uses bamboo pens for Blackletter and other Gothic writing. The pens are about seven inches long and one half to one inch wide at the tip.

Bamboo makes an excellent reed pen. The widest pens come from bamboo which is thick outside but has a small diameter core. You can use freshly cut bamboo or let the bamboo cure for a year or more. The fresher the bamboo the more flexible the pen. Ward prefers freshly cut "black" bamboo called Phylostachys."

Updated: July 02, 2007 at 11:40 PM
[Link no longer available. Our apologies.]

Joe Gould's diary

"Gould always claimed to be working on an immense manuscript he called “An Oral History of Our Time.” It existed mostly as a figment of Gould’s feverish imagination. But 11 notebooks containing 150,000 words do exist in the Fales C0llection at New York University. Charles Hutchinson and Peter Miller described their contents in 2000.

The diary’s 1100-odd pages are first and foremost a record of baths taken, meals consumed, and dollars bummed. It’s clear that Gould’s favorite subject was himself. Other people were mere bit players in the movie of his mind, and the bustling city he lived in no more than a backdrop. Aside from a few gaps between notebooks, virtually every day is accounted for. Gould’s painstaking attention to everyday routines and mundane matters suggests that he had found the one place to impose order on a life that knew little. And there is the unexpectedly quaint touch of noting holidays and other commemorative events in the heading. The entry for August 4, 1943, begins: “Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday. Bugs got on a rampage. As a consequence I got up late.”

Dale Kieger LINK