Category Archives: Journal

Techo Kaigi

I was reminded of this phrase by a marketing email from Plotter, linking to this post. Techo Kaigi means “notebook meeting,” and the idea is that you should have a meeting with yourself to contemplate your notebooking methods and make sure they are right for you. This is generally done in the fall, when planners … Continue reading Techo Kaigi

The Drew Family Diaries

In my post about Denbigh notebooks, I linked to a site that had a photo of a Denbigh notebook from the 1960s: Drew Family Diaries. These diaries are worth a post of their own! Roger Drew created a website to share this amazing collection of diaries kept by members of his family, starting with his … Continue reading The Drew Family Diaries

Every Day Carry Notebooks

It goes without saying that at least one notebook has always and will always be part of my every day carry— EDC for short. While I might go for a 20-minute walk in the neighborhood without a notebook, at all other times, I have to have one nearby. But lately I’ve been having some serious … Continue reading Every Day Carry Notebooks

No-Name Pocket Filofax, 1990s

Here’s another trip down memory lane with a Filofax from my collection of refillable notebooks. This Filofax must have been bought before the two Pocket Chelsea models I wrote about recently. At first, I thought it might be more recent, because it is in such good condition, but it only has 4 rings, a configuration … Continue reading No-Name Pocket Filofax, 1990s

Notebooks I Brought on Vacation

In my last post, I shared a photo of the notebooks I had with me on my end-of-summer vacation. Commenter Vic, from Portugal, noted that for a “short vacation,” 8 notebooks was maybe kind of a lot, especially since I was in a place where I could (and did) easily buy more notebooks. Guilty as … Continue reading Notebooks I Brought on Vacation

15 Years of Notebook Stories

Whoops, I forgot to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this blog yesterday! 9/12/2008 was my first post. 15 years and 2,373 posts later, I’m still here, still posting (if not as frequently), still buying notebooks (maybe a little less frequently), and still writing in lots of notebooks (even more frequently). And I love that people … Continue reading 15 Years of Notebook Stories

Notebook Review: Virtuo Journal

The Virtuo Journal is something I bought on eBay as part of a lot with other notebooks I actually wanted. I was curious about it anyway, because it was a brand I’d never seen before. Evidently Virtuo is a proprietary brand sold at OfficeMax… or I guess I should say “was,” as I can’t find … Continue reading Notebook Review: Virtuo Journal

Filofax Pocket Chelsea, Two Ways

As noted recently, I’ve been revisiting some of my old Filofaxes, which feel like time capsules from the late 1990s. One of my favorites from that time was the Filofax Pocket Chelsea. I liked it so much, I bought two! They are actually slightly different, though no distinction was made in the model name. Both … Continue reading Filofax Pocket Chelsea, Two Ways

Peter Feigl’s Diary

I forget how I came across this very poignant notebook. It is a diary belonging to Peter Feigl, a 13-year old Austrian Jewish refugee in Vichy France. …Peter wrote about the traumatic events he had just experienced in his diary. His parents were first taken to an internment camp at Le Vernet, and the diary that … Continue reading Peter Feigl’s Diary

The Forbidden Notebook

This book sounds fascinating! It was just reviewed in the New York Times: Rome, 1950: The diary begins innocently enough, with the name of its owner, Valeria Cossati, written in a neat script. Valeria is buying cigarettes for her husband when she is entranced by the stacks of gleaming black notebooks at the tobacco shop. … Continue reading The Forbidden Notebook