Archive for September, 2012

Baby’s first

Posted September 28, 2012 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

I’ve written before about the documentary impulse that digital photography seems to have fostered in all of us. It gets even worse with kids, because of course they grow up fast and do a lot of cute things along the way, and there are always friends and relatives who are clamoring for an update.

Since they’re easier to share, I tend to take pictures of my son with my cell phone or iPad rather than my camera. I’ve been meaning to start a scrapbook and take more “proper” photographs, but I never seem to get the time! Maybe when he’s older… like, 18. In the meantime, I’m in awe of people who are together enough to write their children’s milestones down in a diary.

Do you have kids (or pets or adorable friends) whose activities you like to keep up with? What do you do to record the different phases?

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Keep The Lights On

Posted September 27, 2012 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People, Where to Go? | Add your comment »

About a year and a half ago, I got a call from a prop manager asking for some Clairefontaine notebooks for a movie that was being filmed in New York.  I can’t remember if the director liked them, or one of the actors, or one of the characters in the movie (or a mix of the two), but we were all enthused and prepared some classic clothbound and spiral notebooks.  Somone from the film company came and picked them up the next day.  Like magic dust, when we do get a product call, a little of the glamour and excitment of the movies infuses the office. 

The title of the film was “Keep The Lights On,” and it was a love story between two men–a filmmaker and a closeted lawyer who becomes a drug addict.  The film is the fictionalized story of Bill Clegg, who wrote about his struggle with crack in his book, “Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man,” and Ira Sachs, the director of the film.  You can see a trailer here.

The film opened in New York and Los Angeles on September 7, 2012, and is now playing in my favorite NYC theater, the Angelika.

Let me know if you spot any of the notebooks!

 

 

 

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Art book, notebook, scrapbook, journal

Posted September 26, 2012 by
in Beautiful Creations | 1 comment »

I’m still playing catch-up on all the pen-and-paper related things that I missed on maternity leave, so it wasn’t till yesterday that I read this post by artist (and friend of QV) Marie Johansen on hybrid journals. In it, she describes how she decided to merge her writing and art journals and give herself permission to let them not be perfect:

By simply allowing my journal to be an everything journal I feel so much more free to add silly things like receipts and color splashes, envelopes that hold a challenge instruction of feathers I found along a walk. Brilliant. So much more fun and colorful to leaf through as well!

Do you mix media in your own journals?

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Outdoor Notebooks

Posted September 24, 2012 by
in Editorial | 21 comments »

I often tote around a notebook to write reminders or jot down some thought or observation.  I have memo pads (Clairefontaine) in the car for grocery and errand reminders. I have one in my bag (Rhodia-No. 12) for work lists and ideas.  But I also have one I pack around with me outdoors.  It is a Quo Vadis “Notes Club” that I picked off our samples shelf in the office.  France had sent us a few to consider, and while we ended up not putting them in the catalog, I liked their sturdiness, the thick elastic band and the nice heft of their feel.  Here’s the link to their page on the French site. 

I use Club Notes as my outdoor notebook.  It is primarily for observations walking along the beach but I use it for backyard nature, too. I keep notes of the number and whereabouts of piping plovers, osprey nests and chicks; where on the beach hermit crabs tend to appear, a record of the robin family in my rose trellis, the time hummers appear for mimosa blossoms; and when I spot my first wooly worm, and what kind of winter they predict.

Who else keeps an outdoor log or likes to write outdoors?  What kind of notebook or journal do you use?

(Any comments I receive will be entered to win the last “Notes Club” we have in the office.)

 

 

 

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Guest post: A review of the Academic Minister

Posted September 19, 2012 by
in Product Reviews | Add your comment »

One of our recent contest winners was kind enough to write this review of the Academic Minister we sent her. She wanted to remain anonymous, but she graciously agreed to let us share her opinions here! Without further ado…

The short

4/5 stars. It’s the closest thing to a perfect (non-customized) planner that I’ve ever used, save a few teensy things that are not deal-breakers, and are probably due to me being picky rather than any fault with the product itself.

The long

The outer cover (dust jacket) of this notebook is a beautiful shade of green, and made of a soft, leather-feeling material, with a fine grain like that of real leather printed onto the surface. Continue reading »

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Return of the Quarter #26

Posted September 18, 2012 by
in Announcements, Editorial | Add your comment »

We have started work on the 2013-2014 Quo Vadis catalog.  There are always some new covers, and cover colors, but this year we will also add a new product:  Quarter, a spiral-bound weekly planner.  The Quarter is fairly large – 9 3/8 x 11 3/4″ or 24 x 30 cm.

We discontinued offering the Quarter format a few years ago, but we’re bringing it back this year due to consumer demand.

The Quarter gets its name from appointment lines every 15 minutes.  It features a  7 AM-8:45 PM schedule, 90g white paper and three days per page on the left; four on the right, with action item columns on both pages.  A bound in address book is included in the Quarter.

The Quarter will be available from many Quo Vadis retailers beginning June 1, 2013.

Two U.S. retailers carry the 2012 edition – Classic Office Products and Alko Office Supply.

 

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National Cheeseburger Day

Posted September 17, 2012 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Editorial, Where to Go? | Add your comment »

I admit it–cheeseburgers are one of my favorite foods.  Tomorrow–September 18 – is National Cheeseburger Day.  I will do my patriotic duty and celebrate this holiday!

And yes, even when I have traveled to France I miss them.  It’s the first meal I have when I get back home to the good old USA.

I would say I make the best cheeseburger out on the grill in the back yard.  But when I’m in the city (NYC), I would vote the Corner Bistro as having the best cheeseburger. 

If I’m out in Greenport and don’t feel like cooking, O’Mally’s makes a pretty good chilli cheeseburger.

What’s your favorite place?

 

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Friday review roundup

Posted September 14, 2012 by
in Product Reviews | 1 comment »

I’ve been ignoring most things digital since the birth of my son (when I get a spare moment with my laptop or my iPad, I’m usually looking up baby-related info or hastily placing an order for things I don’t have time to buy in person), so I’ve managed to overlook a lot of great Tweets and reviews… Here are some of the ones I came across while playing catch-up this week; if you’ve seen or written others, let me know so I can share them!

Happy Friday!

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Make a list, order it twice

Posted September 12, 2012 by
in Planning Tips | 1 comment »

When I make out my grocery store list, I like to put the items in the order I’ll encounter them in the store — fruits next to vegetables, then the cheese, the packaged goods, bread, and dairy, and back to the other half of the packaged-good aisles for stuff like tissues and shampoo.

Lately, I’ve been trying to enforce a similar concept when I make out my to-do lists, putting the most important tasks at the top, and then working my way down to the stuff that’s lower priority. It can still be difficult to tackle things in that order (so tempting to clean my closet before knocking off a work-related task!), but I’m trying to improve on that front.

Do you prioritize your to-do lists?

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The Lost Days of 1752

Posted September 10, 2012 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities | 2 comments »

Imagine the surprise of British citizens in September of 1752 when they “lost” 11 days!

In order to align itself with the calendar used in the rest of Europe, the United Kingdom left the Julian calendar and “lost” 11 days in order to catch up with the Gregorian calendar.  September 3 instantly became September 14 by an Act of Parliament.  The people were outraged and demanded, “Give us back our 11 days!”

I am trying to imagine what I would do if Congress suddenly changed the calendar and we skipped several days.  I know I would feel their loss.

Here is a link to a Gregorian/Julian calendar conversion.

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