Blank Page # 137

Every Wednesday at Notebookism we open a "Blank Page" -  your chance to ask, answer and discuss anything notebook-related.  Keep it nice, keep it relevant.

Blank Page, an Open Thread.

Comments

[david bogie]

How are we going to rekindle interest and excitement about Notebookism?

david boise ID

[Armand]

Hold giveaways;) Coming this Friday.

[Violet]

Yeah, I keep finding myself browsing through notebook blogs these days without the old exitement. Some years ago, when Moleskines were new and keeping a notebook was considered freaky-ish, everyone seemed so excited and awe-struck. As if we had just invented notebooks. As if we had just invented writing! I devoured every post, every day, in the handfull of secret blogs about notebook-keeping. It was magical.

Is the magic now gone? I don't know. I still love notebooks. I still own too many unused ones, I still order too many new ones whenever I can. I still spend too much money on pens and pen cases and pretty bags in which to carry notebooks and pens. Maybe the magic isn't gone, maybe it's just... grown up. That can be just as fine, I think.
I find that reading about someone who owns a notebook doesn't excite me that much anymore. Back then, every comment on Moleskinerie that said, 'hey, I just bought a ruled one!', made me giddy. Now it bores me. Who hasn't already at least one Moleskine nowadays? But I find I like other things now. Things like:
pics of people writing in notebooks,
pics of notebooks in general,
reading notebook-related passages in novels,
discussing journal writing,
pics of messy notebooks,
pics of handwriting

What do you like? What are you hoping to see here on Notebookism when you come here?

[kio]

Me too.

I feel like Moleskinerie hasn't been the same since it was bought by the company. It just doesn't have the 'user flair' anymore. Moleskines themselves are seemingly an increasing fad, and no longer 'an elite club.' They're not unique. And, with all of the tacky different varieties they're making (Passion series, the million types of calendars), the brand is becoming indistinguishable, and a gimmicky fad. It's becoming too corporate, and it's trying too hard to win people over- forgetting it's long-term audience.

Notebookism... I've always liked this site, but it's been virtually non-existent for so long. I almost don't expect anything new when I visit.

Like the person above, I'd much rather discuss notebooks in general, or journal writing, or art, than seeing product reviews or featured artists ALL the time. Some product reviews or featured artists are fun, but I'd rather not see ONLY that.. like you do on Moleskinerie now. I don't care about exhibits or shows. I dislike the posts about politics or green living or any 'hot topics'- it's a blog about paper notebooks, not social commentary.
What would be interesting would be studies on how journal-writing or paper notebooks effect society, in terms of social norms, psychology, etc.

Another problem is that there seems to virtually be no community left. The Moleskine and Notebookism online communities used to be quite active. Now, you're lucky if you get an interesting conversation going every 6 months. The main 'leaders' are gone. There aren't interesting discussions on Flickr or similar sites anymore.

There needs to be a community again,...
and not a corporate-drone one. I don't like being moderated by a company, I want to be able to critique them as needed. There needs to be interesting discussions about journaling, writing, and art. I don't get inspired by featured artists or expos. We need some human interaction, and intriguing topics. Maybe even a series on how to journal, why, etc. Same with art or note taking or other notebook uses. I want practical and informative articles.

[Rowland Jones]

I agree with the comments about product reviews and other new stuff: in the early 80's I wrote an article in Sound on Sound - a music technology magazine called 'Technolust' (a word I think I coined...) the basic idea was that people who start off wanting to write & record music, or take photographs, and now keeping a journal, become obsessed with the implements/technology and forget the original idea: praying that the latest reverb unit, digital SLR or journal will make the difference. We know it won't really but we succumb to it...... who amongst us doesn't have enough writing materials to open a small emporium.... and that's OK as long as we still use a journal. (sorry still can't accept 'journalling' as a verb.....)
More importantly let's just get on with doing it and sharing our own experiences, and let's not get distraught just because Moleskines have become popular: the fact that 35 mm photography boomed with Cartier-Bresson and co., didn't devalue the medium. and certianly didn't devalue the content. In short, I don't care whether you use a moleskine, and Mont Blanc, or a hand-made leather journal
or bits of newspaper stapled together: I'm interested in what you do and why. Simple as that.
Have fun,
Rowland

[Violet]

Looks like Moleskinerie and Notebookism are completely falling asleep. It's really a pity.

[oct729]

Welcome back Sophie Rowland. Haven't seen you in a while.

Good point about the practice of what you do mattering more than the crap you buy to do it with.

Painting or journaling or photographing or skiing or fishing or whatever it is, people do tend to loose themselves in the tools and forget the point. If someone sucks at something, they'll suck regardless of tool (granted, nicer tools help somewhat). But, a tool shouldn't define what someone is capable of.

Violet--

It does appear they're been sleepy a very long time.

I come back so often, just hoping it's revived.

Moleskinerie just hasn't been the same since it was bought out. They used to publish both the good and bad about the product, including product quality problems. Somehow, there was more inspiration to be found then. Now, it's either crap to buy on Etsy or some other site, or featured person of the month. It's interesting to see how others use Moleskine, but not if that's the only thing ever posted here.

The zeal of the brand seems to have faded in the past 1-2 years. It doesn't have half of the ACTIVE social network community that it once did, the novelty has worn off for newbies, and the oldies are getting fed up with inconsistent quality and constant product addictions (and increasing prices, across the board). I never thought I'd say it, but I've been tempted to move on from Moleskine so very many times, more and more. The tool still exists, but the price has gone up, quality has gone down. I'm losing reasons of why I want to pay $12+ for a now less-than-stellar notebook. The quality isn't nearly like it used to be, even a year or two back. If the quality was always good in each product, I could ignore the b.s. new product lines, the raising prices, the lack of active social network/sense of community, the availability, etc.

[ExcaliburZ]

There is not enough inovation. Moleskine came out with Passion and Quo Vadis came out with Memorie. I bought a Ciak notebook this week and that fact that the elastic band was horizontal is till a "thing" for me. That the notebook does not look like a Moleskine is pretty big thing for me right now.

[Notebook Stories]

In response to Kio and Rowland, I'm not trying to poach readers from Notebookism, but Notebook Stories is updated daily with lots of notebook images, thoughts on journaling, photos and reviews. I'd love to have your participation in the community there too.

[plant]

No posts since April.. wow.

There used to be posts weekly, if not more often.

If you're not using it, can't the blog just be officially closed and deleted? We're all wasting our time hoping that one day we'll visit the site and it will be alive again.