A recent piece on the Elle magazine website compiles the thoughts of 4 women on how keeping a diary has affected their lives and their writing. Unfortunately there were no photos of any of their diaries, but below are a few excerpts from the article: Dolly Alderton: Now I record everything, from dialogue I overhear … Continue reading Four Authors on Keeping a Diary
Sometimes people find their way to my website by searching for a bygone notebook brand that has left few other traces online. Often they are looking to replace a long discontinued notebook, and I’m sorry not to be able to help. But sometimes I actually can provide answers! I recently received a message from someone … Continue reading A Great-Grandfather’s 1953 Marquette Diary
I’ve previously featured Jordan Mechner’s Sketchbooks on this site, and more recently, I spotted an article he wrote on Medium about his habit of keeping a journal: I’m a journal-keeper. With over a hundred notebooks filled since 1982, it’s become part of who I am. I couldn’t have expected or anticipated all the ways my … Continue reading Jordan Mechner on Journaling
For me, size matters. When it comes to choosing a notebook, I mean. I have hundreds of notebooks, in a variety of styles, materials, colors, and brands, but most of them fall into a pretty narrow size range. My preferred size has evolved over time, perhaps in proportion to the size of my own hands: … Continue reading What Matters?
A fun look inside the world of Kevin Aucoin, the celebrity makeup artist who sadly died way too young. He seems to have used a variety of diaries in a similar format but with different page layouts. I’m not sure what brand any of them were. Kevyn Aucoin was a makeup artist decades ahead of his … Continue reading Kevyn Aucoin’s Journals
Wow, it’s been a while since my last “using now” post. I can’t say I have any totally earth-shattering news to report about the daily carry notebooks I’m using but there is one new item that wasn’t even on my radar at that time. First of all, I suppose the concept of “daily carry” has … Continue reading Daily Carry Notebooks: July 2020
Nolty has announced their line-up for 2021 Nolty planners that start in January. (They also sell various products that have an April start to coincide with Japan’s school year, but they don’t announce those until later.) I’m going to start with the bad news. They are not going to be producing the Nolty Daily Book … Continue reading 2021 Nolty Diaries and Notebooks
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
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
Maria Faller writes about finding her teenage diaries, written in composition books: I have journaled on and off for most of my adult life. As a kid, I journaled all the time, but we called it a diary. Keeping a locked diary was one of the cool things to do in the 80s, but it … Continue reading Old Diaries Full of Surprises