Spring Semester Stationery Setup

A new semester started for me this week, which means my life is once again ruled by school supplies! Last semester taught me a lot (I mean, school-wise, obviously, but also stationery-wise) about what works for me and what doesn't. I've made some adjustments from what I used before, kept a few things that worked well, and of course, got some new supplies. I'm only taking one class this semester (two was too much for a working mom with two kids home virtual learning, and I'm already glad I scaled back) but the format of this class is very different from the ones I took last semester, so some of my adjustments are based on predictions of what I think will work.

First of all, the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Bestseller is back for an encore performance. It worked great last semester, and I have once again put a Clairefontaine Art Deco A5 notebook in it for my class lecture notes, along with the same Nock Co A5 slim notebook to be my school admin notebook. Right now the third clip is empty. It may stay that way. This class is a literature survey, where we'll be reading, taking notes on, and discussing 22 novels. I was going to put my reading notes log in the third clip, but I realized a few things. One, I'm going to need a lot of pages for taking notes on 22 books. Two, I'm going to need something that I'll take with me everywhere. Three, I don't need to take my lecture notes with me everywhere--those typically stay on my desk. So I opted for a separate notebook.

My reading notes book is a Leuchtturm 1917 hardcover. The index and double ribbon make it perfect for this purpose. We're reading 2 books a week, so they can each have their own ribbon. I started reading the books over break, but not in the order we're going to discuss them, so having an index is very helpful for quick reference. I can carry this notebook with me, along with whatever book I'm reading. I also added a Traveler's Company clip-on pen loop, so I can keep my pen handy.

I'll carry them in these great padded book sleeves by Book Beau. I've used them for a while now, and found that they work even better for school than they did for my personal reading. They're designed to keep your books safe and protected in your bag, but I find them useful for also carrying reading supplies. With this larger size, I can fit a thick hardback novel, my reading notebook, and a few pens or highlighters, and sticky notes. That way I have a self-contained reading kit that I can grab and go.

Last semester I used a clipboard for reading my academic article print-outs, but often found that I had more reading than would fit on the clipboard, leading to a complicated folder system that didn't quite work. I dug out this Greenroom Clipfolio to try and address that problem this time. The generous interior pocket should hold some hefty textbook chapters, and I can clip whatever piece I'm actively reading to the front.

Last semester I read about 1500 pages of textbook and academic articles per week, and I went through two to four highlighters every week, for fourteen weeks. I can already tell that this semester my staple school supply will be sticky notes/page flags. I've been using the Midori film star sticky notes for my reading so far, and I'm using about 50 flags per book. I'm almost out already and class just started. I have a JetPens cart full of sticky notes--five different brands, so I can compare them.

Highlighters don't work great in novels. I'll be using them on the printouts, but for underlining and making notes in the books themselves (yes, I'm doing this, don't hate) I'm using Uni-Ball Signo DX pens in the .38 mm tips. They're fine enough for writing notes in small book margins, but the ink is saturated enough that the underlines are easily visible. They're also tiny enough to use in my planner.

I decided to downsize from an A5 planner to the Hobonichi Weeks this year. I've found that, like goldfish, my to-do list will expand to fill the space allowed. I'm hoping that by keeping my planner space minimal, I'll learn to see that the day is full when the space is full and stop trying to add more tasks. That's really not working so far. Instead I'm just running out of space for all the stuff I have to do. But I'm going to keep at it--training brains can take time.

As a side tip, if you use a Weeks and have a zipper case like mine, you're probably also mad about the ribbon bookmarks. Ribbon bookmarks and zipper cases are not compatible! The stationery world has not learned this, yet, somehow. What I do is take a strip of washi tape, and tape the ribbons to the outside of the back cover, so they're tucked inside the cover sleeve. Then I use something else as a bookmark, like the Weeks pencil board, or the Midori clip bookmarks. It works much better than trying to extract shredded ribbon from zipper teeth ten times a day.

That is my setup for this semester! As always, it's subject to changes on-the-go. Sometimes I'm tempted to stick with something that isn't working, just for consistency's sake, but if there's anything I learned in 2020, it's how to change plans.

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June Stationery Carry

My daily carry of stationery has been interesting this past month. For some reason, my turnover in products I am actively using has been lower than what I am used to. Why? I think busyness is the main factor. If I haven't been working my day job or my plethora of night jobs, I have been getting away on the weekends with the family. The weekends seem to be the time when the shuffling of goods happens, and there just hasn't been time.

I've found, over the past several weeks, that this means one important thing: I'm very satisfied with the pens and paper I have been carrying on a daily basis. What I have been taking to the office in my work bag easily makes the jump into my weekend bag with zero changes. That's the sign of a good kit, and contentment with the products I am using. Here is a look at what I am currently carrying:

Pens

-- Sailor Pro Gear Regency Stripe

-- Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Marietta

-- Pilot Vanishing Point Black Faceted

-- Karas Kustoms Ink

-- Pilot Elabo (Falcon)

-- Nakaya Piccolo

-- Lamy Safari

Paper

-- Midori Travelers Notebook

-- Nock Co. DotDash Pocket Notebook

-- Nock Co. DotDash Spiral Pad

Case

-- Nock Co. Brasstown

It’s funny how the perfect carry makes itself sometimes. I moved pens in and out of my Brasstown a lot over the past month or two, and then all of a sudden it stopped. The pens I am carrying are a good match for how I like to write, and cover me for almost all situations.

I want at least one bright ink, and the Sailor Jentle Apricot in the broad-nibbed Pro Gear is pefection. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I want an extra fine nib with black ink for tiny notes and drawings. Stub or cursive italic nibs are a must, which the Franklin-Christoph, Karas Kustoms, and Pilot VP handle nicely, and I want new goods in there too, which the Lamy Safari and inks such as Dromgooles Blue Steel and Kobe #7 Kaikyo Blue do for me.

The lone outlier in the pen department is the Pilot Falcon. The way I use this pen is similar to other EF pens, meaning I just use it to write with. Both the Nakaya and Safari are in the same realm, so I can see the Falcon being the first pen I swap out into someting new.

As far as paper goes, I’ve really narrowed down what I am using regularly. I’ve carried the Midori Travelers Notebook (regular size) with me for months just waiting to bond with it and I think I’ve finally turned that corner. I’ve been using it for planning and general writing, like the newsletter draft I wrote in the picture above. I really like the format and layout of the MTN and see it as a continuous partner.

I also love the two most recent Nock Co. paper products, the black DotDash Pocket Notebook and the DotDash Spiral Pad (Spoiler alert: I own the company.) The Pocket Notebook is the perfect portable companion for short notes and sketches, and the Spiral Pad is great on the desk at home, office, or remote work space.

Between these three notebooks all of my bases are covered. I was carrying two other A5 sized books and two other pocket notebooks along side these three up until a few weeks ago, but found this setup to work best for what I need.

The pen case is the no-brainer of the bunch. The Brasstown offers six individual pen slots, plus a pocket to add a few more if needed. That’s where the Safari rides, for example. When I start carrying the Brasstown plus one or two more filled pen cases with me is when I start to get in trouble. I do that more than I like because I frequently carry new products for testing, and have to be sure not to overwhelm myself with choices, especially redundant ones.

I learned a lot about my likes, dislikes, and needs over the past month. While to most people this seems to be an insane amount of goods to carry at once, to me it is a simplification and refinement of what I had been carrying. We will see how this translate over the coming months as more new (and old) products are shuffled in and out.