Today I finally made a video flip through of my daily Traveler's Notebook. I think a new video was long overdue, specialy now that I'm approaching 1000 subscribers on YouTube.... Which also means there's a giveaway coming. =) First for the 1000 subscriber mark and secondly to celebrate the fact that I've now been making Traveler's Notebook for over a year and still loving them. Finding new ways to use them and trying out new techniques, like with my new "Journey" TN. It replaces my old (32, sadly not 42) work TN. Finding new ways to work with leather.. well I needed a new pen-case.... The black pen-case is the second I made and the brown one below is the first one I made, the prototype so to speak.. Made one for my daughter as well and plan to start selling them, once my leather supplier has sourced the right leather. I'm using the Traveler's Notebooks as a planner, journal, for my etsy shop and as an art journal. And have quite a few in use at the moment... I love the versatility of these notebook covers ;-) I hope you liked my little video flip-through and I hope to be back soon with a give away. Have a wonderful week

John Locke's unique method of indexing his common place books.

When I first heard about a common place book, I had been taking a three hour long creative writing course. My teacher explained that...

'When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.' - Marcus Aurelius Before I began my work for the day, one of the most famous Roman Emperors - Marcus Aurelius, tapped me on the…

As the New Year begins, the commonplace book tradition is alive and well, at least as well as any tradition can be that has lived as long and through as many centuries as it has. Nancy Kelly writes a beautiful blog on the importance of commonplacing and some of its historical antecedents on her blog, Sage Parnassus. A friend who introduced me to the commonplace book tradition and I am sure has read every book in the New York Public Library sends me a passage from Willard Randall’s Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. (I guess this is one she hadn’t got around to yet.) “In my youth I was much disposed to contemplation…I committed to manuscript such sentiments or arguments, as appeared most consonant to reason, lest through the debility of memory my improvement should have been less gradual. This method of scribbling I practiced for many years, from which I experienced great advantages in the progression of learning and knowledge…of grammar and language, as well as the art of reasoning…” In a 19th Century American Literature class at St. Mary’s College in California, Professor Barry Horwitz requires his students write in their online commonplace book during each class period. They are instructed that each entry should include at least three quotations they found significant from the class readings. He tells the students to choose passages that offer a powerful statement or one that helps to understand the text or that makes a strong impression, say one you disagree with or one that rings true to your life. As the term progresses, each student’s commonplace book is posted on the class website. An example of those from one class of twenty-eight students is shown here. Have a look--each one is distinctive, annotated thoughtfully, with attractive themes. Periodically, “The Berkeley Daily Planet” publishes Dorothy Bryant’s annotated diary of the passages she adds to her commonplace book. Here is her latest: “He who despairs because of the news is a coward, but he who sees hope in the human condition is mad.” Albert Camus, 1943, occupied France. Bryant comments: “Camus wrote that sentence in his journal as he began dangerous underground work in France against the occupying Nazis. Under these conditions, his terse statement sounds like one of those dark jokes one makes in order to ease tension when engaged in activities that may bring capture, torture, and death at any moment. Today, in more “ordinary” times, this statement seems merely an echo of our passing thoughts as we scan the daily news in print or on TV. Do we ever pat ourselves on the back for maintaining this heroic balancing act? We should. Happy Holidays. The “American Scholar” continues its practice of including a commonplace book section at the end of each issue. It does so by collecting notable quotations on a single theme in a two-page spread without comment or annotation. Fear was the theme of the Winter 2012 issue. “Fear is the basic condition…the job that we’re here to do is to learn how to live win a way that we’re not terrified all the time.” David Foster Wallace “I begin to believe in only one civilizing influence—the discover one of these days of a destructive agent so terrible that War shall mean annihilation and men’s fears shall force them to keep the peace. Wilkie Collins. Here are a couple on Fear from my commonplace book: “Is it so that everything we do is done out of fear of loneliness? ….Why else do we hold on to all these broken marriages, false friendships, boring birthday parties? What would happen if we refused all that, put an end to the skulking blackmail and stood on our own?” Pascal Mercier “…sometimes seeing one’s fears written down, seeing them articulated, can reduce their efficacy. I don’t mean that having them before you on a piece of paper causes them to evaporate, but it can lessen their potency.” Elliot Perlman

Why should you be commonplacing? Hint: you'll create the best book you've ever owned.

Well, the idea of keeping a commonplace book has clearly struck a nerve. Not only did the article make the front page of Reddit and blow up on Facebook and Twitter, but many people emailed in their…

Commonplacing was once a verb that referred to the process of copying out and managing selections from one’s reading. In antiquity the practice originated in loci communes, or “common places,” under...

Consider these commonplacing examples for you to try out:

Some of you may have been overwhelmed by the amount of things recommended to include in your commonplace book by the “John Locke” and “Jenny Rallens” methods. I’m here…

I keep a commonplace book because I want to keep track of the best articles and books I read. A commonplace book is like a “thinker’s journal” that serves as a focused act of self-reflection and way…

Consider these commonplacing examples for you to try out:

So I've been gone for a while. That's my bad. I'm sorry. School, both teaching and attending, has been kicking my butt. Between getting the kids ready for the EOG tests and taking this special education course for my license, I am pooped. NOT TO MENTION, my family came down from Pittsburgh and I was swept up in all that wonderful family drama excitement. But now that I'm back, I thought I would discuss what a commonplace book is first, then how I was introduced and why I am obsessed! A commonplace book is an old idea that people are putting new spins on. Wikipedia defines them as: Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books were essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas. Commonplaces were used by readers, writers, students, and scholars as an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts they had learned. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator's particular interests. I googled images of commonplace books and I was blow away. I really loved this one. Source Needless to say, planner ladies (and gents I guess) have put their on stank on it. I was first introduced to the idea of a commonplace book after reading "A discovery Of Witches" and the main character had one when she traveled through time and it was some amazing relic by the time they returned. I had to have one. Some days I just write quotes and definitions of words that I want to use later one, and other times I talk about what is happening in my life at the current moment. It may or may not be important :) Honestly, It's just whatever comes to mind. I also use it for recipes, to document places I've gone, or to do writing prompts. Of course, there is an abundance of washi, stickers, and color all over the place. It really just depends on what I have going on. I decorate my pages in advance with the washi and sometimes with the stickers because I absolutel hate a blank page (here are some of the ways I decorate). I have to do something to take away my blank page fear. I try to have an overall color scheme, but I honeslty just do what I want. I think we lose the calm that comes with journaling when we focus too much on what everyone else does. I adore the planner community and all the inspiration I get on Instagram, but I have to make things my own. I like to think I have my own style. This page below is actually out of my bullet journal. I tend to get all crafty with all of the notebooks inside my ZenKraft. and believe it or not, I've actually pre-ordered a ZenKoraft in this deep sea blue color. I know I have an obsession, but I just can't seem to resist. Once I see it, its like this frenzy comes over me and I just have to have it. This was my new years resolution page at the end of 2014. I thought I'd include it. As of late, I've been doing a lot of thinking about being an expert. In general. Being an expert at something you love. Do you feel like you're an expert at anything? I don't. I feel like I am a jackie of all trades but a master of none. And in the age of the interwebs, that is just unacceptable. I think I should put some effort into the things I really want to become my expertise. Like blogging, or photography. Ohhh or wine..... must try lots and lots of wine.... What are you an expert in? Or are you a jack of all trades?

In the last post about structuring commonplace books, I detailed Jenny Rallens’ method of organization. In this post, I am going to be giving an overview of English philosopher John LockeR…

So I've been gone for a while. That's my bad. I'm sorry. School, both teaching and attending, has been kicking my butt. Between getting the kids ready for the EOG tests and taking this special education course for my license, I am pooped. NOT TO MENTION, my family came down from Pittsburgh and I was swept up in all that wonderful family drama excitement. But now that I'm back, I thought I would discuss what a commonplace book is first, then how I was introduced and why I am obsessed! A commonplace book is an old idea that people are putting new spins on. Wikipedia defines them as: Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books were essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas. Commonplaces were used by readers, writers, students, and scholars as an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts they had learned. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator's particular interests. I googled images of commonplace books and I was blow away. I really loved this one. Source Needless to say, planner ladies (and gents I guess) have put their on stank on it. I was first introduced to the idea of a commonplace book after reading "A discovery Of Witches" and the main character had one when she traveled through time and it was some amazing relic by the time they returned. I had to have one. Some days I just write quotes and definitions of words that I want to use later one, and other times I talk about what is happening in my life at the current moment. It may or may not be important :) Honestly, It's just whatever comes to mind. I also use it for recipes, to document places I've gone, or to do writing prompts. Of course, there is an abundance of washi, stickers, and color all over the place. It really just depends on what I have going on. I decorate my pages in advance with the washi and sometimes with the stickers because I absolutel hate a blank page (here are some of the ways I decorate). I have to do something to take away my blank page fear. I try to have an overall color scheme, but I honeslty just do what I want. I think we lose the calm that comes with journaling when we focus too much on what everyone else does. I adore the planner community and all the inspiration I get on Instagram, but I have to make things my own. I like to think I have my own style. This page below is actually out of my bullet journal. I tend to get all crafty with all of the notebooks inside my ZenKraft. and believe it or not, I've actually pre-ordered a ZenKoraft in this deep sea blue color. I know I have an obsession, but I just can't seem to resist. Once I see it, its like this frenzy comes over me and I just have to have it. This was my new years resolution page at the end of 2014. I thought I'd include it. As of late, I've been doing a lot of thinking about being an expert. In general. Being an expert at something you love. Do you feel like you're an expert at anything? I don't. I feel like I am a jackie of all trades but a master of none. And in the age of the interwebs, that is just unacceptable. I think I should put some effort into the things I really want to become my expertise. Like blogging, or photography. Ohhh or wine..... must try lots and lots of wine.... What are you an expert in? Or are you a jack of all trades?

So I've been gone for a while. That's my bad. I'm sorry. School, both teaching and attending, has been kicking my butt. Between getting the kids ready for the EOG tests and taking this special education course for my license, I am pooped. NOT TO MENTION, my family came down from Pittsburgh and I was swept up in all that wonderful family drama excitement. But now that I'm back, I thought I would discuss what a commonplace book is first, then how I was introduced and why I am obsessed! A commonplace book is an old idea that people are putting new spins on. Wikipedia defines them as: Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books were essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas. Commonplaces were used by readers, writers, students, and scholars as an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts they had learned. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator's particular interests. I googled images of commonplace books and I was blow away. I really loved this one. Source Needless to say, planner ladies (and gents I guess) have put their on stank on it. I was first introduced to the idea of a commonplace book after reading "A discovery Of Witches" and the main character had one when she traveled through time and it was some amazing relic by the time they returned. I had to have one. Some days I just write quotes and definitions of words that I want to use later one, and other times I talk about what is happening in my life at the current moment. It may or may not be important :) Honestly, It's just whatever comes to mind. I also use it for recipes, to document places I've gone, or to do writing prompts. Of course, there is an abundance of washi, stickers, and color all over the place. It really just depends on what I have going on. I decorate my pages in advance with the washi and sometimes with the stickers because I absolutel hate a blank page (here are some of the ways I decorate). I have to do something to take away my blank page fear. I try to have an overall color scheme, but I honeslty just do what I want. I think we lose the calm that comes with journaling when we focus too much on what everyone else does. I adore the planner community and all the inspiration I get on Instagram, but I have to make things my own. I like to think I have my own style. This page below is actually out of my bullet journal. I tend to get all crafty with all of the notebooks inside my ZenKraft. and believe it or not, I've actually pre-ordered a ZenKoraft in this deep sea blue color. I know I have an obsession, but I just can't seem to resist. Once I see it, its like this frenzy comes over me and I just have to have it. This was my new years resolution page at the end of 2014. I thought I'd include it. As of late, I've been doing a lot of thinking about being an expert. In general. Being an expert at something you love. Do you feel like you're an expert at anything? I don't. I feel like I am a jackie of all trades but a master of none. And in the age of the interwebs, that is just unacceptable. I think I should put some effort into the things I really want to become my expertise. Like blogging, or photography. Ohhh or wine..... must try lots and lots of wine.... What are you an expert in? Or are you a jack of all trades?

For some individuals, it’s merely a book of quotes they want to remember and draw upon later.

A great writer is a professional reader. The man who strings words that everyone reads, the story-smith who compiles fascinating fictio...

Finally an update !! earlier this month i started itching for more room in my planner + so this week i started up a new planner in an A5 leuchtturm1917 (link). Having an A5 planner used to be out of...

So I've been gone for a while. That's my bad. I'm sorry. School, both teaching and attending, has been kicking my butt. Betwee...

So I've been gone for a while. That's my bad. I'm sorry. School, both teaching and attending, has been kicking my butt. Between getting the kids ready for the EOG tests and taking this special education course for my license, I am pooped. NOT TO MENTION, my family came down from Pittsburgh and I was swept up in all that wonderful family drama excitement. But now that I'm back, I thought I would discuss what a commonplace book is first, then how I was introduced and why I am obsessed! A commonplace book is an old idea that people are putting new spins on. Wikipedia defines them as: Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books were essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas. Commonplaces were used by readers, writers, students, and scholars as an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts they had learned. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator's particular interests. I googled images of commonplace books and I was blow away. I really loved this one. Source Needless to say, planner ladies (and gents I guess) have put their on stank on it. I was first introduced to the idea of a commonplace book after reading "A discovery Of Witches" and the main character had one when she traveled through time and it was some amazing relic by the time they returned. I had to have one. Some days I just write quotes and definitions of words that I want to use later one, and other times I talk about what is happening in my life at the current moment. It may or may not be important :) Honestly, It's just whatever comes to mind. I also use it for recipes, to document places I've gone, or to do writing prompts. Of course, there is an abundance of washi, stickers, and color all over the place. It really just depends on what I have going on. I decorate my pages in advance with the washi and sometimes with the stickers because I absolutel hate a blank page (here are some of the ways I decorate). I have to do something to take away my blank page fear. I try to have an overall color scheme, but I honeslty just do what I want. I think we lose the calm that comes with journaling when we focus too much on what everyone else does. I adore the planner community and all the inspiration I get on Instagram, but I have to make things my own. I like to think I have my own style. This page below is actually out of my bullet journal. I tend to get all crafty with all of the notebooks inside my ZenKraft. and believe it or not, I've actually pre-ordered a ZenKoraft in this deep sea blue color. I know I have an obsession, but I just can't seem to resist. Once I see it, its like this frenzy comes over me and I just have to have it. This was my new years resolution page at the end of 2014. I thought I'd include it. As of late, I've been doing a lot of thinking about being an expert. In general. Being an expert at something you love. Do you feel like you're an expert at anything? I don't. I feel like I am a jackie of all trades but a master of none. And in the age of the interwebs, that is just unacceptable. I think I should put some effort into the things I really want to become my expertise. Like blogging, or photography. Ohhh or wine..... must try lots and lots of wine.... What are you an expert in? Or are you a jack of all trades?

My research and development has focused on the history of Common Place books as a direct relationship to popular culture.Following my main research interests of 19th women’s social history, folk …

As the New Year begins, the commonplace book tradition is alive and well, at least as well as any tradition can be that has lived as long and through as many centuries as it has. Nancy Kelly writes a beautiful blog on the importance of commonplacing and some of its historical antecedents on her blog, Sage Parnassus. A friend who introduced me to the commonplace book tradition and I am sure has read every book in the New York Public Library sends me a passage from Willard Randall’s Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. (I guess this is one she hadn’t got around to yet.) “In my youth I was much disposed to contemplation…I committed to manuscript such sentiments or arguments, as appeared most consonant to reason, lest through the debility of memory my improvement should have been less gradual. This method of scribbling I practiced for many years, from which I experienced great advantages in the progression of learning and knowledge…of grammar and language, as well as the art of reasoning…” In a 19th Century American Literature class at St. Mary’s College in California, Professor Barry Horwitz requires his students write in their online commonplace book during each class period. They are instructed that each entry should include at least three quotations they found significant from the class readings. He tells the students to choose passages that offer a powerful statement or one that helps to understand the text or that makes a strong impression, say one you disagree with or one that rings true to your life. As the term progresses, each student’s commonplace book is posted on the class website. An example of those from one class of twenty-eight students is shown here. Have a look--each one is distinctive, annotated thoughtfully, with attractive themes. Periodically, “The Berkeley Daily Planet” publishes Dorothy Bryant’s annotated diary of the passages she adds to her commonplace book. Here is her latest: “He who despairs because of the news is a coward, but he who sees hope in the human condition is mad.” Albert Camus, 1943, occupied France. Bryant comments: “Camus wrote that sentence in his journal as he began dangerous underground work in France against the occupying Nazis. Under these conditions, his terse statement sounds like one of those dark jokes one makes in order to ease tension when engaged in activities that may bring capture, torture, and death at any moment. Today, in more “ordinary” times, this statement seems merely an echo of our passing thoughts as we scan the daily news in print or on TV. Do we ever pat ourselves on the back for maintaining this heroic balancing act? We should. Happy Holidays. The “American Scholar” continues its practice of including a commonplace book section at the end of each issue. It does so by collecting notable quotations on a single theme in a two-page spread without comment or annotation. Fear was the theme of the Winter 2012 issue. “Fear is the basic condition…the job that we’re here to do is to learn how to live win a way that we’re not terrified all the time.” David Foster Wallace “I begin to believe in only one civilizing influence—the discover one of these days of a destructive agent so terrible that War shall mean annihilation and men’s fears shall force them to keep the peace. Wilkie Collins. Here are a couple on Fear from my commonplace book: “Is it so that everything we do is done out of fear of loneliness? ….Why else do we hold on to all these broken marriages, false friendships, boring birthday parties? What would happen if we refused all that, put an end to the skulking blackmail and stood on our own?” Pascal Mercier “…sometimes seeing one’s fears written down, seeing them articulated, can reduce their efficacy. I don’t mean that having them before you on a piece of paper causes them to evaporate, but it can lessen their potency.” Elliot Perlman

After their invention by Venetian merchants, forms of these books were kept by everyone from H.P. Lovecraft to Thomas Jefferson.

my new lil planner !! i’ve filmed a video about why I changed notebook + talking about the new one + it’s very gradually uploading, so stay tuned for that! I’m so so content with this little notebook,...

Enchanting illustrations bring to life “a book that has to be experienced rather than fully understood.”

Make your own Bible. Select and Collect all those words and sentences that in all your reading have been to you like the blast of trumpet out of Shakespeare, Seneca, Moses, John and Paul. Emerson Journals July 1836 Recently I published a short monograph on commonplace books, A Commonplace Book Primer. As regular readers of this blog are fully aware, keeping such a collection is an essential component of my reading experience. In the Prologue I note that most of the readers I know or observe do not keep a record of the memorable passages they come upon in the books they read. The Primer is written in the belief that there is much to be gained by doing so. There is nothing complicated about this. One need only think of it as a notebook where you record some of the ideas, questions, poems, or expressions that strike you as notable in some way. The commonplace book concept originated in Greek and Roman antiquity for students and scholars to keep a record of the knowledge and moral wisdom of the day. It was intended as a source to draw upon in writing, speeches, education, and legal argument. That was pretty much their sole purpose until the development of printed encyclopedias after which the practice gradually became less common and the few that were kept became a personal record of notable passages from a person’s reading history. This remains its primary purpose today. I am often asked, “Why keep a commonplace book? After all, reading is such a great pleasure, why interrupt it by turning away from the page to spend the time recording a pithy passage?” It is not hard for me to answer. First, I believe that keeping a commonplace book gives rise to a deeper form of reading. If you stop to think further about something you have read, then mark it in some way, and eventually add it to your commonplace book, you will inevitably read more carefully, more reflectively, and no doubt more slowly than you normally do. Secondly, memories are fleeting and what we read is quickly forgotten. However, if we have added the quotations, poems, and fragments we wish to save to our commonplace book, they can be preserved and readily reviewed or drawn upon whenever we wish. Finally, I have also come to believe there is genuine personal value served by keeping a commonplace book. Not only is it a fund of knowledge and source of new ideas, it can also lead to personal insight and understanding. This has been true for me each time I go back to review the entries I have made, as well as in the informal studies I have carried out on my own commonplace book. In the Primer I review the history of commonplace books, their future in a world where electronic readers are becoming increasingly popular, and the variety of benefits the practice of keeping this kind of record can have for readers of all forms of literature.

ZIbaldone, the word means a heap of things or miscellany in Italian. As a commonplace book, it can be described as a register of continuous learning.