Moleskine 2012 Weekly Notebook Diary/Planner

For the past three or four years I've used a Day Timer as my office planner, keeping my personal planner (a Quo Vadis) separately. But a local bookstore has been in trouble financially and last week there was a "buy-a-book weekend" to help them out. For some reason I just couldn't find any books I wanted to read when I saw the Moleskine section and this Weekly Notebook Diary/Planner in particular. I grabbed it and headed for the check out, feeling both virtuous and organized.


At the front of the Notebook is a Personal Data page that I don't think I would ever fill out in its entirety, especially the financial and credit card data. They want you to put down your number, or just the bank name? So when you lose it your identity theft will go much smoother? Name, address, and phone number will suffice for me, though I am curious about my blood type and should ask my doctor.

Lots of different information in these Moleskines, with a selection of calendars at the beginning such as this monthly at-a-glance.

You also get international holidays, measurement equivalents and temperature conversion tables, time zone information, pages for travel plans and memories, and an international sizing chart so you can convert the size of a pair of women's jeans in the US with Great Britain, Denmark, France, and Italy (12, 32,32, 32, 32, and 32 respectively--I look at that and think that one country seems to be marching to its own drummer).


One handy feature is this ruler, for taking approximate measurements. I've found the inside ruler in my Field Notes notebooks very handy when I can't find my tape measure and I want to get an idea of how much knitting I've done or have left. This will also be useful for those times at my desk when I can't find a ruler and need a measurement.

This was the main reason I chose the Weekly Notebook Diary/Planner, the right hand lined page where I can make free-hand notes outside of the date. Sometimes I need more space, or just want to write something other than a work schedule. As I don't like writing things that I've done on a Wednesday in the Thursday space, so I wanted a large, basically blank page to use for my weekly jottings.

Final picture is of the back of the Moleskine and it's well-known envelope. Included are these sets of adhesive labels for easy reminders of things to do or whatever.

I'm looking forward to using this, and glad I could support one of the few remaining (and historic) independent bookstores in Manhattan.

Notebookism Reviews the Writer's Diary

Notebookism is back, and has a great review of the Fabriano Boutique Writer's Diary.

ECO Staple Free Stapler Review

One of the items in my August Lost Crates box was this ECO Staple Free Stapler, whose tag line is "made for a greener planet." I'm not sure I buy the idea that not using staples will make much of a difference, but I'm all for small steps as well as big ideas so it's worth a try out.

Made of plastic, the Staple Free Stapler stitches the paper together by creating a rectangular hole and pushing the cut-out paper back and through it makes in the sheets. It's a great idea, although not useful for more than 4 sheets of paper at a time. There is no waste paper to clean up, unlike the office 3 hole punch and the tell-tale confetti it leaves behind.



On the back the ECO folks have put a handy guide to how this stapler works, both in pictures and words. I do think the "Made by Humans" tag on the back of the wrapper might be better placed somewhere than right above the "Made in China" line. The latter begs the question of what type of laborers were used and raises questions in the mind about their working conditions, thus taking away from the warm fuzzies you're supposed to feel using this ecologically-sound stapler.



On a corporate level, this makes it partly unworkable if your presentation or whatever is more than 4 pieces of paper. Even Power Point presentations tend to be accompanied by photocopies of the slides, so I'd say this stapler is more for casual use around the office or home than for Board-of-Directors-type meetings. The hole in the pages also makes me thing this might not go over so well for large gatherings: heavy duty photocopiers now have staple options, which is a blessing when you are making 50 copies of a 10 page document.

But it's fun and green, so I'd say the ECO Staple Free Stapler would be a great alternative to using metal staples. Saves on having to run out to an office supply place to pick up staples, and eliminates the question of storing all those metal bars for future use (I tend to misplace mine, then have to buy more).

Stationery Review Looks at the Moleskine Messenger Bag

Check out Andrew's review of the new Moleskine messenger bag, some great pictures as well.

Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen

I finally picked up a Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen some time back, but haven't used it much. I tend to admire the deep metallic blue color and wide barrel, then reach for another pen to use. I like Platinum fountain pens, and have several that run along the price range spectrum from modest to high end. Reviews have been pretty good, so it's time I gave this my attention.

As noted, it's a big pen with a lot of presence. It's nicely weighted, not too heavy but substantial enough. The barrel, cap, nib, and enamel on the clip are all color coordinated, so if you're not fond of the color you've got a lot of it to not be fond of--the blue is quite lovely, but the red has been likened to a giant lipstick. The coating is shiny metallic and scratch-resistant, so I have no worries about putting it in my bag next to my wallet and keys.

As for writing, I purchased the o.3mm fine nib; the number is stamped on the nib as well as the Platinum "P" logo, which I love. Comes with cartridges, but no converter. The section is clear plastic, and not entirely sealed. When I was cleaning out some ink from the first usage to see how well it did, water and ink got into the threads inside the section and obliterated any view of the inside area. A minor detail, but one of those "tsk" moments where you wish you could go back 30 seconds or so and undo your action.

Perhaps the most important talking point, the cap is specially designed so the ink doesn't dry out or evaporate and clog the nib. I'm tempted to wait a year to test the claim, but I think I'll just keep using it and see how well it writes. So far, I do like this pen and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good starter.

Platinum Riviere Fountain Pen

One of the September Lost Crates items was this Riviere Fountain Pen by Platinum. It's an interesting pen with lots of pluses and one minus.

On the plus side, it's a thing, stylish design. The plastic body and cap are sturdy, but it's a thinner design that I like. The clip is solid looks like it was modeled on the higher-end Reglus with it's stone age point design.



Another plus is the nib, which is small and a bit on the squat side. This reminds me of my Parker Latitude nib which I love using. The Platinum "P" logo is on the nib, along with an "M" indicating a Japanese medium point. Not too wide, I like Japanese mediums more than their Western counterparts.



Overall, it's a great looking pen. But there is one big minus: the ink pours out of the feed, all over the nib and paper, into the cap, and eventually makes its way onto your fingers and clothes. I don't know if this is because of the cartridge ink, or a flaw in the feed.

As far as purchasing, your best bet outside Japan is on eBay. I don't recall seeing them at Kinokuniya, but they might be there hiding behind other pens. But that's the beauty of inexpensive fountain pens, when you are looking for one type another makes itself know to you.

Exacompta Nostalgie Journal by @Exaclair

I've been using various journals and notebooks for daily record keeping, and when my last one ran out I dug out this Exacompta Nostalgie Journal with Frank Lloyd Wright's May Basket illustration on the leather-like cover.

That this is not leather is a tribute to the faux-textile manufacturers everywhere. It looks and feels like leather, while the tan color and saddle-stitch needle work bring to mind a leather journal made from saddle leather. The May Basket design, originally intended for a magazine, is embossed and appears on both the front and the back. Inside you have a brief description of May Basket's original date and purpose as well as Wright's signature. Overall, an impressive cover.

The journal is an Exacompta Basics Forum blank refill, with 200 pages of 64gsm Clairefontaine paper. If you are a regular user of the 80-90gsm Clairefontaine and Rhodia papers you will feel the difference in this blank refill's paper right away. It's smooth to write on, but much thinner and easily see through using fountain pen, rollerball gel ink, or ballpoint oil-based ink--but especially the first two.


I've been keeping a daily record of my consumption habits, both food and money, to get a better sense of what I'm doing and why. I like the size of the Basics Forum blank refill (4.75 by 6.75, plus a few extra millimeters for the cover), as it gives me the room I want to write out notes as well as accounting. The above, with some details buffed out, is an example of one day in the life ("pigeon" is a notation on an injured pigeon I found outside my building, and took down the street to the guy who raises pigeons hoping he could help--don't know the outcome yet, haven't had the nerve to go back--Schroedinger's Cat, anyone?).




But entries can be seen through from day to day, making this a very busy page. On the one hand that's great, as I only have to use one side to mark the page in half (such as above, the line divider shows through on the left page while I've made a line on the right). On the other, I have to read my current writing over my older writing which makes the page seem too busy.

All in all this is an excellent cover and a very good refill journal. If you're looking for something decorative and functional, check out the Exacompta Nostalgie Journals.