Trains, pens and planners

Return to watercolour

2011-11-14T23:32:00.001Z

It's been about ten years since I painted anything in watercolour. I feel like I've just been too busy for it. It is a wonderful pastime where you can totally lose yourself in the paint for a while but you need to have time to spend. Another reason I remember for stopping painting was my frustration at not being able to draw. Ten years on I still can't draw and I think I now know its not essential for painting.
So tonight in my Travelodge armed with a small Windsor and Newton field kit and a size 12 ProArte connoisseur brush I finally put brush to paper again.
Things I remember about my issues are, amongst other things, I have trouble relaxing and painting freely, I have trouble leaving white in the painting and I need to remember to let certain areas dry before going any further. I did two watercolour sketches just to get back in the saddle. Plenty to improve on but if I don't actually apply paint to paper I'll never get better. More importantly I enjoyed it.

Mark's Original Notebook Calendar

2011-06-13T19:02:00.001+01:00

This was a present from a friend, although in fairness I had waved it under her nose in the shop and repeated 'I'd like this for Christmas please' several times. I figure subtlety is overrated sometimes. Mark's produces some other gems such as the le + zippe pochette essentialle which I just happen to have an A6 version of. However back to the schedule.

It, as the cover suggests, is a month on one page. Now the boxes of course are not huge and so it cant be used to write in a lot of detail about many appointments. That being said i have managed to put enough detail in for my purposes. As I may have mentioned before I work from more than one base and keeping track of where I am going to be not only keeps me sane but helps me plan my future appointments. Obviously I wont show you my appointment detail but I do like a bit of colour coding.....

There is a space at the top for each month where I guess you could put in your goals for the month or some wise words of wisdom or perhaps some vital must-do items. The other neat feature is the the back of each month page is lined so that you can lay the whole calendar flat and write notes or tasks alongside each month.

The paper is more like card which I love. I often write diary entries in pencil for obvious reasons but it also happily takes a rollerball or gelpen. It is a very thin and easily carried calendar that I have found really useful so far. it isn't my main appointment diary but more my planner to help me keep tabs on where I am meant to be and assess how my month ahead is shaping up.
This was purchased in Paper Tiger, a wonderful shop on Lothian Road in Edinburgh. I haven't come across it on any of my usual online shops although the lovely Papernation do have some other items from the Mark's range.

Midori D-CLIPS

2011-06-11T15:01:00.001+01:00

I picked these up from the journal shop. Paper clips shaped like mopeds. Every desk needs them. They are ridiculously expensive at £5.50 for 30 but do come in a cute Orange dispenser. You can also pick up ducks, cars, rabbits, penguins, pigs, elephants and many more shapes. Readers in the USA can get them from Jetpens for $6.73

Sicura Large Journal

2011-06-07T20:54:00.000+01:00

I bought this notebook in TK Maxx as it was £5 and I was slightly intrigued by this Moleskinalike. Quite by surprise it has turned out to be one of my favourite notebooks so far.

It is the same size as a large Moleskine but has a slightly more textured cover. This one has a black cover and lined pages. I think there were also ones with a white cover and plain pages. The pages themselves are a bit more interesting than the usual lined pages because they have a space at the top to record some title details including date and location for the notes you are taking.

The paper itself is thicker than Moleskine paper and in my opinion better. I use this notebook for work notes and generally write with a ballpoint pen or a liquid ink pen such as the Pilot V5 Hi-Techpoint. Both these pens work great on it. I have used a Lamy Safari on it also which seems to work fine. I don't tend to use a fountain pen for every day notes so it isn't a problem for me.

Of course the interesting thing for me is where are these notebooks sold? Usually TK Maxx come up with a few odds and ends from the USA and the information on the back of the label suggests these are no exception. It says Argento SC by Sikura Inc New York, New York.

I bought this just before Christmas in 2010 and have used it all of 2011 so far. I came across some small notebooks of the same brand in TK Maxx today so had to purchase them too. I shall pop them up on the blog at a later date. Of course the disappointing thing is that I would buy this notebook again however it is unlikely I shall come across it again. I have, however purchased a Leuchtturm as a replacement when I need it. I shall include that in a later blog also though I fear the paper is too thin for my liking.

Small Things 27 July 2010

2010-08-01T21:00:00.000+01:00

Okay it's taken me a few days but here are the small things I saw on Tuesday that I liked

I had to step over this little snail on my way to the station and then walked back to take a photo. I must've looked odd crouched down in my suit snapping a shot of a snail.

I was at the station waiting on my train when this industrial train swept past. Good to see the railway being used for transportation of more than just people.

And walking back home on the same road I'd walked down hours before I spotted this large mushroom in someone's garden. I do love mushrooms and the weather seems to have encouraged them at the moment.

So it was just another rat race of a day and yet in amongst those days if we look hard enough are good things. Small things that make us smile or make us think.

The Small Things:Pencil Shavings

2010-07-27T21:19:00.001+01:00

It struck me as a bit of a coincidence that @derwentpencils has been tweeting about pencil shavings today. Not only did they link to this unusual piece of jewellery

http://www.thisnext.com/item/C89CA1E1/Victoria-Mason-Pencil-Shaving

But they started a competition to send in a picture of the longest pencil shaving you could do

Why was this spooky? Simply because I had been sharpening a pencil this morning. Not that unusual you may be thinking, but it is for me. I almost exclusively use mechanical pencils because I like a sharp point. But a combination of factors had come together. Well two. I had come across a Tintin pencil sharpener while tidying my study and the first pencil my hand came across this morning was a freebie Field Notes pencil, which of course needed sharpened before I could use it.

It was at this point I realised what a pleasure sharpening a pencil was. I had forgotten the physical feeling of turning the pencil, the noise, the swirl of shaved wood. Now this doesn't mean I shall give up on mechanical pencils to start a pencil sharpening frenzy in my life. It does make me think a bit more about the simple things in life. The things that we don't take time to think about or if we notice them don't capture the feeling. It's probably impossible to pay attention to the small things all the time but perhaps choosing a day to consciously notice the small things would be enriching, in a small way. I must try that.
I took some photos today of the simple things I came across that pleased me and shall post them tomorrow

Travel Journal by K Two Products

2010-04-10T17:35:00.000+01:00

At Christmas i was lucky enough to get two stationery themed presents. A travel Journal and Travel clippigs file, both made by K Two Products. I now know the items came from my friends (Twitter ones, not real ones) at The Paperie who always provide great service.
I shall look at the Travel Journal first. I've now started using this as camping season has begun and I like to record my travels throughout the year so that we can look back and enjoy on dark Winter nights. I dont exclusively record VW van trips though. We've recently found out that many hotels now allow dogs which allows us trips away with the 'old dears' who arent going camping anywhere.
The journal itself is pocket sized, bigger than a Moleskine pocket though (A6 size) with a smooth cover that looks like it might resist a splash of rain or spilled wine, whichever is more common on your travels.

The picture on the cover looks like an old fashioned rail advertising poster and looks like the Swiss Alps or somewhere like that. The impression certainly is of travel abroad and adventure. We can get plenty of that at home in a Vdub thank you!
I've usually used larger journals for travel and may still use a separate one for a long trip. For example we plan to go to Europe in the van againe this year and that would probably warrant a journal all of it's own - good excuse to buy another one. The journal is kept shut by an elastic band (like one to hold your hair back). It's fastened on the back cover and fits lengthwise round the journal.

So what's inside the Travel Notes book then? Well there are 3 lined pages with a space for date and location at the top and every fourth page is plain for drawings, sticking in photographs, mementos or similar. It's the same 'loop the loop, Air Crash Investigations' style plane on these pages. There is also a section at the back for contacts, where I guess you could put either details of those you want to send cards and emails to on your trip or of the places you intend to stay or visit on your trip, or both of course.

Again this might be more useful on a longer trip than the short weekends that I intend to be recording but I may pop in the details of were we've stayed at some point.After the contacts section is one that is lined and headed notes. You could put anything you liked in that section. The pictures dont quite show it properly but the journal section is cream/buff coloured paper, the contacts section is pink coloured paper and the notes section is blue coloured paper. The paper itself is smooth and quite thick. I'm not sure of the weight but it's bordering on thin card I would say. I've only written on it in ballpoint but I think it would stand up to most types of pen without bleeding or showing through to the other side.

What I've decided to do with the plain pages is use a Polaroid Pogo printer for photographs. This is a small printer that prints 2"x3" photos that have a sticky backing so you can stick them straight into the journal. The printer is pocket sized too so you can use it on your travels. You can Bluetooth prints from your phone or use Pictbridge technology and connect your camera to it. The print paper comes in packets of 10 and you can buy 30 or 70 at a time. Yes it's not the cheapest way to print anything but it is fun. The quality of the prints depends on what you've taken the picture with (perhaps not surprisingly). The prints from my Nikon Coolpix S6 are miles better than the ones from my phone but it all adds to the effect of recording the trip as you go along.

Finally the notebook has the now, almost obligatory pocket at the back. It's really just a small pocket that you can slip receipts or small cards into but still handy enough. I like this Travel Notes journal. It's small enough to pop in your bag but large enough to stick in photos and write in comfortably. I'm not sure however if it will last the whole season. We shall see...

Tracking Weight with Field Notes

2010-04-03T17:12:00.002+01:00

I thought I would share one of my uses for a notebook for a change rather than a simple review of the notebook. Many uses are work related and it's not always possible to put those on a blog but tracking my weight is totally personal. Maybe the sort of thing I shouldn't share on a blog but here goes.
One of the key elements of trying to maintain a healthy weight is keeping track of what you eat. I find myself falling into a hybernation state every Winter and filling up with food, then having to retrain my habits in the Spring. This year is no exception. So if I am going to cut down food intake I may as well combine it with something I like doing-writing in a notebook.

I have been using the Field Notes Summer color edition. The green one in other words. The grid lends itself to recording information I feel and I have been pretty good at keeping up the daily food record. If not so good at recording exercise, mainly because I am very good at eating every day but often miss out exercise!
It pays not to kid yourself on and be as honest as possible when recording what you eat and until you count calories it can be a real surprise what a difference small changes can make. Changing from pouring olive oil in a pan to using spray oil, not spreading on loads of butter, not eating ready meals!!!
So I have been progressing and these photos were taken a few weeks ago.

I know it looks kind of innaccurate but I do count my checks carefully! I use Scottish Slimmers which uses 1 check to represent 25kcal. I guess it just makes counting easier and of course how many checks you can have depends on your weight. I dont have too much to lose and I'm not massively overweight but I still find it hard going sometimes.

As a motivation I draw a graph of my weight loss - well the Field Notes does have graph paper, seems a shame not to use it! It is now the beginning of April and I have now lost a stone, so the graph looks rather good. I'm now 9st10lbs. I may try to get to 9st7lbs but I wont lose sleep over it and I've just had a weeks holiday and another one coming up, and while I try not to go mad I dont want to get totally hung up on food either so I will eat more than usual if I want to. There are a few non weight loss weeks along the way and the trick is to expect them and not let that distract you from your journey. I now only have two pages left in my notebook and will probably try to keep recording what I eat to try to keep things stable. Camping season is ahead and I tend to have a couple of beers and BBQ at weekends so need to keep on the right track during the week. However hopefully I shall also do a bit more exercise too which should get my metabolism going....

So now the dilemma is do I use another green Field Notes or one of my new sunshine yellow ones that I have just bought? Oh it's difficult but the yellow cover is fabulous. I think I know the answer.....

Notebook Have a Look - teNeues CoolNotes

2010-02-06T19:26:00.000Z

I decided to buy one of these notebooks while on Twitter. Papernation, the Bristol based stationery store and tweeterpal had linked to these new notebooks. I immediately loved the look of them, particularly the notebooks with contrasting ribbon and inside cover colours. They come in a range of colours and some, like the one I purchased have patterned inside covers. This one is argyle pattern but they have stripes and also plain colours inside. I'd had a couple of glasses of wine, so instead of my usual looking at notebooks again and again for weeks and months (because I do not need a notebook), I bought this straight away. I purchased the pocket size which is priced at £5.99 and is 9cm x 13cm. For non Europeans that's about 31/2 x 5 inches. As you can see by the picture with the CoolNotes placed on top of a pocket Moleskine, it is a bit shorter. You can feel this difference when you hold the notebook in your hand and I really quite like the size. I imagine it might feel a bit too small for a large handed man but for a short fingered female like me it is fine. Still on the size topic, the down side for some might be that a 3"x5" index card will not fit in the back pocket of the notebook.There are 192 pages. I dont know the exact weight of paper but feels 80 or 90gms. Smooth and cream in colour. I haven't written in it yet but looks like it might handle better than dread Molseskine paper. What is unusual is that the left hand page is plain and the right hand page is lined. If you click on the picture of the pages I hope that you can just see this. The lines are actually made up of dots so they are not intrusive. I'm not sure what I needed one plain page and one lined page for but i knew I did need this combo. Unquestionable need for it. Papernation have a link from their blog to this notebook where they use it as a business card holder. I didnt immediately get it till I had the notebook in my hand. Paste the business card in the blank page and write some details on the lined page. It makes perfect sense. You could do similar when travelling and pick up hotel/accomodation /restaraunt business cards and paste them in with a brief review or some notes about each place.

So as usual i haven't quite decided how to use this. I could just use it for notes and not let the plain/lined combo limit me. After all it might be good to have sometimes but I can write in a straight line on plain paper too so shouldn't stop me using it.

The notebooks also come in A5 size which is a size I really like for work so who knows I might try that once my Woodstock Moleskine is finished. They are £8.99 so certainly a cheaper option than a large Moleskine. Postage from Papernation is £3.95 which i fieel is a bit steep but this is automatically reduced to £2.50 for low weight items. The notebook arrived in superb time, I ordered on a weekend it arrived on the Tuesday I think. Couldn't be happier with their service and because they do engage on Twitter properly, not just like some companies who appear to advertise and then vanish, you feel that you know who you're dealing with. I think there's a few of you out there who would like these aptly named CoolNotes.

January Creative Challenges

2010-02-06T18:32:00.002Z

Thanks to a link from Twitter pal diysara I came across this site: Daisy Yellow. It is a site full of creations and creative ideas. One of the regular blog entries sets monthly creative challenges. I liked this idea because we all need something to aim for or a bit of motivation or just a reason to take 15 minutes for ourselves. All the challenges are attainable and you can pick as few or as many as you like.
I chose to try these challenges

Read a book just for you
Alter a recipe you frequently make
Write down a quote and share it with a friend

How did I do? Well I've started to read a book. The Modern History of great Britain by Andrew Marr. I dont know much about politics or the things that have shaped our country and Andrew Marr is a good storyteller. The trouble is it's quite a big book and so I'm often put off carrying it to work on the train. So that has held me back. Lesson learned: choose smaller books.

This month I have been trying out a few new recipes and playing about with some I've used for a while so I wont bore you with these but I have been sometimes pleased, sometimes disappointed with my efforts. I haven't had to throw anything straight in the bin though, so I count that as a success.

The quote I chose to share came about because I bought a self inking stamp for £2.99 in LIDL. You can make your own words and phrases from letters provided in the pack. I chose
'All those who wander are not lost' Words from JRR Tolkein. I popped the letters into the stamp to make this phrase. It took a couple of attempts because I'm not so good at spelling backwards and mistook Q for O on account of my fortysomething eyesight. I stamped it on a card and drew a wee tree beside it. Well my friend loved it. It does suit her as you might think she is a bit lost but she does love to wander. She's now added it to her signatures on the forums she uses. I've been amazed at how pleased I was about the success of something so simple. I've picked February's challemges but it's a short month so I'd better get a push on it.
Thanks Daisy Yellow....

Groundhog day

2010-02-02T21:17:00.001Z

I feel I cant let Groundhog Day go by without comment. Mainly because the film of the same name is one of my favourites. Odd perhaps to watch a film about reliving the same day over and over again, over and over again. Yet I have. And of course while the tradition relates to whether or not Punxsatawny Phil sees his shadow or not and then whether there are 6 more weeks of winter or an early spring the film has influenced our view of the whole thing.

I have to admit to not being greatly optimistic about an early spring as the snow fell this morning in Glasgow. I'm hopeful I wont relive the same day over and over again. Not that it was that bad but it certainly wasn't that good. But perhaps we should always try to do something different every day. No matter how small the difference. It's too easy to get into a rut and forget to enjoy life. What did I do different today? I chased my daft dog round the house while it ran about with a toy, always ten steps ahead. I did say it didn't have to be a big difference.

Review - Quo Vadis IB Traveler

2010-01-17T15:31:00.000Z

Just before Christmas I received this Quo Vadis IB traveler from Karen at Exaclair (thank you once again-what does the IB stand for?). In 2009 I used a Moleskine Pocket Monthly and was pleasantly susprised by how much I used it and enjoyed using it. I wrote a couple of blog entries on the topic. So I have to admit to being a bit nervous about changing my planner again. The diary is a week on two pages and while I would say it is handbag size it's not really pocket sized. At 9cm x 17cm it's just too long for most pockets. Perhaps a gent's inside pocket? In fact it does remind me of the diaries my father used to use when he worked but inside there is room for a bit more detail than he had. That perhaps initially coloured my response in that these days if it isn't Moleskine pocket sized it isn't cool enough, however I think I'm over that.
The appointment section is on the left hand side of the diary and has Monday to Saturday listed. There is time slots and I've certainly found enough space for my appointments and venues to fit in. I rarely have appointments less than 2 hours though and that helps. I do have to be in different places on different days so in order to plan my week I like to see the week ahead and even the month in one view. The month view in this is not as good as Moleskine but then that was the whole point of a monthly view diary. I am able to colour code the days in the month view so that I know what area I will be in which may prove enough for me.
The right hand page has sections for Week's Priority, Phone, Fax/Email, See-Do, Notes and Sunday is there too. In the past I've liked putting date specific actions in my diary but couldn't really do this with the Moleskine montly but can with the traveler. The paper is pure white (not all my pictures show the true colour) and is 64g. You can imagine that it wont cope with some pens and there will be some show through but I only use pencil in my diary so that doesn't bother me at all. I assume that heavier paper would result in a thicker diary and as this is aimed at being small and portable there has to be some compromise. I do find the places for notes, to do etc opposite each week quite useful so far. Obviously you're always going to have occasions where you have a longer to phone list than space allows but I would just use the right hand page less rigidly I think. It also comes with a removable address/phone book but I just removed that as I keep all my numbers in my phone. Handy to write your contacts out once and take them with you to the next year's diary though. It also has maps in it. Now I know it's called the traveller but I cant really see any use for these maps. The scale just shows you nothing and so if you needed these maps I'd question whether you should be travelling in the first place....

So overall I'm quite pleased with the IB traveler and although I'm still getting used to it I think I shall be happy to use it throughout the year. I'll post again towards the end of the year to let you know how I'm getting on with it.

Sweeties

2010-01-15T19:00:00.000Z

Sweets are what Britain does best. Without a doubt. One of the presents I was given at the New Year's table (yes we get presents!) this year was a box of mint Poppets (not expensive presents). I'm not so mad on mint sweets that I would buy them but all 174 calories went down well....

This was done, once again with Berol Fine Felt tip pens. They are inexpensive and work well for me.

Please don't sue me...

2010-01-12T19:00:00.000Z

Today's sketch is simply a word. Flickr. Well actually it's not really a word is it? There's a vowel missing at best. Anyway, this is drawn with pencil then Berol Fine Felt tip pens. I was a bit impatient to rub out the pencil lines and caused a smudge, so I just decided it might look better with an 'all over smudge' The colurs aren't accurate and I await Flickr's lawyer's email telling me to remove the drawing....

Quo Vadis Habana Journal

2010-01-11T20:08:00.000Z

Back on the 24th November I gave my first impressions of the Quo Vadis Habana notebook kindly given to me by Karen at Exaclair. At the time I said it seemed to good to write in and it has continued to be a problem. The answer was the Field Notes Giveaway that has just finished where I asked for people to send in quotes with the winner getting the quote written on the first page. A good way to get me started. So having picked the winner yesterday I wrote the quote in today and thought you might like to see it. I wrote it with a Lamy Safari and hopefully if you click on the photo you will see in detail just how lovely Clairefontaine paper is to write on. It is so smooth and holds the ink brilliantly. There is no show through on the other side. I tried taking a picture but there was nothing for the camera to focus on!

So thank you all for your quotes, thank you Jocelyn for the Mark Twain quote (Field Notes notebook is in an envelope ready to go) and thank you Quo Vadis for the gorgeous notebook. I shall now strut about with my notebook in my bag, bring it out in cafes and on the train and be so full of my own self importance that even Scotrail's service wont grind me down.

Field Notes Giveaway Winner!!!!!!

2010-01-10T15:39:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone who took the time to come by and leave a quote. I didnt even have to invent people to make comments! This was much harder than just picking a number at random but more interesting too. I found all the quotes worthwhile reading and they may inspire me to get out my calligraphy pens and use the ones sent in for a wee series of blog entries.
However the quote that I will write in my new Quo Vadis Habana notebook is from Jocelyn who gave me the quote..
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

It is a quote that just clicks for me. I'm prone to being careful, to not dreaming wildly or exploring. And of course I mean all this, as I guess Mark Twain also meant, not about travelling but in everything we do.
So Jocelyn a Field Notes notebook will be sent to you once I know where to send it. As I see you have an email address on your profile I'll email directly for you to reply to me but alternatively you can DM me (Superpooky) on Twitter if you'd prefer by 12th. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who took the time to comment, I'm keeping all the quotes!

Pen purchase

2010-01-08T21:44:00.000Z

I bought a couple of new pens today so that I can go sketch mad....
The Uni Pin 0.5 Fine Line in black which has water and fade proof pigment ink. A very stylish drawing pen. I then decided to use it to draw my other purchase, a Zig Artist Sketching Pen in Sepia. Dont know why I'm taking such a notion for sepia pens just now. I'm looking forward to using them both some more.

New Year, New Creations

2010-01-07T19:00:00.001Z

So far I've been quite focussed on stationery but I keep saying to myself that this year I shall be more creative, return to watercolour painting do more photography. I improved a bit last year but hopefully I can do more in 2010. So far the best thing I've come across to help me is the blog Daisy Yellow that sets challenges for each month and recognises creativeness in it's broadest sense. Perfect for me as I'm not greatly talented in any creative area but like to play about a bit! I also must thank diysara for providing the link to this site on her Twitter.

So as a result of this I made soup using a different ingredient to normal (I hadn't thought of soup making as being creative) and did a wee sketch while waiting on the soup to be ready. I can't let you taste the soup but you can see the sketch. I used a Pilot V5 Hi-techpoint and (forgetting the ink wasn't permanent) I then used Daler Rowney watersoluble Artist's Pencils and a Pentel waterbrush to add some colour. Because this made the black ink run I kind of wished I'd used Berol Felt Tip pens to add colour but I do like my Oxo cube. So all in all a very creative lunch break. I may add the odd sketch in if i keep this up. I hope I do as I enjoyed doing it and realised the end result isn't going up on the wall so it's okay no matter what it turns out like.

Rhodia Stapled Notepad Pimped

2010-01-06T20:48:00.000Z

I was recently inspired by the blog Drawing with a Squirrel to pop a bit of a sketch on my No13 Rhodia stapled notepad. Now clearly I'm not that great at drawing so incase you can't work it out it's a picture of a VW T25 campervan. You'll see if you ever pop onto my FlickR account that VDubs feature strongly in my life. Well more so the camping aspect, where you can get away from it all in comfort, and have the added excitement of never quite knowing if you'll make it to your destination! So here is my 'Pimp My Write' version of Rhodia art...

Field Notes Giveaway.

2009-12-28T10:24:00.001Z

Well I've decided to try doing my first giveaway. I guess that there is a high chance of winning seeing as not many folk will read this but that is a positive for you guys! The giveaway is the Field Notes notebook in the picture (pen not included-I love that too much!). I purchased the Below Zero winter colors pack of the Field Notes notebooks and have decided that having all three is just greed. As you can see I have also modified it slightly with a lovely silver snowflake which I thought matched the below zero theme, the wintery weather we are having and the silver writing on the outside and inside of the cover. So that makes it unique! What I'd like you to do for this gorgeous little notebook is leave a comment that includes a quote that I can put on the first page of my Quo Vadis Habana notebook (kindlt sent to me by Karen from Exaclair. As this notebook is so lovely I'm having trouble starting to write in it so this will help me. The person who provides the quote that I choose to put in my first page will get the notebook. I'll post it to anywhere but the quote rally needs to be in English. I shall decide which quote I choose from those submitted by midnight GMT on 9th January. Hopefully someone will respond or I'll have to make up some quotes myself!!!! I'll post the winner on the 10th and they will then have to contact me by the 12th to claim their prize otherwise it will pass to someone else.

Good luck.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2009-12-28T08:40:00.001Z

Now that I have time for breath I'd just like to wish everyone a happy holiday season and all the best for the coming year. In terms of my blog work really did get in the way and I became a virtual internet recluse between April and September. I've now found some equilibrium again and hope to do more again next year. If I can manage to be a bit more creative also I shall share that rather than putting on some rushed thoughts on my latest notebook. Not that I'll stop talking about notebooks. I received some lovely items from Santa that I'm bound to talk about.

I have included a couple of photos of my Christmas decorations. Our back garden is actually set up as a beach but looks great as a Winter Wonderland. Looking out on that on a dark morning always makes me smile.

Looking forward to 2010

Good wishes to everyone

Superpooky

Field Notes Winter Colours

2009-12-03T17:47:00.006Z

Here is the neat little package I received through the door from Field Notes the other week there. I had thought I'd been a bit rash ordering the Winter colours. After all I'd ordered them direct from Field notes and paid international postage to get them here even though the excellent The Paperie had them soon after. However what you dont get is the selection of extras if you order from elsewhere. And while it wouldn't be a reason for ordering from the US all the time i did enjoy getting those extras through the door.

There was a Field Notes button badge which is now proudly being worn by Puxsatawny Phil who sits on my desk, this rather strange rubber band that could hold your Field Notes notebook together but in truth I'm not sure what I would use it for. I had a look on Flickr but noone there has been particulalry novel in their use of the rubber band. Also in the pack was a Field Notes pencil which is fine and a Field Notes pen.

Now the pen is the big surprise in the envelope. I picked it up, thinking what a rubbish pen and immediately felt some sort of shift to my youth when all pens were rubbish. I was really surprised by this but also by the fact that it writes really well. No ink blobs that I seem to remember being the problem with Bic ballpoints. So it hasn't actually been out of my hands since. I've written all my Christmas card addresses with it and have popped it in my bag to take with me.

I suppose I should mention the notebooks seeing as I actually paid for them! They were the gridded version in three shades of blue/grey and have a blue ink grid and silver printing on the front and inside covers. The usual quality paper to write on and they do indeed have a winter feel to them. I've had an idea to customise one and might even do my first giveaway with this idea!!! Stay tuned because I imagine I have so few readers the chances of winning the giveaway would be very high!

Of course as usual I'm not quite sure what I'll use them for but they will get used eventually.

Oxford Pocket Notebook

2009-11-29T21:50:00.004Z

I picked these pocket notebooks in Tesco the other day. They were in a pack of two for £1.20. They are branded as Popnotes and are 90mmx170mm in size and made by Oxford. Basically pocket notebooks of the cahier variety with a range of different covers obviously some aimed at women (i.e. they are pink zzzz) and some aimed at men (i.e. dark colours zzzz).

I chose these pinstripe ones as I quite liked the office style of them. They are part of the Oxford office range I think and contain their 90g white lined Optik paper (48 pages) which they say can be written on both sides without show through. It certainly isn't too bad for that. I wonder if someone can tell me however, why Oxford branded products have such a poor web presence? There is a link on the back of the notebooks http://www.my-oxford.com/ which takes you to a portal of European sites. The only UK one is for the Black and Red brand. I finally found these particular products on the German site which is way better. I guess it's the result of lots of brands owned by one unmbrella company but their products are good and marketing is so poor.

Anyway I thought they seemed great value for a good quality product so had to pop them in my trolley. They seem much better than Moleskine cahiers though not everyone likes good quality white paper... Compared with Field Notes and Doane Paper notebooks they perhaps lack the 'cool' but in terms of use I think they will hold up well.

Quo Vadis Notebook-first impressions

2009-11-24T19:50:00.005Z

I came home this evening to find a parcel all the way from the USA in my post box. How exciting! In it was a Quo Vadis Habana Notebook from Karen Doherty at Exaclair. This company is the US distributor of Clairefontaine, Rhodia and Quo Vadis. European brands of course which makes it slightly bemusing that I was sent one from the US. It's also not that easy to get access to these brands in the UK, certainly not the whole range pf products which is even more bemusing.
Karen sent me a black, 6"x9" lined Habana notebook that contains 80 pages of 90g Clairefontaine paper. I loved my visit to Cuba so I like the name already, and surprised that it's allowed in the US with a name like that! I guess it's the Hemingway connection to notebooks being used again. Incidentally i didn't bother going into Hemingway's cocktail haunt in Habana (La Floridita) but had plenty of mojitos and Cuba Libras on my travels.

So I must admit I am writing this while the initial excitement is still with me. Once I start using it I shall review properly and this is where I come to my first problem. I already feel this is too good to use! I've raised this problem before. I have no hesitation in getting stuck in to an inexpensive notebook but often have more luxurious notebooks lying unused. So it has a luxurious feel about it. The cover is leather-like and is flexible. I like this. It is perhaps in between a hard cover and soft cover Moleskine in it's flexibility. It has an elastic closure and pocket on the back inside cover. All familiar stuff. The size makes it about 3.5cm longer and 1.5cm wider than my usual A5 sized notebook and it does feel oddly long in my hands so it remains to be seen if the size will suit me.

However it is what's inside that counts (as your mother will tell you) and I have to admit up front that I love Clairefontaine paper. What's interesting is that this journal contains extra white paper and it looks to me as if the ones I can buy here in the UK contain ivory paper. Many folk prefer ivory I know but this 90g extra white paper is a favourite of mine and is contained in Clairefontaine's stapled exercise books which I use. At £1.99 for a 48 page exercise book you can see why I might use more of them than a £16 Habana journal ($20 in the USA). However this is a notebook that I wouldn't use to scrawl down my meeting notes, more likely I will use it for journal style writing. I don't keep a regular journal as such but do write down thoughts, interesting news stories, poems etc. I can imagine myself carrying it about in my Timbuk2 messenger bag (yes I still love it) and sitting in a cafe having coffee and bringing it out to write amazing pieces of prose. I've seen another blog where the white paper was described as office type paper but I don't feel that way about it.

I was also interested to see it is made in the USA but obviously uses French paper. I thought it would have been imported.

So while I haven't yet used it I already know that the paper is a joy to write on in pencil, felt tip, fountain pen and liquid ink pens because I'm familiar with the paper. Now the only thing I need to do is work up to writing something in it...after I've picked it up and looked at it and put it down and picked it up another few dozen times.

Field Notes

2009-11-21T10:10:00.000Z

I've started writing in my Field Notes notebook. I succumbed after a particularly bad journey home frm work. One of those pitch black, raining can't see a thing nights. I just clicked the Buy button at Paperie. They had the colors items in stock. I had to choose between the Green Letterpress edition and the Autumn colors. I liked them both and it was hard to choose but I couldn't justify buying them both. I plumped for the green as you can see. I liked the idea of the green colour ink for the grid. UK postage is free on this item and when it arrived I saw it cost 72p. So it was okay for £8.25 for a special edition (the standard Field Notes is £7.95 with free delivery). The service was great from the Paperie and the notebooks arrived in 2 days.

I felt that these should be used for data though I may change my mind for the other ones. So it seemed right that when as part of my mid life crisis I bought a step machine that I would use it to record my progress. I also decided to lose a bit of weight too so I am also recording my food intake. I have done Scottish Slimmers in the past and use their 25kcal=1 check counting method. So I'm recording weight, exercise and diet plus any wee snippets of inspiration. I've gone for colour with my pens too and have been using Stabilo Pen 88 minis with it. They go well on the paper with not much show throw on the other side of the page. The paper is much better than the terrible paper in Moleskine cahiers and maybe a bit smoother than Doane paper utility books but same amount of show through I'd say.

I like the way it will fit in any pocket and it's image of utility forms part of my perception of it so I'm happy to pop it in my pocket or throw it in my bag. It's not precious I guess is what I'm trying to say. I do like it a lot. So much in fact that I ordered a pack of the Winter Colors direct from Field Notes Brand in the USA. A total extravagance with $11 postage but I figure it works out about £12 rather than £8. Christmas to myself? I'm hoping that the fact that I like recording stuff in it will keep me going with the fitness regime. I have a habit of losing a bit of weight then stopping recording what I eat when I'm happy with the weight I reached and it's better to keep a food diary all the time, then it's obvious if you're eating to much too often. That sounds like I'm obsessive about my weight but I'm not. Just know it's easy to ea too much in this world.

So I think they are a winner with me. Using my Doane Paper Utility notebook too so may contrast and compare sometime soon

Revelation

2009-11-03T22:24:00.002Z

I was walking past the bookcase today when my beloved Filofax caught my eye. I've had it for a long time now. It's personal sized leather with a clasp and pen loop. It's maybe 10-15 years old I'm not entirely sure. I used it faithfully for work until 2005 then as my appointments seemed to become more complex I had turned first to a Palm and then back to analogue but not to my Filofax. I seem to remember it being reduced in WhSmith or somewhere like that.

Before this I'd used a pocket Filofax. A simple black leather one that I carried everywhere in work for notes. My diary wasn't very complex back then but I needed to be able to keep my notes safe yet discard them later.

Well imagine my surprise today when I picked it out and it wasn't a Filofax at all it was a Microfile! All this time I'd thought I as a Filofax owner and in act I've been a (I assume) cheaper imitation. I cant think when I saw a Microfile brand so I guess Filofax maintained their existence better than Microfile did. Some of the inserts inside were original microfile but most were Filofax.

Then I came across a plastic Filofax style binder with Savory and Moore priced on the front. I guess lots of companies were keen on providing filofax style binders in the late 80s and early 90s and encouraging time management activities. Sadly Savory and Moore a small pharmacy chain didnt stand the test of time either and were taken over by another company. I shall try and post photos of these items soon.

You are not alone...

2009-10-29T23:06:00.003Z

I know blogs are meant to be written on the go, sitting in airports and cafes with your laptop. Well I didn't have my laptop with me yesterday and instead I wrote this in my notebook at the time...
I'm sitting having a coffee in Borders in Glasgow. I know it's Starbucks and I would usually go to an independent coffee house but it's a monsoon outside. Torrential rain but warm and this is the closest option to spend time before my meeting. The cool thing about this is that the coffee shop bit is on a balcony and I'm overlooking the books and Paperchase. A scone, a coffee and a view of Paperchase. Not a bad way to kill half an hour. Now some folk are in for a gift or a card. something specific. Several of those walking around are clearly 'one of us'. Picking up notebooks. Opening them up, touching the paper lightly and almost tenderly. They don't need another notebook. Not really. They put it back, then pick up anther notebook the don't need, going through the same looking, opening, touching, putting back routine. It's quite quiet and a couple of staff members are tidying up the shelves, getting in the way, blocking the route to another notebook. Then I notice to my right there is a stationery section separate to Paperchase. More general supplies. I'm nearly finished my coffee and I know don't need another notebook. know it. I still have time to kill though and I'm thinking
'Have I got all the right pens. Perhaps I need some different colours..'

This is what I ended up buying....

Doane Paper Utility Notebook

2009-10-27T07:32:00.004Z

At the suggestion of Nifty from Notebook Stories we exchanged notebooks across the Atlantic. A great, fun idea so thanks Nifty. Nifty wanted the Blackwell Pocket notebook and one thing that I wanted to try but can't easily get hold of is the Doane Paper Utility Notebook so that's what I asked for. Nifty sent two, and because Doane seem to include extras in the order I also got a 5x8 writing pad.
I haven't used it much yet.I've mainly jotted notes in it in pencil. One thing I miss in the utility notebook is the red margin. Don't ask me why I just like it and I understand that it wouldn't be practical to put it on 3.5x5.5 pages, but still I miss it. So I've just started jotting things down in red pen and it looks great. I haven't been too traumatised by the red pen from school days! I shall no doubt come back to talk about the notebook again. The paper is better than it looked initially but my red liquid ink does come through the other side, however I have a red felt tip that may be better.

Inspired by the new traffic light covers I decided to brighten up the cover of one of the notebooks with some Moo stickers. I love them! Imagine taking your own photographs, making them into stickers and combine them with notebooks. Perfect. Moo have a European and a USA store so everyone can try them.

I based my choice on the traffic light colours and it does brighten up the notebook. What do you think?

Notebook Have a Look-Be Bear Notebook

2009-10-24T10:04:00.001+01:00

Most of my articles about notebooks are for ones that are fairly easily obtainable. No matter if we think some of them are luxury items you can still buy some of them at the train station along with your Irn Bru and enormous bag of crisps. This small notebook is one I picked up but cant quite remember where. It could have been in Hawkins Bazaar type shop in Glasgow or it could have been in one of the trendy shops with stationery items from Asia in Cockburn Street in Edinburgh. It's tiny really, about the length of a credit card but a but broader and it has thick cardboard covers and an ungainly white plastic spiral binding. The covers are probably thicker than the paper contents of the notebook and it all ends up a bit out of proportion. The paper in it isn't great but fine for brief notes and that is how I use it. It sits beside my computer and is where I write down all the reference numbers for online orders or telephone numbers I need that I've sourced on the net. It is useful and functional and I'm never tempted to pop it in my bag and take it away from it's home. I used to write these sorts of things down on post its but invariably someone would come along after you and remove your bit of info so that they can write something else down or take the post it off somewhere else. The thing that I really like about this wee cute notebook is the cover and the Be Bear character. I have seen a few Be Bear branded items about that are too cute for office use for me anyway) but good for use in the home. The paper quality is never great but that's not what it's about. It's about cute characters.....and it only cost about £1 so you can't go wrong.

Things to come.........

2009-10-10T16:50:00.002+01:00

Recently, after a while in notebook wilderness I have a couple of new notebooks to put up on the blog. Firstly I received two doane paper utility notebooks from Nifty at Notebook Stories as a swap for a Blackwell pocket notebook. It was a really fun thing to do, swapping notebooks that neither of us could have easily got hold of otherwise. Thanks Nifty for suggesting it.

Secondly I received a 3 pack of the green Field Notes notebooks from the Paperie. I'd had a bad day and clicked the buy button in a weak moment. They also have the lovely autumn colours but I cant justify another £9 right at the moment.
There is something better about getting a notebook that's not easily available. Much of the interest around these notebooks is company marketed but I'm a consumer and happy to fall into that trap.

However I'm writing in my doane paper notebook already and enjoying it. I do like the grid+lines concept. I have printed off their design which is available on their website and popped it into a circa notepad. I love that you can print their design off even though they are selling the products. Of course it is an idea that works as I've ended up using their utility notepad even though I could print the paper off.

So if I can take some photos of each and how I've used them I shall put them on Trains, pens and planners soon.

Moleskine Cahier Cover Design

2009-10-10T16:48:00.000+01:00

There are quite a lot of lovely design cahier notebook covers on Etsy. This is one I did myself so not good enough to sell to anyone else but I'm happy enough with it. I used stamps and embossing powder for the bear on the front and paw on the back and just a silver pen to pick out the Moleskine. This particular cahier I use for doodling but I once again need to say how dissapointing the paper is. You can really only use one side of it. I got a nicer cahier with better paper and a lovely Paisley pattern desin on the cover in The Art Store in Glasgow. Might put that on the blog at a later date. The clip that holds it closed is from Asda. Cheap and cheerful stationery from there.

Oxford Stapled Notebook from France

2009-09-28T22:15:00.001+01:00

I picked this notebook up in a supermarket in France in June. I could have gone a bit mad buying notebooks in Europe but the credit crunch had just bitten and I was being very cautious. So in the end it was the only one I bought! It's a simple stapled exercise book with glossy card cover. It's the lines that are interesting. I believe that the rench demand very precise writing practice from school kids and this I think is the traditional practice paper. The paper itself is high quality and good to write on. The lines are a bit like Doane paper but not quite. It doesn't have the small grid lines but has larger cm size boxes.
As usual I haven't decided what i'll use it for but I'm looking forward to writing in it

Blackwell Notebook Pictures

2009-09-19T21:47:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures of the Blackwell Pocket size notebook I've mentioned in a previous post. I've compared it to a Moleskine and you can see the paper isn't quite as precisely sewn in. In it's defence I have given this Blackwell notebook a fair bi of abuse in it's short life. I like to personalise my black notebooks so that I know what's in them all and I have fun using moo.com stickers. You can upload your own photos and make a book of up to 90 different square stickers. Available both sides of the pond.

Fisher Space Pen

2009-09-18T21:25:00.004+01:00

I found my Fisher Space pen again! I lose it with regular monotony which is a pain but then there is the joy of finding it again (usually but not always). I lose it because of it's smooth small bullet shape of course. It's easy to throw in your pocket or bag but then hard to find. The feel of the bullet shape the size, the clever way the lid extends the length of the pen for writing are all part of what I like about it. It is by far one of the coolest pens I've come across. It is, alongside Teflon one of the greatest achievements of the space program. And while it would seem that a pencil would have worked brilliantly without all this effort in developing gloopy ink in a pressurised cartridge, you've got to admire their invention. Not as big an invention as the story that man got to the moon, however I digress...
The thing about a Fisher Space pen is that while I always, always want to own one they dont actually write that well. My opportunities to write under water, even in Glasgow weather or upside down are minimal so I'm talking about regular on the go note taking. The ink never quite flows smoothly. there can be blobs of ink like a rubbish NHS issue biro or skips on the page and when the pen feels so right in my hands it writes so wrong...

Recently I picked up a Chartwell waterproof notebook in WHSmith for £2.49 (they have a few left now for a £1 but how many waterproof notebooks do you really need?) and I thought this would be the perfect combination for the Space pen. After all it writes under water. I tried it out and although the paper in he pad is indeed smooth and magical in the wet the space pen still performed in it's usual haphazard gloopy way.

So with this criticism of its function what would I still want one. A pen is a functional item after all. Well it really does come down to how cool it is to look at, how nice it feels and how it slips in the pocket of my trousers easily. It is a go anywhere, look good pen. And while mine is black (Henry T Ford again) the coloured ones look fabulous too. I think you can also get coloured inks so perhaps I shall splash out on them one day and give them a go.

Now where on earth did I put my Space pen............?

Is it cheaper to buy notebooks than write in them?

2009-09-05T16:46:00.001+01:00

There's a bit of a credit crunch on at the moment. I don't know if you've noticed?
So as a result I've been trying to cut back on my spending. There are several things that I spend money on that I don't really need to. I've found lunchtime when I actually get away from my desk the time tht can cost the most unnecessary expenditure.
Making sure I take my lunch items with me each day is really helping but one of my occasional lunchtime pleasures is going out to look at notebooks. As you can see I sometimes buy one. Now I have to admit I've been too busy for this pursuit lately and so that has kept me from wandering and spending but I was thinking perhaps this is cheaper than if I actually wrote in the notebooks.
Why?
Well If I wrote in the notebooks I'd have to go out at lunchtime and find a spot to sit and write. Now if you're from Scotland you'll understand, it is invariably windy, wet, cold, baltic, snowing, basically inclement. So sitting on a park bench is a once a year summer treat. The rest of the year I'd have to go into a coffee shop to write in my notebook. Average cup of coffee in local cafes is £2.50 I'd say. And I'd have to buy that everytime I went in. It's not the same as going looking at notebooks and sometimes buying one. Okay a notebook purcase could be equivalent to two or three coffee shop visits but I still think if I got into the habit of a lunchtime coffee while I filled up all my existing notebooks then that would spend more money.

So the result of this is that while I bring my lunch in with me as part of my money saving campaign i can also go and browse through the stationary departments and maybe even buy a notebook every now and then...... Result

Moleskine Colour a Month Diary

2009-08-29T21:00:00.000+01:00

I was having a lunchtime stroll in Blackwells in Edinburgh when I came across the new book per month Moleskine diary. I'd seen it online but this was he first in the flesh sighting. It has 12 pocket size books, one for every month and all in different colours. Th twelve books are held in a black hard cover, like a Moleskine with an elastic strap holding all the books together. So it resembles a very thick Moleskine but more colourful because of the spines of the monthly diaries.
So if you've had a pocket Moleskine diary you'll know what the inside looks like. There's a bt for a name and other details, map with time zones. A 6 months to two pages planner and a day to a page diary. There are times down the left hand side of the page. So what you have is a very small good looking diary but with plenty of space to write appointments and the ability to include future months appointments in the planner. Although the extra effort in transcribing even a couple of months ahead in the planner and then into the next months book may get tedious.

It really is quite a cool idea, appealing to the weaknesses of Moleskine lovers: numerous Moleskines at the one time, lovely bright colours but inside a black cover, more diary space than usual. But here's the killer, it costs £31.50! That's £2.60 a month which sounds much better. Equivalent to an overpriced coffee from a world dominating chain, if you were daft enough to buy one there. But most of us pay £5-£10 for a diary and that's the really extravagant notebook addicted amongst us. So I love it but I'm cutting back on my addiction so this is one product unlikely to make it into my pocket. This year anyway...

However if you fancy splashing out try MojoLondon

Blackwell Black Cover Pocket Notebook

2009-08-27T20:00:00.001+01:00

This is a Moleskinealike notebook. It costs half the price however and is available from Blackwells Book shop for £5. It is the same size as a pocket Moleskine but slightly thicker. I think the reason for this is that the stitch binding isn't done quite as well leading to uneven paper edges in the notebook when you look at it closed. Not that this affects the ability to write on it or close it or anything functional. The paper also feels slightly thicker than Moleskine paper. It has the customary pocket at the back, again a bit thicker because of the card used and the manufacture. It as Blackwell branded on the pocket which wont be to everyone's taste and Blackwell embossed on the back cover.
I've been using it for recording notes for a work project since April so it is full of untidy handwriting, phone numbers, action lists. I've never really kept a one topic notebook before as my work usually involves several topics all ongoing at the one time but this particular project has taken over everything else over the Summer (hence the lack of posts).
I use lots of different pens and pencils to write with, whatever is to hand. I've written in a variety of different types of ink in this notebook; rollerballs,fountain pens, felt tip, ballpoint, liquid ink (see the post on top ten pens for the most likely candidates). They all write really well on the paper. It feels like quality paper and the ink doesn't bleed. However it does seem to show through very badly on the other side of the paper. The interesting thing is that this isn't apparent immediately. I seems to occur after a few days so initially you can read everything fine and then it turns into a bit of a mess. Of course this is worse with some pens than others. Probably the fountain pen and felt tip are worst which isn't entirely surprising.
Being someone who has never been very impressed with Moleskine paper I was hoping for a cheap and yet better equivalent. This unfortunately isn't it. That said I have been very happy writing in it and it has kept a lot of quickly changing information at my fingertips.
It has also been a notebook that I've had no impulse to 'keep good'. I have had Moleskines in the past that I've struggled to write in because I felt I should be writing something of substance in them and unfortunately I have little of substance to say!
So what notebook next for me? This one is nearly finished. What I would really like is a pocket size black book with gorgeous white Clairefontaine paper but I haven't quite seen anything like that and the thickness of their paper might be problematic. The Rhodia equivalent may be worth a try but I haven't seen one in the flesh but have read that the paper s not their usual smooth white paper. If I ever get to see one I might try it. Waiting in the wings is a slightly larger Asda Executive notebook! It cost £3, has gridded paper and 3 concertina pockets at the back.

So I have used the Blackwell notebook well and while I seldom finish a notebook I will finish this one. And there lies the problem while being critical of the paper it has been the only notebook I've fully used. Perhaps I should pay attention to that and realise that more expensive, while making me feel warm and fuzzy inside, isn't what I need! These notebooks also come in dark blue and bright pink which may appeal to some who want something more than black.

Moleskine Monthly Pocket Diary 2009-Update

2009-08-25T22:13:00.001+01:00

I've come back to this product to update you on my use of it. Last year I started using this to record the meeting dates for 2009 that were appearing before my A5 2009 diary was being used. I didnt want to carry around two heavy diaries. I said at the time that I would probably stop using it when I switched to a new A5 diary but I haven't. I still use it. I can see a whole month at a time which I've now realised is very important to me. I work in different places on different days and this lets me see at glance where I am and allows me to plan things a bit more sensibly. I colour code location which is such a naff thing to do but helps me immensely. After each moth is a couple of pages for notes and I use these for a to do list for the month. Not everything goes into that but the bits and pieces that I'm liable to forget I write there. There is then a further notebook after the diary section that I just use for general notes and plans. It's not my main notebook but can be very handy particularly as the softcover pocket size is so small and light I do carry it everywhere.The downside to this is I often dont have enough space to put in meeting location and that has occasionally been troublesome. However I think if I had accepted that this would be my main diary initially I would have tried harder with locations. The other option is to buy a large one next year. It would still be light but I worry that I may not carry it everywhere in quite the same way. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well this has worked out. I still need to find consistent way of keeping my notes though!

Top Ten Pens

2009-02-23T23:01:00.004Z

I've numbered my top ten but they are not really in any particular order........

1. Cross.
I love the way Cross ballpoints write. I have 3 (dont know their model names) but I dont carry them about too often as I'm scared I lose them! Get a life I hear you say.
2. Uni Jetstream from the Mitsubishi Pencil Company.
My current favourite. Quick dry gel pen. Such a smooth writer.
3. Pilot V
A liquid ink pen. Great in black or red. Smooth and cool for notes.
4. Pentel Superb
A cheap but 'pleasure to write with' ballpoint.
5. Lamy Safari Fountain Pen.
Costs about £13 and is a good fountain pen to start with. It looks chunky but doesn't feel chunky to write with.
6. Stabilo Pen 68
We'd have called this a felt pen when we were young. Never had a felt tip as good as this though. Great colours
7. Fisher Space Pen
It has to be the bullet pen. I've never had to write under water or upside down and the bullet shape is so small and aerodynamic I keep losing them but the coolest pen ever.
8. Berol Notewriter.
Blue barrel. Kind of felt tip pen. I have a set of Underground pens where each colour pen is an underground line and these seem simlar to the notewriter. Lasts fo what feels like forever.
9. Stabilo Point 88 mini
A great fineliner but smaller.
10. Berol Rollerwriter.
Yellow barrel. The first pen I truly loved having. My brother bought me it. I was at school and he was at University so of course it was cool. Used them for years. Think they might not be made anymore. I haven't seen them for ages.

Travel Journal-Paperchase Wire bound

2009-02-12T21:00:00.000Z

This travel journal comes from Paperchase. It's spiral bound with several sections, some lined paper, some plain paper. It also has some see through pockets and paper pockets for putting in mementos. It's quite bulky because although it's A5 size the wire binding is quite large. Still it was thrown into my rucksack and happily carted round Cuba on buses and taxis.
The paper copes best with a ballpoint (Pentel Superb my favourite) and a fibre tip type pen like a Berol Notewriter.
What I like about it is that it isn't too perfect. It's not one of those very special notebooks that I'm frightened to write in. I was happy to write about our experiences (and in Cuba everything is an experience!) draw pictures in it and it was good to have places to slip in cards from the casas we stayed in and other pieces of memorabilia. I have used a smaller A6 version for a trip to Austin, Texas to record some highlights. Because of its size highlights, addresses, quick reviews, travel details are what it's good for.
Now Cuba? That's a whole blog to itself......... Fantastic lace, fantastic people. Book a flight now. Go now. Enjoy before it changes into a horrible American theme park in a few years...

Timbuk 2 Messenger Bag Review

2009-01-28T14:08:00.000Z

Okay just to make it clear right up front. I love this bag! I am a bit of an obsessive rucksack/bag buyer (not handbags though!). I look at rucksacks wherever I see them. Examine the outside, does it look cool? What outside pockets are there. Where will I put my pens, my notebooks, my purse, keys. How will my papers fit into it? I have several that I use depending on the purpose. I have a couple of leather bags also. One trendy brown Italian messenger bag which I also like a lot and a small Italian handmade brief case. North Face, Jansport, Ducati rucksacks are regular bags that I use. So I do like good gear.

I had come across these bags on the internet about a year ago but they were not readily available in the UK, though I notice there are more on the internet in the UK now. Timbuk2 hail from San Francisco and they allow you to design your bag. The three panel front seems to be their trademark. This was certainly not designed by me, but 'off the peg'. I bought it in REI in Austin during their June sale. I had one on my list of 2 dollar to the pound bargains I wanted to take advantage of. How far away $2 to £1 seems now yet it was only 7 months ago. I was originally interested in an extra small black messenger bag. I'm with Henry Ford. Why have a bag with 3 coloured panels when you could have em all black! Anyway had that in my hand when I saw the one pictured. It was the small but reduced to $35. When I looked at the extra small at $60 and the small at $35 I really had no decision to make....Perhaps the pink and purple doesn't suit the macho bikers. I'm not a pink kind of girl but the purple adds a feeling that's not too girly for me.

And I'm happy with the size. It is large enough to hold A4 papers and notebooks. My average load might be some A4 papers, an A5 notebook, my Asus eee pc, my wallet, keys, iPod, too many pens and pencils, maybe a couple of Moleskine size notebook too. A few pieces of fruit add to the weight but as I eat them during the day the weight reduces.

It seems to have just the right combination of pockets and zips for me, allowing me to keep some order in my bag but 'm also able to just chuck things in too. It has both velcro and clips to hold the front flap down which seems like overkill for my purposes but not if you used it as messenger bag on the back of a bicycle. It comes with an optional stra to go round your body for steadying the bag if cycling but I've never used that. The material is very hard wearing and waterproof. I've never found any dampness inside and it rains a fair bit here.

I think I would buy an extra small too next time I'm visiting th US for when I'm just popping about town with my Asus or a book but I am happy with this bag for that too. I have used it almost constantly since June which is unusual for me as a bag addict.

So any negatives? None that I can think of. It's a messenger bag so sits on one shoulder but you can pop it over your head and across your chest which evens the weight up but I tend to try not to carry too much.

Finally, in case I didn't make it clear. I love this bag!

Timbuk2 do a whole range of other styles of bag so even if you don't fancy a messenger bag you may find something else you like.

Crane & Co Jotter

2009-01-22T22:12:00.006Z

I thought I'd share with you one of my Christmas presents. It is a Jotter Card Holder from Crane and Co. A beautiful aqua blue leather jotter that holds 3"x5" cards. So you can use standard index cards with it but some plain white one's come with it in the lovely box. The front holds one card for you to jot your notes on and at the back is a pocket to store spare and used cards. I think I would only carry a few cards in there at a time though. Now it as an extravagance as using a leather holder for jotting down quick notes on index cards isn't really necessary but it is a pleasure to do. And it was a present....

Crane & Co are a US based company and you lucky folk in the states can jump online and order some of their lovely stationery. The jotter pad on their site retails at $29 so it's not completely ridiculous in terms of price. Aspinal of London do a 4x6 version for £35 but Smythson of Bond Street do a 3x5 one for £95! Now that is extravagant.

So where did my Crane & Co jotter ad come from if it's US based? Well even though it was a present I now it came from Magenta Ink which is a small, specialist stationery shop in Edinburgh. It does wedding stationery but also has an interesting collection of specialist and imported items including some Kate Spade products. If you like quality stationery and good service and happen to be in Edinburgh you should pop in.

How exactly I shall use the jotter I'm not sure. I am the sort of person who always remembers things I need to do at the very time I can't do them. I then promptly forget all about them until the next time I can't do them. I'm hoping that if I carry this with me I shall be more likely to jot things down as a later reminder so that I will do all those little things I regularly forget.

Notebook Have a Look - Castelli Diary

2009-01-15T20:49:00.005Z

I suppose it's not strictly a notebook but still worth a look. My diary for this year is a Castelli A5 page a day diary. It has a material clasp that keeps it closed, a pen holder in which a cool Castelli pencil is included, a ribbon marker and perforated page corners. It is one of those diary inserts that fits inside a cover. Mine is red. The paper is of good quality, smooth and white. I do generally use a pencil in my diary seeing as arrangements change but I'm sure it would suit gel pen, ballpoint or fountain pen. The pages have plenty of space for writing, a decent top line margin which I like to use which also has a cute little bit for recording temperature and weather conditions. It has appointment times that run from 8 till 8, and at the bottom of each page an interesting date related fact. For example did you know that King Robert II Stuart of Scotland was crowned on 22nd January 1371? And who could forget the cancellation of the Grand National after two false starts on April 3rd 1993.

I also add a line down the centre of each weekday page so that I can add in any date related to do items or reminders of things I did do.

I have seen companies use this brand for promotional items. This one is no exception, I was given it rather than purchased it. It retails at £15.50 which is quite pricey for a diary I guess. A Collins would be much cheaper but not as stylish. I guess however that it's not that different to the price of a Moleskine diary of similar size and it does have much nicer paper than a Moleskie in my opinion.

The company website is at www.castelli.co.uk/ and it wasn't until I looked there that I realised I already had one of their products, the Travel Journal (World Design) . It is a classy journal and I may look it out for the blog. It cost £10 though and in some ways that has stopped me writing too much in it. In a way it's too nice whereas I will scribble all sorts of nonsense in a Paperchase journal which isnt cheap either but doesn't feel as precious. Perhaps that's a bit daft but I think other notebook fetishists will understand. I also noticed that they had a Football Manager notebook for recording match reports and collecting autographs too. What a neat idea though again it seems quite classy for that type of activity. I wonder if anyone has ever used it? I'm the sort of person that forgets a game as soon as I've seen it so i wouldn't be much good to me but there are plenty of folk who can remember not only the score but the goal scorers, the players that took part in the move, the substitutions, I could go on....

The one thing about having a page per day A5 diary that can be problematic is carrying it around. My bag is often heavy and I look for ways of minimising the weight. However it's mid January and I'm still coping with it's size. I just cant really deal with a diary that's much smaller for keeping track of appointments, meeting venues and to do items.

Leaves on the line.........

2009-01-10T16:08:00.004Z

In a random fit of enthusiasm, that and I'm waiting on the hairdresser to open, I've decided to carry on with the train theme. As I said previously, I imagine most of my blog entries on trains to be rants about lateness. Is it particularly British to talk about the punctuality of trains? It can be an obsession for weary commuters who tut at a 3 minute late arrival. I find that when commuting often if you don't relax about the timekeeping you may well go mad. I try not to run from platform to platform when the trains are having problems. You're on the train then they tell you it's cancelled and to go to another train on another platform. Though if there is nothing wrong with the actual train you're on why move all the passengers? I try not to crush into a 3 carriage train if there is another one due in 15 minutes.
The obsession with trains runs to hanging about at the end of station platforms noting down the engine model and name of every train that comes and goes. Surely a throwback to the days of steam when trains looked different and were different. Surely dying out?

But it is perhaps our obsession as a nation with punctuality that drives our interest in trains timetables and the reasons for late running. Combining this with our other obsession, talking about the weather, is just heaven to many!

Frozen points or signals

Rarely are temperatures below freezing a shock up here and yet on a frosty morning this reason for lateness is sadly predictable. Can they not just tuck them in under a duvet at night?

Leaves on the line.

Everyone's favourite. I think it affects the train's braking system because the tracks are slippy. Sounds odd but being unable to break cant be a good thing.

The wrong type of snow

I personally have never heard this excuse but it does get trotted out as another favourite.

Landslide on the line

Too much rain, not enough trees. Can we blame the rail company for that?

Flooding

Act of God? Tran lines have been in place for years and years. I imagine that flooding in a particular place would have been noticed by now. In Scotland we had a Summer of tropical like downpours most days (without any other tropical benefits) and flooding on the train lies seemed more common. Particularly bad on the way in and out of the main stations of Glasgow and Edinburgh. I guess the water just heads to the lowest bit of ground it can find. There was a mad day where the water in Princes Street Gardens was above the wheels of the train. You could feel the wheels slipping and several pumps were in place. Most folk were 3 hours late that morning and late going home again too. In some ways everyone loved it. The chat on the train was full of humour (let's face it commuters dont speak to each other too often) and everyone had a great story to tell.

My favourite reason by far is not weather related and perhaps I made it up but saying the train was late because of cows on the line at Polmont and they were all wearing blue eyeshadow just makes me laugh (sorry ladies of Polmont...)

To be fair bad train days aren't that common but they seem to come in clusters and happen with regular monotony when I've left work early to go a place. Such is life. Perhaps there are some much more exciting reasons for trains being late but not round these parts.

Trains? Where are the trains?

2009-01-08T20:52:00.004Z

I was recently asked by one of my fellow diyplanner forum buddies where the trains were on my blog. It is in the title of the blog after all. To be honest I just anticipated writing the blog while on the train in my commuter world. i din't particularly anticipate writing about trains. However, seeing as I was asked I thought I might do a few train related bits n bobs. You would need a large planner to get all the train times in for a start! So I thought I'd pop some pictures on from the National Railway Museum in York. It's open all year round except for the 24-26th December and entry is free! Dont you just love some British museums. I've visited several times but I find it less exciting now than i did that first time. I do love steam trains and that is part of the fascination.

The age of steam.... I'm too young to remember when steam trains in Britain pulled carriages of commuter trains but I have been on a few tourist ones and they truly are wonderful pieces of engineering. The Mallard that sits in the Railway Museum is a design icon. It still looks modern today and above is a picture of the plaque commemorating it breaking the world speed record for steam traction. It's perhaps no surprise that the Japanese Bullet train also pictured looks not disimilar in terms of aerodynamic design. This is the only Bullet train you can see outside of Japan and it is a bit cramped. I can't imagine the same number of people crished into it as get squashed into our rolling stock every day.

One of my favourite parts of the museum was finding the cafe on the platform called the Brief Encounter cafe. Of course like many British museum cafes the food isnt great. I could have disrailed a train with my fruit scone the last time I was there, but it's all part of the experience. Brief Encounter is a classic British film with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard where two strangers meet in a railway station and continue to meet. Tempted almost into an affair. Of course the emotional affair is very powerful as it is a 1945 film. There is no jumping into bed. Not sure I even remember a kiss. Yet it is a classic of it's time.

So if you are passing near York, it is a very pleasant town pop into the National Railway Museum. It's well worth a free visit.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T21:37:00.002Z

Okay I've had a great 2008, and hoping for a good feeling in 2009 also. I'm not one for new year resolutions but this year I shall try to blog more. Instead of the half hearted attempts since October I shall try to blog once a week. Will I?
Who knows? I only managed 3500 words for NaNoWriMo so what are the chances?
I want to include more photos also to illustrate each blog.

I hope everyone has a great Hogmanay and a guid new year

Poppies and Remembrance Day

2008-10-25T11:37:00.004+01:00

I've noticed that poppies are on the counters in shops once again. I feel that it used to be they were only on sale/available the week before remembrance day but it is a few weeks ahead of that now. I can understand the desire to ensure as many donations as possible. It has been a long lasting British tradition that still maintains popularity and success. We continue to have British soldiers killed and damaged on behalf of our country who need or will need extra support through this charity. In recent years I've noticed alternative white poppies available. I haven't quite worked out their point. Is is about pacifism? Not supporting war? Wearing of red poppies doesn't signify a support of war but a support of people who need help. Perhaps a way of thanking those who fight on behalf of their country but remembrance is not really about thanks is it? It's about remembering. Remembering lives shattered, torn for example. where does the money go for white poppies?

The most famous peom that mentions Flander's red poppies was written by John McCrae, a Canadian. The first verse is

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row

That mark our lace; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing fly

scarce heard amongst the guns below.

It's interesting how strong and long lasting the words of the war poets are. It's a shame that we often come across them in school where being taught how to read poetry seems to ruin anyone's desire to read it ever again. Today reporting of war is all pictures, sanitised CNN. War, and the horrors of war are rarely communicated as powerfully as was done during the first world war. Have a read of some of them at this time of year and feel the power. Siegfried Sassoon is my particular favourite

Moleskine Monthly Pocket Diary 2009

2008-10-19T19:38:00.003+01:00

I always find it a bit depressing when I am writing in several meetings into next year's diary and it's only September/October time. The clocks haven't even gone back yet! So at this time I use a temporary measure before my A5 page a day diary arrives. As I'm always trying to minimise weight in my bag I don't want to carry two A5 diaries about for 3 months.

This year I've chosen the pocket Moleskine monthly planner. It actually has space for 2010 too so I'm hoping it will last for two years as my Autumn temporary diary, so that's a saving. Moleskines themselves are not inexpensive and I am still unconvinced with the quality of the paper. Some people seem to love it and rave about it but sometimes I wonder if it's just the name they fall for. Clairefontaine paper blows Moleskine out the water as does many Oxford notebooks. Still I've gone for it this year. It is small and lightweight which is what I want. I'm interested in any positive or negative opinions on Moleskine diaries.............

Notebook Have a Look - C.Over

2008-10-16T19:00:00.002+01:00

I've had this C.Over (see over) Cover for a while now but not really used it. It's one of those quite good ideas that probably wont ever be promoted enough and will die a death. The covers come in a range from gel to fabric to leather. Mine is fabric weave. Inside the cover are 3 elastic strands that fix separate notebooks into the cover. It means you can have a notebook for work, addresses, diary personal items, fitness, shopping. Whatever and interchange them so that your planner may be all work one day and all play the next or a mixture. It's a neat size (16cm x 9cm) thats about 3 3/4 x 61/2 inches for empiricals amongst you. As well as coming with a 2 section diary you get a plastic insert that has a smaller notebook, address book section and a mini pen.

I have ordered some refill notebooks and some spare elastics on the basis that I dont think they will be around very long. Greenwitch is an Italian company which has been around a while but getting these covers in the UK might be a different matter. The Journal Shop and Retro51 are the only places I've found and Retro51 say they will stop keeping them (Note January2009-Retro51 still have various C.Over items on their website).

Because of this I was having a wee play about with it and a Moleskine Cahier pocket will fit in the cover. Slightly wider than would be perfect but a decent alternative. Luckily they come in packs of three anyway, although I'm not greatly keen on the paper within. Probably plenty of other options for refilling the cover so I have another excuse (as if I needed one) to search through notebooks in shops once more. It may be a goner already this C.Over idea but I do think the cover can be used in a few different ways if you like doing a bit of hacking.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-15T16:16:00.004+01:00

It's been ages since I did a post and I do think it might always be this way. Haphazard. To fill my free time or rather to refill non free time with something different I am going to have a go at NaNoWriMo. This is an annual event every November where individuals are encouraged to write a 50000 word novel in a month. No mean feat! Of course the output is rarely going to be a novel you would get someone else to read I think but the aim is to just write. get the words down instead of staring at a blank page. All you win is the satisfaction of writing 50000 words but the challenge itself seems enough. There are forums to discuss plots and characters and even local meets (Edinburgh and Glasgow both have a region amazingly).

I hope to use time on the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh and maybe a bit at lunchtime (if I have time) to write as much as I can. Unlikely I'll have time in the evenings so it might be pretty much impossible to do (over 3 full A4 pages a day). Anyway I hope to just do what I often avoid and that's write something.

Why dont you do it too?

Global Warming?

2008-08-13T22:21:00.003+01:00

Well it feels like global warming. It's warm in Scotland (by our standards) but my is it wet! Last week the commute to Edinburgh was extended quite a bit due to flooding in Princes St Gardens. Two and a half hours to Edinburgh in the morning and two hours back to Glasgow. It's a 50 minute journey normally. Rail company was actually not bad at communication although when the train arrived at the outskirts of Edinburgh and we were told it might take an hour to get into Edinburgh I did think they could've mentioned that in Glasgow. Some folk might have decided to give the trip a miss. The water was certainly higher than the tracks and the noise of the wheels wasn't normal. I dont think there was much else that could've been done. Luckily I had several notebooks with me to do some work on....

This week we've had flash floods in Fife and Lanarkshire. All very unusual. We have a lot of rain but usually spread over the whole year. Is it global warming? Is that something we can change? I'm not convinced, keep feeling that the Earth does this on it's own regardless of human beings. Wonder if I'm alone with that view.......

Maybe I need to do an article on inflatable boats soon.

Notebook Have a Look - Rhodia

2008-07-29T09:28:00.007+01:00

This is my Rhodia No14 notepad (11x17cm). One of my current favourites. These little beauties are made in France and available in a few UK stores. Blackwells and Paperchase (in Borders) sell them but there are also a few online suppliers with wider ranges.

It's a strange design in a way. The staples at the top mean that you have to fold the cover up or round the back of the notebook but it does this easily. You can use it portrait or landscape and each sheet is perforated for easy removal. They are inexpensive but the quality of the paper is fantastic. I usually write in pencil which writes smoothly over the surface but I've also written with my Stabilo Sensor (in the photo) and other gel type pens-all write smoothly with no bleed through. The red and black band is a velcro cable tie that I've put round it which slides down the notebook to both hold the notebook shut and hold my pen.

The pages of the number 14 will also fit into a personal size Filofax or a Compact size Franklin Covey binder. A bit wider than both these page sizes but great for adding notes in.

There are a variety of sizes, from wee cute ones that would fit in your trouser pocket to A4 size for fitting into your folio. They come in plain, lined and 5x5 grid. I've taken a shine to the grid version.

The Rhodia site has an English version so have a look at what they have.

Poetry in Season

2008-07-28T20:17:00.004+01:00

Scottish strawberries are in season just now. In fact I'm eating some right this minute in between typing. It brought to mind one of my favourite poems, Strawberries by Edwin Morgan. Such a beautiful vision he portrays in it. I have no wish to break copyright but luckily you can read it at the official Edwin Morgan website http://www.edwinmorgan.com/
Morgan was born in1920 he has had a long literary career and is still going strong at this time. In 2004 he was made The Scot's Makar which is a kind of national poet laureate. A true literary legend. Check out his poetry.

Asus Eee pc

2008-07-26T19:17:00.008+01:00

I said I would start with a few words about my Asus eee pc. Its the 701 4gb version. It's the type of thing that I've wanted for years. Something I can type documents on while I'm on the move. I like to write and I often do work on the train. It also allows surfing on the move thugh that's not without its problems a I'll come to later. Every option until now either didnt have a keyboard or was just ridiculously expensive for something that was really just an extra. This would never be my main computer but neither is it intended to be. It can play music and video and show pictures, all nice to be able to do.
The reason Asus can keep the cost down is the open source software. It uses Linux as its operating system and all the other software is open source too but Open office is compatible with Microsoft office so that's fine for work. Now if you want to change anythng it can be tricky. It can really mess up your machine if you use the update icon on the eee pc - strange but true and to sort out any problems you really need to use linux. Anyone who remembers DOS will know what I mean when I say it involves commend lines etc. I've only come across a couple f things I've needed to 'fix' and the ee pc user forum is fantastic. Lots of people who know linux give good instructions on how to do things and the wiki is great. Forums are amazing things aren't they? They are a sign that people are basically good. The number of really helpful people on all sorts of different forums is amazing.
I've found the wifi simple and easy on the eee pc. It has worked wherever I've tried it. I'm typing this in the garden. It's a pity the UK doesn't have many free wifi spots that i've found. Pubs tend to be the best places for free wifi. Coffee shops always seem to involve a cost or time limited options. I did take it to the US this year and it was great for our hotel stay. They had wifi everywhere and it allowed us to keep in touch and find out about different places we wanted to go, and look at our pictures.
I have given in and got a modem. It is pay as you go and cost £39.99 on play.com on the 3 network. This hasn't been perfect and the signal isn't that good in many places. There are also issues where the eee pc looks for an internal modem it doesn't have or when you go from 3g to 2g it hangs up, but there seemingly is a way (through linux) to sort that out. I shall try it next time I'm on the move. It seems to be the e220 modem that works most easily with the eee pc. Not sure how much I'll use it but as its pay as you go it doesn't matter too much.

All round I'm very happy with my eee pc. t does what I want it to do. If I wanted more I guess I'd have to pay more but for £200 it's fab. There are a few other manufacturers realising the potential of this tye of device now and it'll be interesting to hear how they perform. First isn't always best (ask Philips....) Let me know if you have anything different in this line of device.

Welcome to my blog

2008-06-17T23:11:00.001+01:00

I bought an Asus eee pc at the beginning of the year and it is a fantastic handbag sized computer, ideal for blogging. Never blogged before but this has tempted me to type while on the move so here goes.

I plan to take you through my eee pc experiences but also my stationary fetish will feature. There are many US based sites and blogs on stationery but I wanted UK information too.

Blog started.....tick that box