I just wonder every now and then what other people actually write in
their little black books.  In mine, I write my interpretation of daily
events though sometimes it takes a significant jolt to make me come up
with something to write.  There are also notes on what I do in the
office or garden. I call mine the little "book of ideas".  I just jot
down whatever comes to mind. These so called ideas that may or may not
be useful but I do believe some will come in handy someday.

Share what you do with your Moleskines!

I write:

• Field notes: observations of my surroundings, like the strange thing
the grocery cashier says to the lady in front of me.
• Observations: thoughts that occur to me.
• Notes on reading: when I come across interesting quotes, or
something in my reading connects with something else.
• Books I want to read/Movies I want to watch.
• Ideas for gifts for various people. (Have done this two years now
and it makes Xmas shopping/birthdays a LOT easier.)

And other stuff, but that's the main content. I use a little code or
abbreviation for each of these categories, so they are easier to find
later. (especially the gifts)

On May 27, 9:36 pm, shinobi77 <jeffongm...@gmail.com> wrote:

I write:

Notes of all types, I use my Moleskine primarily as an analog alternative to
my BlackBerry and ThinkPad tools.
It's a method of capturing thoughts and ideas which are important to me
going forward.
I find it rather relaxing to use, and a great way to recover my hand
writing. After years of laptop use, my handwriting was going away.
Now I'm able to read what I write (how novel...) and I find the intrinsic
experience of putting pen to paper very satisfying.
Another method that I now employ is to start at the front with my calendar,
and then begin from the last page, after flipping it over and write towards
the center. My goal is to use all the pages, and I keep a table of contents
in the front (for the front) and the same applies to the back.
Previously I was finding myself with random unused pages, as every time I
wanted to start a "fresh page" I would skip a few, to allow continued note
taking for the prior topic , but ended up with wasted pages, disorganized
due to the jumps.
Finally I did try tabs but did not like the way that worked (or didn't) for
me.  Numbering the pages and having a table of contents works for me.

--
Leonard

Just a couple of thoughts expanding what you have said here ...

For many years I have kept daily logs.  Each time I start one I skip
the first few pages to be an index.  Then I begin numbering each left
page with odd numbers starting at one, in the upper right corner.  As
I go, I make notes sequentially, skipping only one line between them.
Each note is preceded with a date/time notation to the left (in a
margin to make scanning for dates easier.)  Under the date/time I will
put a symbol such as ->15 (follow up on page 15) and on the page 15
note I'll put 12<- (previous entry on page 12, for example).  So in
addition to an index entry (which will look like NEW FURNACE: 12, 15,
18) I have them chained forward and backward for ease of reference.  I
find it a whole lot quicker to look back in the chain than go to the
index if I'm already writing a note and know the previous entry.

In addition, my front cover has a taped in (tape at the top only so I
can flip) phone directory and, under that, a yearly calendar.  The
back has various material, depending on my specific environment.
(Sometimes various reference info, for example).

I photocopy the pages frequently as a backup and carry the some of
they key pages for a while when I start a new book.

I also took to taping in phone message slips, business cards, and
various other bits of paper right over the note so I had everything in
one place.

Of course, which of these ideas makes sense depends on your
environment, your purpose, and the size of your log book.

Recently I've seen software which works with a camera phone to let you
scan, index, and possibly OCR your documents.  I'm not sure I see
myself doing that given my current needs.

--
Cheers,
Mike

On May 27, 10:36 pm, shinobi77 <jeffongm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mostly boring stuff  :)

Daily (or whatever) travel, expense, mileage/cab, and contact log,
chronological from front to back.  "TODO" and shopping lists from back
to front of book.

I didn't realize how much I was losing in non-reimbursed or deducted
simple everyday expenses, or on those little slips of paper in the
pockets, desk, etc.  Last thing each work day is to update the log.

A separate, thinner Cahier's book holds the most current phone/email/
contacts list.  Reservations/confirmations numbers are in the chron
front section of the first book.

The scond pocket of my double-pocket business cardcase holds recent
bus cardsreceived -- so I guess this makes it three objects frequently
carried in a should bag.  But, those along with a USB memory stick
have gradually decreased the 3-5 lbs of folders and paper I used to
carry.

Now, waiting for the prices to fall again on those new digital book
readers.

In the past, my Moleskine--large, ruled notebook--was divided into
sections that supported my fiction writing. The sections were:
Characters, Plots, Story Ideas, Titles, Dialogue, and Drafts. This way
I had different sections for the various elements of storytelling.

Then last year I bought my first-ever Moleskine planner. It was
great...for a while. But then I became annoyed at having to carry
around two Moleskines: one for planning and the other for jotting down
ideas.

That's when I decided to make my own Moleskine-like notebook,
combining the functions of both a planner and a notebook. You can
check it out here: http://www.writedamnnow.com/2008/04/handmade-moleskine-gtd-planner-fo....
It has served its purpose well. (You can see in one of the photos how
I color-coded my fiction sections.)

-Mark

On May 27, 10:36 pm, shinobi77 <jeffongm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Great question/thread.

My journals are a lot like what we used to call a 'baby book' in years
past, but for our entire family. My kids are in primary school now and
I keep an almost-daily journal of what our family experiences, does,
learns, etc. I also put in stubs from hockey game and movie tickets,
vacation subway passes, etc.

My hope is that many years from now the kids will have the journals to
look back on and reminisce.

Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

On May 27, 8:36 pm, shinobi77 <jeffongm...@gmail.com> wrote:

I use my Moleskine for everything!

notes from therapy, to do lists, grocery items, poetry, writing,
sketches, I fill it up with everything that's in my head
and things I notice or need to do in my everyday life.

I have been online for a long time. I started an "online journal" in
1997, and have kept it up (as a "blog") to today. As a result, I crave
the pen and paper comfort of a moleskine. the privacy. the
tangibility.

I have about 11 blank moleskines to use in the future. I am so devoted
to them, that I've purchased one or two every so often throughout the
years.

I guess I consider my moleskines to be part of ME, in a way.  And I
like that.

Renee Altson
incite hope
www.ianua.org

I know this is deviating from the topic, but you may find evernote.com
worth checking out.  Its basically like what you are using gmail for,
but has some great features like the ability to take photos of things
(like your scribbled down notes) and It will recognize text in the
photos.  It isn't perfect (still in beta) but it recognizes my
handwriting very well, and I am no master scribe!  You can email your
notes/photos to a private address it sets up for you so you could
continue to enter info like you do now.  The aim of the website is to
store anything memory-worthy forever. I just joined in a few weeks ago
and love it so far. There is a full review here:
http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/04/16/evernote/

If anyone wants an invite I have 20, so just email me at
eui...@gmail.com and I'll send you one.

That said, for me the act of writing in my Moleskines is so unique and
rewarding that I think I will always have one with me.  Right now I
have a large and 2 pockets (one is one of the bright red B&N ones that
I couldn't resist getting).

One pocket-sized stores basic reference stuff (first aid, cpr,
survival tips), my poetry, and photography info (when I take a film
photo I record the settings/location to remember later).  The red
pocket-sized holds notes, to do lists, and sketches.  I used to use
pocket cahiers for this and love them for their perfect size, but I
felt like using something more permanant.

My large ruled is just a good ole journal for thoughts and daily
events!

Thank you everyone for sharing.  So far, it has been fun and rewarding
to see how different people have similar uses for their notebooks.  It
is also equally interesting to find that some have very unique,
creative and useful means of utilizing their Moleskines.

Of course, these notebooks are not quite as cheap as others in the
market and they do carry a feeling of legend to them so that one is
tempted to reserve its pages for memories that are worth recording.  I
do encourage everyone to write often especially those who are just
starting to jot things down in their journals.  Soon, your inner self
will flow through your pen onto the pages of the notebook and there
you will see a reflection of a rather unknown you. This is therapeutic
for most people nowadays just as a blog is a good medium for releasing
stress. There is however an added pleasure in using a pen on paper
that no electronic medium can duplicate.

Please continue to share what you write in your favorite notebooks!!!!

When I catch myself feeling like that, I throw my Moleskine against  
the wall. No, really. I don't 'whip' it so that it gets really  
damaged, but just hard enough to put a little ding in it. It breaks  
the ice. Or, you write a bit of fluffy nonsense in it to get it started.

It's like having a new car. At first, you park at the other end of the  
parking lot away from other cars. Once you get the first ding in it,  
you'll be jumping curbs and driving on the grass in no time.

--
John Truong

On 5-Jun-08, at 4:15 PM, John Mayson wrote: