Thinking through pocket notebooks
My partner’s parents moved last week. As a thank you, my father-in-law offered me my choice of pocket notebooks. I put careful thought into three disparate notebook sets: Field Notes Resolution, Story Supply 407, and Baron Fig’s quarterly planner.
Three musketeers
I have leaned heavily on my pocket notebook over the past month. Lists, tasks, quotes, ideas (and apparently nib tuning) are all regularly homed in my pocket notebook.
A pocket notebook would last 4-6 months in 2020. I only completed two all year. This is most likely because I spent much of the year locked down at home. My A5 bullet journal and planner were easily to hand.
But I use my pocket notebook quite differently while at work and while away from my desk. Life in a school manifests as a steady barrage of questions, last-minute changes to schedules, and students making less-than-perfect decisions that require an immediate sit-down discussion. I’m a dean at my school and so am one of the “discipline” faculty. In sum: small and temporary notes find me, often without by full-sized work bullet journal.
My pocket notebooks can help me to sort through the entropy of school-life. They need to be more easily searchable. At present, I often flip through pages to find where a particular note was written. To be searchable, my notes need to be more structured than my current wild west approach of writing on whichever page I first open to.
Enter the three musketeers. Each book offers different kinds of structure.
Field Notes offers two organizations. One is a preprinted task list. Status markers are also preprinted at the left of each line. Second is a week-a-page spread. I’m considering using this as a running meeting log for recording unplanned meetings.
Baron Fig offers an undated week-a-spread. This may work best for logging those unplanned sit-downs with students and colleagues.
Story Supply is a control. The light dot grid continues my tradition of making my own structure as I go. There is flexibility to a blank page. Perhaps I should pre-number each page at the beginning of the week? Plus, the paper is much more fountain pen friendly than either the Field Notes or the Baron Fig.
I’m going to try each over the course of April and reflect on supports how I’m currently using my pocket notebooks: as chaos filters. (Important note: Chaos Filter would make a great ska band name.)
This week’s Inked Tines update includes my most recent currently inked writing tools.
Toolset
Pens. The standout combination this week was, without a doubt, the Nakaya Neostandard (B). Nakaya has a special place in my heart. My partner proposed with this pen as my “ring.” The B brings out the sheen in Dou’s without adding much drying time. My main journaling combo. 1/2 full.
And oh, so good looking
Delike New Moon (EF) — Empty. My daily carry combo all week. Round EF nib wrote at even the oddest angles while holding my Field Notes in hand. Rose Noir did bleed and feather, but pocket notes are temporary. I transfer the important notes onto better paper each weekend. Pocket carry.
TWSBI 580-ALR (B) — 1/5. Yozakura is a favorite. I’ll happily write with it in any nib. The stingy B offered just enough ink to show off Yozakura’s deep shading. Surprisingly well-behaved for manuscript drafting and reading notes. Was my second-most reached for journaling combo, after the Nakaya.
Montblanc 146 (EF) — 1/4. A true EF nib and a great , quick-drying dark grey. Excellent pairing for managing tasks as Chushu doesn’t smear. The purple undertones keep Chushu fun. My main notetaker. Task mangement, reading notes.
TWSBI Vac700R (F-CSI) — 1/2 (from 2/3 fill). The super-wet feed Mr. Bacas made for me brings out the best of Aonibi’s shading and haloing. Aonibi is one of my favorite inks: a dusty cobalt. The line keeps a true F, even on poorer paper. Another excellent pairing. Reading notes, journaling, meal planning.
Monteverde Giant Sequoia (EF-SIG) — 3/5. The EF makes an excellent manuscript marker as I can fit quite a lot into a margin. Even expanded to journaling on Saturday morning, which worked well but outpaced the feed after a page of quick writing. Slow, deliberate pacing is best for this feed.
Notebooks. Nothing in the work bullet journal. Crickets. Spring break means a break from working.
Journal: Unbranded A5 Cosmo Air Light. Nine new pages across three entries. Only one entry was long form. The other two are outlines for upcoming posts — more substantive topical essays. More details in a future update. Wahoo.
Pocket A6. Added six more pages of scratch notes and one quote from Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. Two of the pages are scribbles from an impromptu nib tuning for a family friend’s new pen purchase: a Monteverde MVP.
Passover tuning tracks
Two more pages left until I finish my pocket notebook. Between running errands, the work week, and sketching out a new poem, the little A6 should find its end early next week.
Written dry. One of this week’s six pens ran dry. The Delike was my pocket carry until Friday morning. I primarily used it for scratch notes. The generous EF nib brought out the darker notes in Rose Noir.
Newly inked. I’m on a two-month streak of proper pen discipline. No newly inked pens mid-week.
The collection
Incoming / new orders. Pocket notebooks galore.
Love that new notebook smell
I was also given a sample of Monteverde’s Motivation Orange. Motivation is a new ink for me. It may interrupt my streak of sticking to my currently inked pens without inking new pens during the week.
Many of the colors in Monteverde’s Emotions line are close to colors I love, but sit just outside my aesthetic preferences. That’s fine – inks are made for everyone. And we all have different happy places.
Variety is part of what makes the stationery-lovers’ community so rewarding. And it keeps my Instagram feed lively.
Outgoing / trades or sales. My Thursday afternoon outdoor BBQ devolved into glorious pen shenanigans, as I described above.
Pelikan’s Star Ruby resonated with her. I prefer dusty, muted pinks to Pelikan’s bright, popping shade. I had only drawn two fills from the bottle since it was given to me at a Pelikan Hub two years ago.
I gave her my bottle. Inks belong in homes where they’ll see use. Excitingly, I get to cross Star Ruby off of my ink database.
Good night, sweet prince
Currently reading and listening
Fiction. Finished my re-read of Heir to the Empire this week. Leia has skills I forgot about. And R2-D2 is written as a brittle old man of a droid.
I read Zahn’s book on my iPad. I far prefer to write notes in the margin as I read. eBooks aren’t friendly for handwriting margin notes. So the workflow is different. Instead, I copy passages that stand out down in my commonplace notebook.
Nonfiction. My attention turned from Zahn’s science fiction to politics and political history on Tuesday. I picked up a new book from our local book shop, The Deviant’s War. The author is new to me. I dig a thoughtful political history.
Why is the Applebaum so small?
Cervini’s book also appeals to me because I agreed to offer my LGBTQ Studies elective again next year. Cervini’s history looks to offer a well-cited and readable text for students to follow along with. More details once I dig into the book.
Applebaum explores Americans’ brand of authoritarianism. Her argument is built on the claim that authoritarianism appeals to core demographics in the US. It’s a worrying, but fascinating, thought. I’ve skimmed the book. Next I dig into key chapters and create reading notes.
Music. Kishi Bashi has been on repeat this week. There’s a fun energy to their music. Feels like spring to me.
