Please Happy

Over a month ago, Stuff White People Like came up with #122 Moleskine Notebooks (my fave).

Here are some of their assertions about the Legendary* notebooks:

1. “Since all white people consider themselves to be ‘creative,’ they are constantly in need of products and accessories that will allow them to capture their thoughts.”
True and True.

2. “Much like virtually everything else that white people like, these notebooks are considerably more expensive yet provide no additional functionality over regular notebooks that cost a dollar.”
I wrote in a child’s school notebook in Vietnam, and have to say I preferred the Moleskine accoutrements to the cheap graph paper and flimsy cartoon character splattered cover. With Moleskine, you get a back inside cover pocket for meaningful photographs and business cards and an elastic to keep your place. Definitely worth the $20.

3. “But the the growing popularity of these little journals, is not without its own set of problems.  One of the strangest side effects has been the puzzling situation whereby a white person will sit in an independent coffee shop with a Moleskine notebook resting on top of a Apple laptop. … Not only does this help them keep their thoughts organized, but it serves as a signal to the other white people in the shop that the owner of both instruments is truly creative.”
Well, that’s true. For the deep stuff, I use my journal. For bizness, I use my laptop.

Here’s a picture of my journals from the last year. Most are filled with traveling observations and Thich Nhat Hanh lectures. You can tell I’m smart (or verbose) from the high number of notebooks. And you can tell I’m kind of artsy from the stuffed monster beside them. For short jots, like grocery lists, marathon training schedule and what languages I really should learn, I used the thin green one.

*This, from Wikipedia: Although Moleskine claims their notebook has been used by well-known artists and writers, such as Picasso, Matisse, Kurakin and Hemingway, the brand Moleskine was officially registered only in 1996. Francesco Franceschi, head of Modo & Modo’s marketing department, was quoted as saying, “It’s an exaggeration. It’s marketing, not science. It’s not the absolute truth.”

And still, I’m sold. Anything that the greats did, or were even rumored to have done (like scribble on the thin pages of their black notebooks), I want to do, too.