What I'm writing in....

On a day to day basis, I use a couple of different vessels for thought, to-do lists, appointments, and so on (just like most of you.)

Journal:

I'm writing my journal-type stuff in a Moleskine Large ruled notebook. I'm not partial to the advertising and marketing, but I am a sucker for it. The book has a nice heft and fits in a bag pretty easily. The 240 page count gives the journal a pretty good duration, though I find that I'm burning through leaves faster than I thought. The oilskin cover has a nice retro feel to it and seems to age pretty well. The paper writes nicely for me, but I'm not yet an expert pen/paper-ista. I haven't really found a good use for the pocket that Moleskine puts in the back cover, but I haven't got out for much traveling or sight-seeing. If I was out and about more, I could use it as a memento pouch.

I'm not sure if the next journal I make or buy is going to be a lined journal. I had an unlined journal for my last book but I used a lined sheet behind my current page (which got annoying). I want to try and free hand my handwriting in my next journal.

Calendar:

I received a a Moleskine Pocket 12-Month Daily Planner for a present last Christmas. Awesome. 400 pages of awesome. Same nice paper and cover as the Moleskine notebooks. It has a lot of neat reference pages like a time zone chart, an international area code and internet domain list, an address book insert at the back. I definitely use this one daily. I go back and forth on whether my next planner is going to be weekly or daily.

As a quick aside: why would I buy a paper planner when I have a computer and an iphone? The calendar on the computer is free. It synchronizes with my iphone. Kinda. I had the syncing between my computer calendar and my mac calendar break 3 times in 90 days. Three different reasons. I got tired of troubleshooting it. Have I mentioned how much I hate troubleshooting my own tech kit?

I don't have to troubleshoot my daily planner. It doesn't crash. It doesn't run out of batteries. It's an archaic way to track my appointments and classes and life, but it's one less thing I have to *maintain*.

To-do:

I use a Moleskine Cahier book for a rolling to-do list right now. I got a set of three a few years ago and haven't used them up yet. I'm almost done with this one and then I have a couple of different notebooks to use for my rolling list of "executables." I switched to a pocket list after I tried one of the to-do apps on my iphone. The iphone had to be reset. All my to-do lists = gone. The app was still there on the iphone back up, but my to-dos weren't.

I know I could pay for a program that would sync between the computer and the iphone, or I could use google tasks. Really, I just like the tactile feel of striking off a to do on a piece of paper.

Note taking/ Handwriting practice/ Temporary working space:

I use a generic 8.5 x 11 inch legal pad as a "temporary working space." It's cheap, large, portable. I started using it for notes in my classes. I'd take notes on the pad and then copy them over to my class notebook at home. It gives me a way to review the notes at least once within a week of taking them. But I used a legal pad to work on my math review a few weeks ago. I'm using the backs of the pages to practice my cursive writing - which is really quite atrocious (the handwriting, not the backs of the pages). Sometimes the cheap solution is the right one.

So that's what I use every day. How about you guys?