April 16th, 2008The Cult of the Moleskine
I find physically writing to be quaint and stately. I sit in front of a computer 8+ hours a day and type WAY faster than I can write; so writing is interesting for me. It is something that I have vowed to do on several occasions but kept putting off. This weekend I finally took the plunge.
I was in the new container store (awesome place for borderline OCD folks like me) of all places when I stumbled across this little notebook next to the stationary. It was small, had an elastic strap to keep it closed, and had silky smooth paper. The wrapper said that it was the famous moleskine journal used by Hemingway and some other great thinkers/writers. I thought what the hey it looks neat, even though it was $13; typically far more than I would spend on paper. Little did I know that I fell hook-line-and-sinker for a marketing ploy and that the little notebook had a cult following.
The moleskine is designed to be like a journal that those people used. There is more in the Wikipedia article. The funny thing is that I did not really care that it was just marketing fluff because I really like the thing. It lays completely open so writing on both sides is possible. There is no bleed through on the paper. The strap is a really nice feature; it keeps it from flying open in my bag. It also has this little pocket in the back where you can stash things. Granted in the little version all it is really good for is holding the fortunes out of the fortune cookies.
There is also an Apple like following for these notebooks. It is odd to think that something so simple could have such a following.
I actually like to writing in it. I assume it will more than likely be with me wherever I go now. Especially hiking, I find that when I actually have time to think it makes me want to write. Oh and Merlin Mann has some really neat hacks for the moleskine.
