You might not be able to tell by how infrequently I've been blogging, but I keep a record of pretty much everything. I keep track of the little details, and the big details, and all the other details by writing stuff down, constantly, into little journals, big journals, and falling-apart journals. I'll write on anything as long as it will hold the ink like a long lost lover. I keep all kinds of journals. Complicated and simple journals, hard-copy and digital. Doodle notebooks, film journals, poems & lyrics, and small travel scrapbooks. I have composite books dedicated to houses and other places I frequent, titled by the roads on which they are settled. I maintain a secret dream journal, a health and beauty journal, and super-hidden idiot/genius idea logs. For many years, I kept yearly wall calendars (which drove my husband nuts) but now I just take a photo of my white-board calendars at the end of every month. I've been keeping journals since I was a little kid; a greasy-haired, scabby-knee, bike-riding, tree-climbing fool, carrying an outer space Trapper Keeper and a Lisa Frank glitter-pen in my bicycle basket. I love writing daily stuff down, and I love the ability to go back years in review. Notebooks are like time capsules.
And when I think I've finally burnt myself out on record keeping, I make lists. I'm very fond of making lists these days. Lists are time-savers. For me, list-making is a whole new way to document. My favorite kind of notebook cost 88¢, but the binds fall apart within a few weeks and are super bulky. A few years ago, someone had given me a used Moleskine plain-page notebook. I found a new love in Moleskine. They are a tad bit expensive but pretty durable and I prefer the pocket version, so they are perfect for lugging around in my bag all day and are space-savers when it comes to storage, plus they will always look cool stacked up.
I know this is a nerdy post, but I really love notebooks and writing and wanted to share. So, tell me: are you a record keeper? and what are you favorite kind of notebooks?
No notebook is safe, but every one is sacred.
♫ KellieAnn
Great post. I didn't keep personal, private thoughts diary-style, but I did keep ideas for all the TV shows I was going to create and produce when I grew up and became one of Hollywood's most prolific television moguls. I preferred loose leaf notebook paper, but it had to be narrow-ruled, and I'd apply 20 sheets or so at a time to a clipboard when I actually wrote. Then I carefully filed the pages away in a large, brown, expandable file folder which eventually held over a thousand pages of hand-written notes. I became so attached to that old file folder that when the seams began to rip apart I taped them up instead of just spending a few dollars on a new one. Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Doug! Your comments are always interesting and appreciated. :) It feels pretty quiet in here sometimes, so I'm very grateful for your readership. I'm just now starting to make some noise, myself, so things will come 'round! :B
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