Moleskine notebooks

A couple of years ago my friend David gave me a Moleskine notebook as a gift. It was from Italy and had a black cloth binding and thick paper. It was so beautiful I was afraid to write in it. I didn't think my notes and sketches were worthy to go into it.

After a couple of weeks, I decided to go ahead and just start using it. And I became hooked. The pocket sized version cost around $12 and lasted several months. It was silly not to use it as my regular note taking book.

The books are also very rugged. Last week, I left one of my Moleskines outside for a week. The sprinkers hit it every day. It was waterlogged when I found it. The pages with ink pen note were kind of smeared, but still legible. The penciled notes were fine. I fanned the book open and left it to dry in the 100-degree heat of our porch for a few days. The pages are kind of warped, making it look swollen, but the cover and binding are in excellent shape. I like it even better this way -- less precious looking.

I've incorporated Moleskines into my daily life. I keep a blank art paper sketchbook (80 pages, 5.25" x 8.25") for sketching, a ruled notebook (240 pages, 5.25" x 8.25") for taking notes, and a pocket ruled notebook (192 pages, 3½" x 5½") for my to-do list.

The company has started making a less-expensive line of notebooks, called the Cahier line, but I'm sticking with the sturdy orginals.