[Fulcanelli]

I must say, after reading the comments I received on this question, I was encouraged to go out and find some of these journals on my own, even though I said I was going to stay with the Moleskine I have been using. Okay, so I lie a little...but I really meant it when I said it, if that counts.

Anyway, I like the no-nonesense look of the Letts of London Soft-Touch, esp. since the web site said it is now available in black. Groovy. I live in a large metropolitan area with tons and tons of stores everywhere. I can usually find anything I want!

From the list of nearby dealers I got from Letts' site, three of the four are no longer in business and the fourth does not stock, nor can get order, the item I want. I don't wanna order it, I wanna see it first.

I'm sure one of these days, I'll be in a department store, or perhaps some offbeat place I would least expect to find this, and there it will be.

Good thing I have a back-up Moleskine cuz I'm ready to record a new chapter in my life.

What kind of places sell journals? Here's the logical places I've come up with...

Bookstores
Pen shops
Stationery Stores
Office Supply outlets

Do you have any others to add to the list?

Thanks.

[Thesaurus Rex]

Fulcinelli-san-

Borders and Barnes and Noble have journals. The bigger the store, the more variety you generally find. Art supply stores generally have a section devoted to books and journals for writing. I have been gravely disappointed with office supply stores on the whole.

Did you say you are in Detroit? Is there a significant Japanese or Chinese area of Detroit? Go to a Japanese grocery and look for school supplies. Even the cheapest Japanese papers will be FP friendly, so basic spiral notebooks work as great journals and often have charming and ridiculous Japanglish phrases across the front.

The Japanese appreciate a good blazing white paper as well. Have you ever tried Japanese calligraphy?

Cheers,
Rex

[KCat]

today was "make up for no BD celebration" Saturday. We had B&N gift cards from Christmas.

Hubby knows I always hit the journal shelves first - though I rarely buy - so we went there. Our B&N is large so there are numerous shelves of journals.

Just for the heck of it I got this little MiguelRius journal (4x6). Plastic cover. not spiral. Not the one mentioned recently that has different colors. This is a red cover with grid paper. It must have 200 pages... I got the small one because if it turned out the paper was too thin or feathered it would be less of a waste.

Takes ink very well - broader line than slicker/heavier papers but still quite nice. the plastic cover is thin but it feels almost like leather. Interesting little journal.

[corienb]

That Lett's narrow ruled ( Velma - I'm with you on this !!) one seems like a perfect notebook, too bad's it's not available here in the Netherlands.. I think.
I've tried small Moleskines but they bleed through terribly. My daily journal is a HEMA agenda ( HEMA is kind of a Walmart I think )

[Fulcanelli]

Thesaurus Rex, on Apr 23 2005, 06:19 PM, said:

Borders and Barnes and Noble have journals. The bigger the store, the more variety you generally find.

++++++++

Did you say you are in Detroit? Is there a significant Japanese or Chinese area of Detroit? Go to a Japanese grocery and look for school supplies.

Yes, I check out EVERY Borders and B&N I visit and most, especially B&N, has a large selection of journals. (That's where I buy my Moleskine, getting an extra 10% off with my membership card.) There are a few I would consider, but most of those are pricey. They have some rather fancy journals, I might add. However, as for the brand names I read about, and particularly the Letts --> nothing. I see many of the Miquelrius journals, but most are a tad cutesy and gosh dang, I take my life seriously, even when I'm writing about it! (Well, okay, I exaggerate, and my journals are mostly linked to my photography adventures, but I still don't care for designer-type journals.) As for the Miquelrius, I really don't care for the different sections/different color design.

B&N seems to carry a few brands made for them.

My mission here was to find the Letts.

We have a large Asian community here, though I suspect more Chinese and Korean than Japanese. I haven't tried the markets yet but drive by them. I will check on their school supply section. I am quite fond of many aspects of Asian culture, but cutesy notebooks is not one of them.

Thanks for the lead.

[Fulcanelli]

BTW, I sent an email to Letts USA and told them the sources they list close to me on their web site are either out of business or do not carry notebooks (yes, I told them which ones, too) and asked them if they have an updated list.

[Thesaurus Rex]

Fulcanelli, on Apr 24 2005, 01:34 AM, said:

I will check on their school supply section. I am quite fond of many aspects of Asian culture, but cutesy notebooks is not one of them.

Thanks for the lead.

Ah, but see, that's the beautiful part. Not all those notebooks are splashed with anime characters and Hello Kidneys. A lot of them are acutally really really nice. There's a set called "Boston Note" that come in bigger sizes, narrow ruled, still around five or six bucks.

I can't stand anime.

[KCat]

Fulcanelli, on Apr 24 2005, 04:34 AM, said:

designer-type journals.) As for the Miquelrius, I really don't care for the different sections/different color design.

i tried them because they were on sale. But I grew bored with it quickly. And my attempts to use the different sections for different purposes always fail.

the little 4x6 I bought is a grid much like Rhodia. The paper is thinner but it took my Levenger Cobalt with very little show through. It's a very fine nib though.

It remains to be seen if it would be a habit as I usually prefer spiral or similar bindings that allow me to lay the book or fold it back.

Pendemonium only carries a small selection of this brand because most of them they feel are just not fountain pen friendly.

so many choices... so little time...

[Fulcanelli]

Thesaurus Rex, on Apr 24 2005, 10:14 AM, said:

Ah, but see, that's the beautiful part.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Titivillus]

Thesaurus Rex, on Apr 23 2005, 08:19 PM, said:

Fulcinelli-san-

Borders and Barnes and Noble have journals. The bigger the store, the more variety you generally find. Art supply stores generally have a section devoted to books and journals for writing. I have been gravely disappointed with office supply stores on the whole.

Did you say you are in Detroit? Is there a significant Japanese or Chinese area of Detroit? Go to a Japanese grocery and look for school supplies. Even the cheapest Japanese papers will be FP friendly, so basic spiral notebooks work as great journals and often have charming and ridiculous Japanglish phrases across the front.

The Japanese appreciate a good blazing white paper as well. Have you ever tried Japanese calligraphy?

Cheers,
Rex

I have a complete calligraphy kit from Hong Kong that I got because it was the only one with chops large enough for my name. But I have worked my way partially throught the Mustard Seed Garden book as well as some very basic Haikus. It is very calming to sit and grind the ink unfortunately I still haven't been able to judge how much I need so I'm always stopping to grind 3/4 of the way through the project. I've done some colored beyond black for bamboo leaves. Some have come out very nice.

kurt h

[Fulcanelli]

This post has been edited by Fulcanelli: 25 April 2005 - 01:38 AM

[Fulcanelli]

Thesaurus Rex, on Apr 23 2005, 06:19 PM, said:

Have you ever tried Japanese calligraphy?

There was a time in my life when I had too many interests, and I had to sit myself down and carefully select the ones that mean the most.

Japanese calligraphy is not on the list.

[KCat]

Fulcanelli, on Apr 24 2005, 08:37 PM, said:

There was a time in my life when I had too many interests, and I had to sit myself down and carefully select the ones that mean the most.

Japanese calligraphy is not on the list.

it's low on my list but that's because I'm not too good with anything resembling "art".

My niece is a budding Manga artist though. She loves the stuff and my brother has a very close friend from Japan who has sent them some beautiful renderings (??) done by his mother. I'm afraid it wouldn't be terribly therapeutic for me. I'm far too critical of myself.

I use tiny watercolor paintbrushes to touch up small mistakes when painting walls in my house.

[KendallJ]

Kcat -

The interesting thing about oriental calligraphy is that it is not meant to be drawn strict to form. In fact, putting your own interpretation to the kanji is part of what makes it art in Japan. It's not quite like European calligarphy where letter form is very important.

[Fulcanelli]

It has a "Zen" sense, sort of like in Zen archery how the arrow shoots itself?