Extraordinary notebooks from the Terra Nova Antarctic expedition of 1911 are available for study and research for the first time. They are an important record of the natural history of Antarctica, an area now facing grave threats. However, they are best known for their infamous passages describing the penguin sexual behaviours. The Natural History Museum … Continue reading Penguin Sex Diaries!
Some of my earliest notebook obsessions were spiral and wire-o binding notebooks. Back when I was a kid, other kinds of notebook were not as easy to find, or were prohibitively expensive for a kid to buy with her allowance. Nowadays, I rarely find myself using a wire bound notebook, but I thought I’d take … Continue reading Spiral and Wire-O Notebooks from My Collection, Part 1
I’ve heard from a couple of readers on how they’re notebooking their way through the COVID-19 shutdown. Here are their stories: Tina Koyama A little more than 3 weeks ago, I was so freaked out about the pandemic that I needed something to do to calm my mind so that I could move on with … Continue reading Notebooking Through the Coronavirus
I read a lot of books, and for a brief period, I tried to keep a reading notebook. I didn’t stick with it for long because it seemed kind of boring: it was just a notebook with a list of everything that I’d read. But when I came across this post at Bookriot, I loved … Continue reading How to Keep a Reading Journal
From the Minnesota Star Tribune, a profile of a college hockey player who is also a dedicated journaler: Before and after every practice, every game, the Gophers goaltender hunches over a Moleskine not much bigger than his palm and writes. Jack LaFontaine has five journals in all, each to collect different thoughts — practice focuses, … Continue reading A Hockey Player’s Notebook
Such an amazing story from the NY Times, with lots of images of the diaries! Anne Frank listened in an Amsterdam attic on March 28, 1944, as the voice of the Dutch minister of education came crackling over the radio from London. “Preserve your diaries and letters,†he said. Frank was not the only one listening. … Continue reading Dutch Diaries of World War II
I came across these gorgeous archaeological notebooks on Pinterest, and traced them back to a website about the archaeological excavations of the Athenian Agora being carried out by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I’m always fascinated by field notebooks and scientific notebooks like this! Archaeological excavation in the Athenian Agora is recorded … Continue reading Archaeological Notebooks
How’s everyone doing? Are you staying home? Are you writing a lot? Drawing? Filling notebooks to fill your time? Recording what life is like during this historic pandemic? These are such strange times. I’ve stopped carrying a bag or any notebooks with me when I do my weekly grocery run so I’ll have less stuff … Continue reading Notebooking through the Pandemic
How would you like to sit at this desk and do some writing in a notebook? That desk is on Hancock Hill, in Alpine, Texas. It’s been there for 40 years. At first, the guy whose idea it was to put the desk there just stashed a notebook in the drawer so he could record … Continue reading Notebooks from Hancock Hill
I lived in Brooklyn for years, but never went to Gage and Tollner, an old-fashioned steakhouse that was an institution there for over 100 years until it closed in 2004. They’re working on reopening soon, and in the process, came across some amazing artifacts. From an article in the New York Times: For an individual, … Continue reading Gage & Tollner Notebooks from the 1960s and 1970s