Journals, Blank Books, and the Perfect Little Black Notebook

Diverting for a moment from Fulcrum Ruminations' main purpose, I'm going to talk for a bit about something that's become a minor obsession for me. Like it says in the title of the post, I'm referring to blank books, also known as anything books or journals. There's something about a blank book that strongly appeals to me. Maybe it's that they look for all the world like a finished book and lack only content. Maybe it's the endless possibilities of a blank sheet of paper magnified by the satisfaction of having it bound into the form of a book. Maybe I'm just warped and in need of counseling. Be that as it may.

My hunger for the perfect journal runs deep. Every time I'm in a book store or stationer's, I paw thru whatever versions they may have. Barnes & Noble has a very nice selection, tho most of them are not quite what I'm really looking for. Borders has a lesser selection for some reason. Books a Million is, well, pretty much hopeless. So I google for what might be there. I've found some that I quite covet at places like Aspinal of London, Journal Shelf, and Epica. These are high-end products, some quite pricey, but oh, how they call to me.

I've also found many cheap ones and of course the legendary Moleskine. I have several of these since I do have moments of weakness. I use them to draft blog posts, to write short stories, to take notes, and to do pretty much anything for which you could use a notebook. This obsession has led me to a couple blogs, linked for your convenience over there to the right. Notable here is Black Cover, a blog run by a man whose obsession for the perfect little black notebook dwarfs my own fascination with journals. I find his reviews of pocket-sized notebooks oddly intriguing, even tho I personally think his preferred size (about 3.5″x5.5″) is too small to be truly useful. But right now, he's running a contest in which you can win a new Picadilly notebook. In accordance with the rules of this contest, I've sent him an email with my blog's URL, my email, and my home mailing address. The link to his site has been here on Fulcrum Ruminations for some time already, and now I've added this post to draw further attention to the contest.

You, gentle reader, are invited to peruse Black Cover and see if you find it as interesting and entertaining as I have.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled viewing.