Notebooks RSS

I just watched a TikTok about a soldier from WW1 called Thomas Morley. I thought it interesting that he had a notebook called 'The Soldiers Own Diary'. So as someone with a burgeoning interest in notebooks, I thought I’d look into it.#

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It is a small brown cloth book with a bugler stamped in silver on the cover, and Charles Letts & Co. of London sold it to the public. The army did not issue it. In 1918 a cloth copy with a pencil cost one shilling, and a soldier could buy one at a YMCA institute in camp or from a stationer at home.#

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A gunner from the 19th Company, Royal Garrison Artillery, compiled the 1918 edition. It carried useful information for a man at the front and maps of the European war areas on the endpapers, and earlier editions also printed bugle calls and knots.#

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War Time Canada has some great PDF scans of soldiers notebooks.#

Plenty of soldiers just used whatever notebook they could get their hands on. One used a Gordon’s Gin one (PDF). There’s a sad contrast, seeing colourful adverts for gin drinks and recipes in the front pages and entries of war in the other pages.#

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A William Simpson didn’t write much in his notebook, choosing instead to place leaves and butterfly’s in the pages:#

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Soldiers from across the British Empire carried notebooks, and charities such as the Australian Comforts Fund gave a version away. I’m sure many owners wrote only a few lines or left the pages empty, too preoccupied with simply surviving.11 And I’d imagine in a cold, wet trench and being endlessly shelled it’s very difficult to find the energy and motivation to write in your notebook. Not to mention how depressing a lot of your entries would be. I’m not in a war, and I find that far too many of my entries are negative in nature (but maybe that’s just my personality).#

Thomas Morley wrote in his though. On Friday 26 April 1918 he put down in pencil, "Over the top for the first time, 6 am."#

According to the video, his battalion made a major attack that day and a shell wounded his best friend. His friend died the next day, aged 19.#

The place names beside the entry are faint, but they appear to read Villers-Bretonneux, and the second battle for that village ran from 24 to 27 April 1918, which fits the date.#

Morley survived the war. He became a railway worker, married a Hilda Frankland in 1925, and had three children. He died on 11 September 1977, more than 59 years after that morning when he first went over the top.#

Yesterday I picked up a A5 sized 2027 diary from Fortnum & Mason.11 For those who don’t know, Fortnum & Mason is a very high end department store in Piccadilly, London. It’s known for the blue colour used on most of its products (see photo of notebook below), its Christmas hampers which come in a wicker box, and for generally being a British shopping institution. And I have to say, that despite the high cost, it’s a lot better than the little Hatchards one I got. If only because it understands it’s a British institution and has British dates and information in it – not American like the Hatchards one!#

As someone who’s only really bought notebooks, not diaries before, I wish all notebooks had useful information and references at the start of it.#

Here’s the cover:#

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Apparently 2027 is going to be the year of the goat. In the front of the notebook they say there’s a goat on the cover as they have a copper still for making gin called `Amalthea’, which “shares its title with a mythical goat.” But I reckon it’s surely because it’s year of the goat. F&M has a decent amount of wealthy Chinese shoppers.22 The Chinese man in front of me had a trolley of goods. Do you know how rich you have to be to use a trolley at F&M?! For reference, the notebook I bought was £85. A pen I got was £38. It is all insanely pricey. So fill up a trolley it going to cost a fortune. So I’m sure “pandering” to that crowd is happy to see a goat on the cover.#

Here’s what the Fortnum & Mason one has:#

Important British dates#

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Food festivals and game seasons#

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So many I didn’t know about that I can’t wait to celebrate! Like pie week, British beef week, whisky day, sandwich week, biscuit day, picnic day, cream tea day, British food fortnight,33 Will need to look into this one. Not sure what it is exactly. vegan month,44 I think it’s a great idea, trying to be vegan for a month. And November is a great month. Just before Christmas, when meat can be back on the menu, boys. and stir up Sunday,55 Another one to look into..#

Time differences#

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I find it funny than everything in the list is cities. Aside from little Malta, where it just lists the country, rather than their capital city of Valletta. My girlfriends heritage is Maltese, so she’ll find that fun too.#

International dialling codes#

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A bit of a dated edition in 2027. But I almost like that.#

Metric information#

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Just generally useful.#

Wedding anniversaries#

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I didn’t realise that you’re meant to gift stuff like paper, cotton, leather and fruit in the early years. I just knew of golden, diamond and platinum. How cute.#

Wine vintage chart#

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Some of these pages show the type of clientele a F&M diary is for.66 Posh people. This is one for sure, along with the game season section.#

Year planner#

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I’m not really sure how this page is useful, as there’s very little room next to each date. Maybe you should utilise symbols? Such as to show that you’re on annual leave from work perhaps?#

The end of December 2026#

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I like how it includes the last two weeks of the previous year (2026). A lot of people will be getting this diary as a Christmas present, so it means they can start using it right away.#

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I think often about Robert Shields, the man who logged every five minutes of his life.#

I ponder him mainly because I'm a bit of a "logger" myself, so I'm amazed how he managed it.11 Spoiler: autism, I'm sure#

Not only did he write often, but he wrote a lot. He tallied up 37.5 million words from 1972 until 1997 when a stroke disabled him. For reference, Samuel Pepys wrote 1.25 million words in his diary.#

But most of his entries were short. Here's some examples:#

April 18, 1994
6:30–6:35: I put in the oven two Stouffer's macaroni and cheese at 350°.
6:35–6:50: I was at the keyboard of the IBM Wheelwriter making entries for the diary.
6.50–7.30: I ate the Stouffer's macaroni and cheese and Cornelia ate the other one. Grace decided she didn't want one.
7.30–7.35: We changed the light over the back stoop since the bulb had burnt out.#

(You can see lots more examples here)#

I now log via my notebook, but I've mostly done it digitally using an app on my phone called Funnel (App Store link) which would send it to my daily note in Obsidian. But despite having a quick add app on a phone that's nearly always on my person, I'd still struggle to log every five minutes!#

However Robert wouldn't actually create a log every five minutes – that's impossible.22 Especially when you're using a IBM Wheelwriter. He would take handwritten notes throughout the day using a pen and paper and then in the evening he'd type up each five minute log at once on a typewriter. Which would be a lot of work and time. In one entry he said he'd been up since 03:00 writing them. As a result he avoided leaving town and disliked overnight trips because they put him behind.#

For a moment I considered logging just one day of my life every five minutes in honour of Robert. But that frequency is just insane. Fifteen minutes is more doable. Perhaps I’ll try. He died on an October 15th, which is ten days away. Maybe I’ll give every fifteen a go.#

His story is a curious one. You wonder if he had OCD or autism and these logs ruled his life and negatively effected those around him. Or, who knows, perhaps it was his driving purpose in life. And logging down everything was a way of living life more purposefully and ensuring his life would be remembered.#

Like books, you can never have too many notebooks. Though maybe I have too many. But they give me great pleasure, so I don’t mind.#

Just like with books, the anticipation is wonderful – thinking of the day I get to crack it open.11 Which is why, in my opinion a notebook should never have too many pages. Because you eventually get bored of it and become desperate to start a new, fresh one.#

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Now that I’m on the BulletJournal train (adapted slightly by me) I thought I’d give the Leuchtturm1917 x BulletJournal x Dreggriffel pen (that’s a lot of collabs) a go.#

Don’t know why I did. I’ve already found the perfect pen: uni-ball Jetstream 101. And this one cost £29! (the uni-ball costs £6 for 3!)#

It’s a pleasant enough looking pen, with decent weight. But doesn’t write as well as the uni-ball – and isn’t as comfortable.#

Oh well. Maybe I’ll keep it at my desk and use it when I plan my day.#

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Log – 17:58: Had my fairly common weekend naps. And I continue to be worried by it. As if it's indicative of a more serious underlying health problem.#

I've only lived in this house for a year, so maybe this happens every year, but Canadian geese fly overhead most evenings as the sun starts to set. It's a pleasant addition to the day. They wail a little loudly, but they fly low and it's a somewhat magical sight. They remind me of that film "Fly Away Home" each time I see them. Hopefully I get to see them every start of autumn.#

I don't know why, but I just had a sudden jolt of excitement about the work week starting and taking Ritalin again. I haven't taken it many days this week. Firstly because I never take it on the weekends. And secondly because I skipped it on the day I saw Van Morrison and then didn't take it on the day after due to being fairly hungover.#

I've been fretting about how I'm going to include this notebook (an A5 Bullet Journal one) into my "productivity system," worried it might replace my beloved Field Notes. As BuJo is largely for getting tasks done I of course tried to use this notebook for my to-do's, whilst demoting the Field Notes to my log entries. But it was tough to do. An important part of any to-do system is easy capturing into the "inbox." That's tough with a notebook this big and thick. So I've suddenly realised that despite the grid system and handy stickers that this notebook provides I don't have to use it for to-do's at all. At the end of the day it's just a notebook. And it makes sense to use this for just my logs — with its high quality paper and comfortable writing space and hard back — and the Field Notes more for to-dos — with its carryability, general smallness, and ability to bend. I mean hell, I could probably cut down a lot of the BuJo stickers to fit inside it (BuJo also offers its own "pocket" version I could look into). So who knows, maybe I'll try it. The big issue I have with logs + to-dos combined is as someone with ADHD I need my to-do's not only visible, but front and centre — that list needs to almost be sacred. So when I intermix it between my long log entries the to-do's get lost, and forgotten.#

I would love to not have to deal with two notebooks and have just the one. But if I want to go the paper route (and not just use the all digital Todoist) then I think two makes the most sense.#

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Log — 13.17: I got a lovely little twenty twenty-seven weekly planner from Hatchards the booksellers the other [day]. A delicate, vintage looking thing, it has gilded edges, rip-away corners, and plenty of different sections. Made of vegan leather, it's a delightful little thing. Aside from one issue: the "dates of note" are all US dates of note! Hatchards is an English institution and its stores and brand reek of Englishness. So for its branded planner to have US dates of note is an outrage. Offer it as an option, sure, but to make it the default is tantamount to treason. Boo!#

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Just stumbled on an old Tumblr post with a photo of my EDC (every day carry) from the 7th of December 2013:#

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• Then: iPhone 5. Now: iPhone 15.#
• Then: Longines Legend Diver. Now: various watches, but I still have the Longines (though considering selling it)#
• Then: Tom Ford FT5178 glasses. Now: Still have these glasses, but I don't wear them. My prescription changed and I fancied a thinner pair. Currently wearing some Gucci frames.#
• Then: Hard Graft iPhone case. Now: I used this for years. But modern iPhones got too big for it. I now have a rubber case on my phone and a separate wallet. #
• Then: Fisher Space pen. Now: Still owned, but it's a bit small and uncomfortable to write with. My default now is the uni-ball Jetstream 101.#
• Then: Remove Before Flight keyring. Now: Still used! I purchased a pack of five of them and I'm currently on my third one I believe.#
• Then: Field Notes Expedition edition. Now: I still love Field Notes and have used them on and off down the years. In fact, I currently have two on my desk as I write this (see photo below).#
• Then: Dog tag. Now: still owned, but no longer in use. It was a bit cringey.#

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