It's been a quiet spring on the blog!
The arrival of summer has already brought a measurably slower pace of life, and with it the opportunity to write. I'd like to share my pocket notebook updates.
1) My last homemade constructions were two notebooks made from an Ale-8 six-pack! I cut out the graphic from each side of one of the cases pictured above, filled it with 40 pages of graph paper, added a few inside cover sections, and started using it!
It's an easy enough project and yields a fun and useful result, saving money on cover material. This notebook also served as a trial for a new element of the Endurance Logbook. I'll probably finish filling up the pictured one before June arrives.
2) I've all but forsaken Field Notes. I stopped purchasing them a couple years ago over concerns about their ethical business practice. But I since then, I've picked up a few packs from E-bay and several more as gifts. However I find myself avoiding them more and more. For one thing, the notebooks I have left from them are not my favorites in terms of design; maybe that's why they've sat around this long. For another, their very small graph paper squares have become more of a frustration to me. There are one or two more National Parks notebooks that I will probably still use, but these guys have largely moved out of my rotation. I'll still use them and enjoy them, but given the chance, it's either L&J or homemade. I just saw that their latest summer edition came out. Cool enough graph paper, but honestly? Not as nice-looking or functional as Log and Jotter.
3) Now for my Endurance Logbook update. The Endurance Logbook Model No. 00001 debuted with a print run of 2 copies - one for my Dad and one for me! It was a smashing commercial success. We both really enjoyed using them, and it meant a lot of the technical work for setting up the print job was complete. Now I can tinker without starting from scratch. Since then, I've changed Bible study plans and will probably pursue a slightly different thematic emphasis whenever it's time for Model No. 0000002. Also, I learned that we will want to upgrade the cover paper from Terraslate 8 Mil to 10 Mil paper. It remains to be seen whether a staple will pass through this beefier paper along with 10 sheets of quality graph paper. The 40-page number has become really comfortable for me. I already have a few sheets of 10 Mil paper from a free sample they sent me, enough for a stunningly large print run of 5 Logbooks. I'm also open-minded about the cover design... the Shackleton theme is cool but I like a splash of color. Functionally it's top-notch, but pretty much every Log and Jotter I've ever had looks better.
I'll be sure to update the pocket notebook world when the Logbook 0000000002 releases, along with feedback from my personal testing. Once we settle in on a design, I would seriously like to make a handful of these and let more people try them out. Of course, we might be on Model 00000000000003 before I really settle on something I love.
