Thread: Keep a journal?? Paper/Binding etc.

That's a good idea, I have a terrible memory. I recently posted about keeping a Journal on razor honing, you know, what I did to what blade, what worked, and what didn't simply because I don't remember. You want paper and pen that will stand the test of time. At first I thought maybe putting it into the computer and backing up it to disk, but that's impersonal.
A handwritten journal would be much more valuable to your children, I'm sure. Thanks for sharing you idea...
Rich

Good idea Red,I know your girls will appreciate it!

I picked up a journal about 4 or 5 years ago on ebay, unfortunately I haven't kept at it and only infrequently add to it with major events. My journal has a suede leather cover and string leather binding (holes in the pad for the binding to pass). It's roughly 3x6 (roughly, don't have it at hand to measure).

I also use a fountain pen, a good pen to learn with is a Hero 616, it's a chinese imitation of the Parker 51. I have a vintage Parker 51 demi (vacumatic) as well as the Hero and switch between the two.

I do this for my daughters. On computer. When they are 18 I plan to have it printed, and bound in leather.
I make regular backups of course.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I do this for my daughters. On computer. When they are 18 I plan to have it printed, and bound in leather.
I make regular backups of course.

You should make a font of your handwriting

Thats a great idea, for many reasons! +1 for the Lamy idea. Its a great way to start with fountain pens, I suggest a Safari in your favourite colour, and something in a medium or fine nib. A good thing to add is a converter, so you can use any bottled ink instead of cartridges. Lamy USA - Lamy Pens, Lamy Pencils, and Lamy Refills

Another benefit of this company is they are great with customer service, you can order spare parts should it break, and they are very durable, especially if you get one in aluminum.

You will notice that your hand-writing may become neater as fountain pens tend to slow down the hand a little.

As far as up-keep goes, with a quality pen it shouldn't leak. Just be sure if you fly to have it either completely filled or completely empty, as the change in air pressure will adversly affect the ink, causing a leak. Routine maintenance is pretty basic. Rinse in cool water, flush the nib and cap. As with your razor, you want it dry. I just use wadded up tissue-paper to blot out the excess water, or let it dry overnight. I also flush cool water through the converter, to keep it clean. I like to let the nib rest against a tissue and let it naturally blot out the remaining ink. Then when all is dry, re-assmble, fill with your ink of choice, and you're off and writing.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck with it all! I started with fountain pens in highschool because I hated using scratchy, cheap disposables. I was given a nice Waterman Philieas to start with. Then I bought a Lamy, and have been very happy with it. That was about 9 years ago.

I started a shave journal, just for interest sake. To try and keep track of which razor or technique I did well, what needed to be worked on, and any thoughts or ideas that spring up while shaving. Plus, its a nice relaxing way to finish up a weekend shave especially. The quiet solitude of shaving tends to free the mind and thoughts abound. Sorry if this is a hi-jack.

Forgot to add that pen collecting can be just as addicting as RAD and the others.

Thanks all, I'm finding more and more journals out there. some specifically say that they work with fountain pens. I checked out the bulletproof inks. I need to find a site that has all their bulletproof series in one list. I don't know what color I'll go with, I'm thinking a deep blue or the black.

I doubt I'd get addicted to pens too. first time I have to disassemble and clean one I'll get irritated and pull out a bic.

I make up stories for my older daughter (the younger one isn't at the bed time story stage yet) and want to write them down as well.

Red

I keep journals since 2004 - I call them Notebooks (Cadernos, in my native portuguese), number and date them. I'm currently reaching the end of my "Caderno VII". And the funny thing is... I recently decided to (In good humour...) to write some notes to my grandchlidren... the unborn kids of my unborn (and to be so for yet a long time...) kids... "Grandpa is crazy!" But the serious thing is that these document a lot of my personal and, more importantly, my intelectual life. These can be of great value for family members, I guess, and if I turn out to be a great composer, it may turn out to be important to historians and musicologists!

I think tha keeping a journal is a very important thing. You see an intimate side of the person who wrote the said journals. That way, Big Red, you can take note of a number of things for yourself, but leave a legacy - in fact, a great part of you - to your girls. What you'll put in paper will be more than memory. It will be the time you spent writing those with the love of a father that wishes to leave more of himself to his loved baby girls. I think that is absolutely beatifull... Good for you, Red!

Now... technicalities: I don't use Moleskine notebooks myself but I know that the paper is very good and they will last a long time. The paper is soft and deals very well with good quality ink. They are well made, though a bit expensive. Plus, they are the ultimate "no fuss" journals. Black, hard cover, elastic band to keep them closed and an envelope glued to the back cover (inside...) to keep things. They are expensive though... that's mainly because I don't use them. But again... I am picky and a bit OCD so, because my first "Caderno" was of a different sort, I cannot continue my journals in a radically different book... so I'm stuck with lower quality paper, but with the same level of bright intelectual activity!

Originally Posted by Big Red

I need to find a site that has all their bulletproof series in one list. I don't know what color I'll go with, I'm thinking a deep blue or the black.

Red

there isn't one. they do special colors for different vendors. (for instance, fountainpennetwork.com (the SRP of fountain pens) commissioned a trio of special inks last fall) pendemonium.com has dibs on iraqi indigo (or whatever it's called now) and legal lapis (which is very nice blue-black and is utterly permanent.) fountainpenhospital.com has some exclusives, etc, etc.

I keep a journal of sorts, a professional journal and a private one. While I don't have the fancy fountain pen set up (I'm a very messy person, the ink from a fountain pen would eventually go everywhere), I was able to combine my love for gadgets with the need to take and archive hand written journal entires.

I use a Livescribe Pulse pen religiously and it certainly makes my journal keeping easy and enjoyable.

Here's a link you can check it out:"http://www.livescribe.com/"

All of my handwritten notes, journal and logbook entries can be converted into a document to be stored on my computer in handwritten form or converted to text using a pretty accurate OCR (optical character recognition) software.

I don't even use all of the features. I am definetly giving one of these to my daughter for college.

My job requires me to take a lot of notes and keeping a journal just comes natural. This device really helps me out.

Work notes are kept in big spiral binders and personal journal entires are kept in a moleskine.