comment by kleinbl00

a thoughtful web.

Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!

kleinbl00 · 4704 days ago · link · · parent · post: Ask Hubski: Once you've finished a book, what do you do?

I keep a small, leather-bound, hand-made Italian journal with a tiny little mechanical pencil in it. I write down quotes from books (and elsewhere) that I think are awesome. Looking back on that journal is a trip through time - and it's pretty rad.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was kind of a "man of letters" back in the 17th century. In addition to creating Lichtenberg Figures (look them up, they're rad) he also keep his "waste books" - little notebooks in which he wrote down thoughts, people he met, grocery lists. They're f'ing awesome - like Jack Handy from the Renaissance.

I'm far less prolific than him and I mostly use my little book to highlight the wisdom of others, rather than the wisdom of myself... but back then, there weren't any social networking sites.

http://www.amazon.com/Waste-Books-York-Review-Classics/dp/09...

markup tips · 0

thenewgreen · 4704 days ago · link ·

You see, this is what makes you an interesting writer. I keep a small, leather-bound, hand-made Italian journal with a tiny little mechanical pencil in it. -Immediately, I am picturing a little, old italian man hammering out cow hide, stopping only to wipe the sweat from his craftsman's furrowed brow while he fashions what will eventually become kleinbl00's notebook.

"Rosa, fetch me the parchment, this one is nearly complete" He says as he reaches for his customary tumbler of Grappa, as is tradition each time he finishes a notebook equipped with his signature tiny mechanical pencil.

+discuss+discuss

–

kleinbl00 · 4704 days ago · link ·

The tiny mechanical pencil was my own addition. The journal, on the other hand, was a gift from my sister, who picked it up in Florence. ;-)

The first quote in it is from a movie, actually:

A pig who doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmyrWYrvF5s

+discuss+discuss

AnSionnachRua · 4704 days ago · link ·

Actually I've been thinking about starting a commonplace book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_book) myself, though it has to get past my anti-hoarding nature.

+discuss+discuss

–

ukelele1980 · 4639 days ago · link ·

I like this idea of a "commonplace" book. I read often and quickly, sometimes too quickly. It would be nice to be able to revisit all of my conquests in one place.

+discuss+discuss

lessismore · 4704 days ago · link ·

Amazing idea. I will endeavor to do the same from now on. Thanks for sharing the idea.