moleskinerie

Orwell's Diaries

Orwell's diaries will be serialized to commemorate its 70th anniversary.

"From 9th August 2008, you will be able to gather your own impression of Orwell’s face from reading his most strongly individual piece of writing: his diaries. The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you to follow Orwell’s recuperation in Morocco, his return to the UK, and his opinions on the descent of Europe into war in real time. The diaries end in 1942, three years into the conflict..."

Learn more

[Thanks Chris!]

Giving your ideas room to grow

From the Innovation Tools blog, a nice little post reminding us to allow our concepts lots of space and to go free range....

Many creativity experts recommend carrying some system for recording ideas with you wherever you go. My tool of choice is a Moleskine notebook, which serves as my portable “idea journal.” But I just learned a new technique to get more out of it. Typically, I will record lists of related ideas in bulleted form on one page of my notebook. But according to Ed Bernacki, author of the new mini-book, I am an Idea Factory, you need to give your fledgling ideas enough room to grow. That’s why he recommends only recording one idea per page.

"When using an idea journal, give your ideas room to grow"
Read the full article.

© 2008 Innovation Tools All Rights Reserved

Image: "stuff" by Hannah Sheffield

All rights reserved          

Discussion: Of Moleskine and Pens

I admit it, I am an addict of fountain pens.  I could not help feeling the glide of tiny metal tines on smooth paper, watching the trail of gleaming ink dry on the surface, binding with cellulose and immortalizing your thoughts. It is an enormously pleasurable feeling and best of all, it unwinds my day, relieving my thoughts of
excitement, frustrations and unfulfilled aspirations.

It is like resetting my mind for the next day or the day ahead as the case may be.  Pairing with this obsession, the Moleskine is a great notebook because of its compact profile, good paper quality, practical
closure band and the useful pocket in the back cover. Excellent for travel and it does not take too much space among the things I daily bring to work.  I can pull it out and start writing as thoughts stream out of nowhere in the middle of a busy (or not so busy) day.

Call it therapeutic writing, a comfort journal, or simply a repository of musings. I know that the pair of a good fountain pen with an extra fine nib and my moleskine is a constant companion, a friend and confidant that will probably be the closest thing to a clone of my soul.

Join the discussion started by shinobi77 @ Moleskinerie/GoogleGroups

Image: "Tucky Nib" by pigpogm
 

Pen and Paper

Exquisite works on pen and paper.

LINK

[via NotCot]

Book: IdeaSPOTTING

We got a couple of queries on this book by Sam Harrison. Natasha and Henry, here it is:

Observe and Take Note

"Ideas have short shelf lives. We find them one second, forget them the next. That's why it's smart to capture ideas and insights at the scene of the crime. Book them before they flee. Take notes.

Leonardo da Vinci is arguably history's most famous note-taker. His notebooks overflowed with sketches and notes on nature, art, architecture. Thomas Edison loaded thousands of notebooks with insights and diagrams. And today's creative people are equally diligent about recording thoughts and ideas.

 

Canadian designer Bruce Mau says, "The single most necessary device for me is a notebook. I just plow through notebooks." Gail Anderson, Rolling Stone alumna and current SpotCo art director, calls herself a note-taker and language observer. "I love making notes about type I've seen on store signs or on sides of buildings," she says. Note-taking gives the creative process time to breathe, says Erin Whelan, Real Simple art director. "I love recording really out-there ideas," she says. "It's so great to start at crazy places and then reach middle-ground, smart solutions." Eva Maddox, principal of Perkins + Will, has a journal in hand when she travels, but not for writing. "I draw," she says. "I draw at least one picture in my journal each day."

Capture ideas while they last. Ideas often show up as snippets of conversation, views through windows, books on tables. They linger for a moment, then they're gone. Take verbal and visual notes.

Sam Harrison
Author of "IdeaSPOTTING" on How Design

Amazon link

"Exercise for the brain is just as important as exercise for the body. In IdeaSPOTTING, Sam Harrison stretches your mental muscles in a way you'll never forget"

- Al Ries, author of "The Origin of Brands"

[Moleskinerie.com is mentioned on page 113, "Write in the Right Notebook" To our knowledge this is the first ever mention of our website in a book. We anticipate at least one more around the beginning of next year.Thanks Sam & B. M.]

We got a couple of queries on this book by Sam Harrison. Natasha and Henry, here it is:

Observe and Take Note

"Ideas have short shelf lives. We find them one second, forget them the next. That's why it's smart to capture ideas and insights at the scene of the crime. Book them before they flee. Take notes.

Leonardo da Vinci is arguably history's most famous note-taker. His notebooks overflowed with sketches and notes on nature, art, architecture. Thomas Edison loaded thousands of notebooks with insights and diagrams. And today's creative people are equally diligent about recording thoughts and ideas.

 

Canadian designer Bruce Mau says, "The single most necessary device for me is a notebook. I just plow through notebooks." Gail Anderson, Rolling Stone alumna and current SpotCo art director, calls herself a note-taker and language observer. "I love making notes about type I've seen on store signs or on sides of buildings," she says. Note-taking gives the creative process time to breathe, says Erin Whelan, Real Simple art director. "I love recording really out-there ideas," she says. "It's so great to start at crazy places and then reach middle-ground, smart solutions." Eva Maddox, principal of Perkins + Will, has a journal in hand when she travels, but not for writing. "I draw," she says. "I draw at least one picture in my journal each day."

Capture ideas while they last. Ideas often show up as snippets of conversation, views through windows, books on tables. They linger for a moment, then they're gone. Take verbal and visual notes.

Sam Harrison
Author of "IdeaSPOTTING" on How Design

Amazon link

"Exercise for the brain is just as important as exercise for the body. In IdeaSPOTTING, Sam Harrison stretches your mental muscles in a way you'll never forget"

- Al Ries, author of "The Origin of Brands"

[Moleskinerie.com is mentioned on page 113, "Write in the Right Notebook" To our knowledge this is the first ever mention of our website in a book. We anticipate at least one more around the beginning of next year.Thanks Sam & B. M.]

World Record of Thickness

This is a repost from '06. Anybody knows if this record has been topped?

"My KM2P just before week review. I count a number of indexcard inside. There are 94 cards! It must be world record at the moment. :) "

Hawkexpress @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR 1 2

© All rights reserved. Used with permission.

This is a repost from '06. Anybody knows if this record has been topped?

"My KM2P just before week review. I count a number of indexcard inside. There are 94 cards! It must be world record at the moment. :) "

Hawkexpress @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR 1 2

© All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Moleskine notebooks and Reporting for Generation Kill

Evan Wright, author of "Generation Kill" mentions his notebook of choice in a recent post at the Penguin Blog.

From a reporting-standpoint all of this posed difficulties. My suit had only one small pocket. For all the deficiencies one encounters with the military, the shoulder pocket on Marine Corps-issue chemical protective suits is ingenious. It's a small single pocket on the upper left sleeve, just below shoulder and tilted at the ideal angle for stowing things in it with your right hand. It was just large enough to hold a single Moleskine notebook.

A Moleskine notebook comes with an elastic band woven in the cover, which can be snapped around it to keep it from opening. When I first noticed this, I thought the elastic band was useless. I quickly learned you can slip a pen into the book--leaving it at whatever page you are on--and squeeze the book shut around it. This way you always have your pen when you grab your notebook. Since the notebook is so incredibly sturdy, you can crush it around the pen on a different page each time you use it, and it will not fall apart.

All of this might seem obsessive, or like some sort of lame attempt at product-placement for the makers of Moleskine (I have received no compensation from them; nor do I own stock in the company), but if you're going into combat this becomes important.

Read the entire article.

Moleskine hack: secret compartments

After the success of his Moleskine wallet/GTD hack Michael Mordant presents the making of  ..."The Secret Compartments."

I was inspired by several other posts on similar stuff I looked at. I pulled out an old beat up Moleskine that had ideas that had all been written up for various blogs.

Being a bit of a James Bond geek too and having just watched the Quantum of Solace trailer, I went to work. Pulled out my iPod, RSA secure ID card and one of my USB drives.

I used about six glue sticks gluing together a block of pages, then put the book between two bits of cardboard and put a pile of heavy books atop that. Before the glue was completely dry I drew around the items I wanted inside the notebook and used a few X-Acto blades cutting out the compartments (oh the sacrilege!).

Learn more at Slightly Mordant

MoleskineCity is looking for a few good writers

Calling all writers!

MoleskineCity.com is looking for city contributors in the San Francisco, CA area to cover local events, stories, places of interest and other noteworthy topics for online publication in their new SF blog. Check out the various city blogs to see the kinds of submissions we're looking for.

For details contact: Anna Roe anna.roe@moleskine.com

View the First Annual Moleskinerie Exhibit.Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace,  Moleskinerie FLICKR, FACEBOOK and Meal Moles.

A list of things I use my Moleskine for

I pretty much use mine in an addicted way like a daily log/diary with lots of photos recording events in my life. I lead a busy life so pages fill pretty quickly. I average 1 Moleskine lined large notebook per 3 months or less. I put entertainment, sport event tickets I attend, photos, autographs of famous people I encounter, books I read
etc.

I also have a pocket Moleskine I enter memorable astronomical viewings, comets, eclipses, observations of the deep sky objects through telescopes of others etc.

I then have another pocket Moleskine on the go to record information I may refer later. Quotes or good lines I hear or read I may use in my conversations.

Then of course i have my reliable Moleskine Agenda. This year i used the Red one with the flexible red note book and phone book 3 in 1. I found it great but little too bulky for the front shirt pocket so for 2009 I got the Black agenda with phone book, little thinner.

I also have and love my New York City Book. I've been to new York 9 times last year. It has been an unseparable companion. It is functional and very cool. I wish though you could buy the clear acetate self sticky sheets you put over the maps separately. Once you run out of them that's it. You then start writing on the actual maps and it eventually creates a mess.

The manufacturer also listened to my only complaint that was the very light and hard to read type face on the agendas. 2009 they have corrected this problem and now the dates are very easy to read.

Be well my Moleskine addict friends.
Clear Skies and Good Writing Always

Fred "bookworm"

Join the discussion at Moleskinerie/GoogleGroups