MOLESKINE: EVOLUTION...

Part the Second

I know...

I know I've already written about Moleskines, but don't worry. I'll try not to be repetitive. You see, I've used the Moleskine for over one year now, and so feel compelled to expand on how my use of these little gems has evolved. And besides, I'm sure not everyone uses Moleskines in the same way...

First, I've restricted my usage to the 3.5" x 5.5" Moleskine. It is the most compact, and therefore, the easiest to carry around. There are larger ones out there. I don't think I'll ever try these. I just don't want to carry more than I have to. The very first Moleskines I bought were kind of an "oops". I bought the sketchbooks (I think 4 of them) because they were the only ones I saw. As you may assume, the paper in the sketchbooks is more for drawing and art as opposed to writing. Nonetheless, I have since filled two of these sketchbooks with writing. I attempted a few sketches, but... ICK... It was horrible... I do not believe I will ever draw or sketch again...

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The Grid
There is a Moleskine where the paper has a grid: the Squared Notebook. I experimented with this notebook by trying to turn it into a sketch book. But I cheated. For example, I wanted to "draw" a picture of my old Sentra. So, I took a picture of it, downloaded the picture to my computer, then superimposed a grid onto the picture, thus, making it easier for me to draw the car. As much as I enjoyed doing this, it still took a lot of time and required me to be at a computer. I did a few of these drawings and liked how they came out, but the effort and time involved... Ah well... Perhaps I'll give it a shot again someday, but for now, I cannot allocate any time to such endeavors. A pity...

I did find another use for the Squared Notebook. I have turned it into my checkbook register. And I like it much better than the pre-printed registers that come with personal checks.

The Plain
There is the Plain Notebook. Just a bunch of blank pages. I have several of these but haven't used them yet.

The Ruled
I believe this is my favorite Moleskine: the Ruled Notebook. This one has the lines that I'm so used to when I'm writing. Some might argue that the lines are "restrictive". Perhaps, but maybe I need those restrictions. I like the lines. Without lines, my writing tends to go all over the place. My penmanship is bad enough as it is. I hate when I've written something down and then have trouble reading it later. The lines are good for me. At least I can have my writing on straight lines. [I WILL make use of the Plain Notebooks, but I suspect I will be sticking with the Ruled Notebook once I've used all the Plains.]

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Aside from thoughts and observations, I wanted to be able to refer to something where I'd written just daily activities (eg work, movies seen, errands ran, etc). I remember TofU showing me a little pocket calender over the Holidays of 2004. I liked the idea and bought one for the 2005 year. Unfortunately, its usage fell to the wayside as I found it sometimes too small to accomodate my daily activities, especially if it was a busy day. Then, I ran across Moleskine's version of the daily diary. I tried it out, but found it just a tad thicker (and heavier) than I prefer. Also, it seemed a gross waste of space. Each page was dedicated to a day of the year. A lot of the time, I didn't need all that space. On average, perhaps 3-6 lines. Thus, there was a lot of unused space per page. So... the Moleskine Daily Diary also went by the wayside.

My quandry, then: the little pocket calender did not have enough space, and the daily diary had too much space.

Now it is 2006. How has my Moleskine usage evolved?

I am actively using 3 separate Moleskines.

Moleskine #1: For daily events only. No deep thoughts, no ScregMan soapbox ravings, no moments of clarity... just daily events (eg went to work..., saw this movie... ate here... went shopping... etc). Even if I had a boring, uneventful day, I must write something for every day of the year. And at least I'm not restricted and there is no page space wasted. So far I'm doing okay. My fear is letting a few days slip by and then trying to recall what happened. Hasn't happened yet, though...

Moleskine #2: For my deeper, more indepth thoughts, rants, and raves. Usually write in this one in restaurants or movie theatres or in my car. The inner pocket also serves well as a temporary wallet. If I was too lazy to bring a lunch from home, I usually end up going to one of the fast-food places near my office. Instead of carrying my full-on "Scregie Bag", I'll throw some cash, my ID, and one credit card into the inner pocket of my Moleskine.

Moleskine #3: The Squared Notebook as my official check register. Depending on the number of transactions, I may be able to fit several years into one book.

Ironically, the frequency of me writing in my Moleskine has dropped (slightly) as a result of joining the blogging community. Nonetheless, my Moleskines are always with me.