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Trip redux, part 1
Jun. 19th, 2003 09:52 pmIn a couple of scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a central plot role is played by the journal kept by Prof. Henry Jones, Sr. (ably played by Sean Connery). A far cry from the throwaway notebooks most of us have grown up using, that journal was solidly bound. And whereas most of us take notes the way wildebeest tango (i.e., poorly, if at all), the glimpse we get of Prof. Jones' journal show it to have been compiled painstakingly, over many years.
I always wanted to compile a journal like that, but my attempts have generally fallen short. Much of that feeling has to do with the physical characteristics of the book and/or pen I'm using. Most books are too big, with ugly ruling that is too widely spaced for my taste. In addition, it's common to find such books made using cheap materials and manufacturing techniques. I'm not terribly motivated to really get into using such tools, and when I do (as I did in Spain in '97) the result is not something you care about much. I came close to finding a really nice journal about 10 years ago, during a trip to Milan for Borland, but the book is huge (A4 size), which limited its portability.
The advent of pocket-sized electronic note-takers (such as the PalmPilot) changed the nature of the effort somewhat, but the stilted process of using such tools (pressing buttons, using a stylus or separate keyboard, and changing batteries) places limits on how far one can really go to create something that feels right. Deep down, I like the tactile sensation of holding a book and turning a page; there are times when the ability to do a global string search is vastly overrated.
While browsing in a Barnes & Noble recently, I ran across a relatively inexpensive ($6.95) notebook manufactured in Spain, with the name "Miquelrius" stamped on the back cover. The pages are quadrille ruled, and it turns out that they do not wick fountain pen ink (thereby avoiding spots on the reverse sides of pages where the ink has bled through) and do not come out of the book easily (tested by trying to remove a page to write a note to give someone).
The cover is of some kind of flexible material that has not wrinkled under moderate use and banging around, and the spine of the book has not cracked while using moderate force to keep it open. The book measures about 4 by 6 inches, which I found convenient for writing in and for carrying in a pocket.
I carried such a book with me during my recent trip abroad and used it to jot down notes and phone numbers, as well as terminology gleaned from the job. I also used it to keep track of my expenses, drew a couple of maps in it, and (surprise) wrote some journal text. Over the course of two weeks, I used about 15% of the pages.
It's not the kind of thing that I'd consider using for day-to-day notetaking, at least not yet. But it sure worked well for me while traveling.
Cheers...
I always wanted to compile a journal like that, but my attempts have generally fallen short. Much of that feeling has to do with the physical characteristics of the book and/or pen I'm using. Most books are too big, with ugly ruling that is too widely spaced for my taste. In addition, it's common to find such books made using cheap materials and manufacturing techniques. I'm not terribly motivated to really get into using such tools, and when I do (as I did in Spain in '97) the result is not something you care about much. I came close to finding a really nice journal about 10 years ago, during a trip to Milan for Borland, but the book is huge (A4 size), which limited its portability.
The advent of pocket-sized electronic note-takers (such as the PalmPilot) changed the nature of the effort somewhat, but the stilted process of using such tools (pressing buttons, using a stylus or separate keyboard, and changing batteries) places limits on how far one can really go to create something that feels right. Deep down, I like the tactile sensation of holding a book and turning a page; there are times when the ability to do a global string search is vastly overrated.
While browsing in a Barnes & Noble recently, I ran across a relatively inexpensive ($6.95) notebook manufactured in Spain, with the name "Miquelrius" stamped on the back cover. The pages are quadrille ruled, and it turns out that they do not wick fountain pen ink (thereby avoiding spots on the reverse sides of pages where the ink has bled through) and do not come out of the book easily (tested by trying to remove a page to write a note to give someone).
The cover is of some kind of flexible material that has not wrinkled under moderate use and banging around, and the spine of the book has not cracked while using moderate force to keep it open. The book measures about 4 by 6 inches, which I found convenient for writing in and for carrying in a pocket.
I carried such a book with me during my recent trip abroad and used it to jot down notes and phone numbers, as well as terminology gleaned from the job. I also used it to keep track of my expenses, drew a couple of maps in it, and (surprise) wrote some journal text. Over the course of two weeks, I used about 15% of the pages.
It's not the kind of thing that I'd consider using for day-to-day notetaking, at least not yet. But it sure worked well for me while traveling.
Cheers...
