The Perfect Notebook?

After having my computer crash on me last semester during finals week and dropping a grade in at least one class as a result, I am finally easing away from the idea of staying paperless in my PhD program. While I still love the idea and promise of digital technology – keeping notes, music, academic papers, reading materials, pictures, emails, etc. all on one small laptop, I am also learning to value paper more and more.

I am now on a quest to find the best way to take notes on paper, including finding the best notebook for the job. I’ve also been rediscovering the joy of writing and drawing in the process. There’s just something refreshing about not being constrained by the keyboard when capturing thoughts and ideas on paper. It’s been a pleasant return to an analog world…

While I typically take class notes on yellow legal pads, without a doubt, the best notebook I have ever owned is my Moleskine. These are small, high-quality notebooks with an elastic band around them to keep them held shut. Moleskine’s are extremely well made and come in two sizes with a variety of styles of paper inside (ruled, squared (graph), sketch book, etc.). I don’t know what it is, but something about them just makes you want to start writing.

I currently have a pocket-sized squared Moleskine for keeping quotes, ideas and other tidbits in, but want to get a larger one for capturing ideas, taking notes and to record key information and ideas in preparation for my prelims this summer.

Moleskine’s are great notebooks and I heartily endorse using them for just about anything. They seem to have garnered an almost cult-like following as these links suggest:

• Moleskinerie (a blog about Moleskines)
• What people have said about Moleskine
• How the Moleskine Rocked My World
• Moleskine Hacks
• More Moleskine Hacks
• 21st Century PDA

I think one blog really nails it when he says Moleskine’s are the iPods of notebooks!

P.S. -- I never knew how much my written-in Moleskine meant to me until I lost it in Moldova last summer. Thankfully, it was found and I was able to retrieve it at the US Embassy in Chisinau (long story). Good journals and notebooks definitely become treasured keepsakes and great companions on life's journeys...