paperturn

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After several months or several weeks (whatever) of using the reMarkable Paper Pro, I've switched back to a paper notebook, a Baron Fig Confidant Plus with Pigma Graphic pen. Haven't fallen out of love with the rMPro – it's a brilliant, wonderful device that does pretty much everything I ask it to do; no, I simply missed the feeling of pen to paper (god I love the Pigma Graphic pens - similar to the Flairs but without that sharp angle that digs into my finger because of my weird-ass way of holding a writing implement) and the ease of turning physical pages: indeed, the only thing the rMPro does poorly is replicate a page turn: too slow, too unsatisfying to be anything more than a novelty. Other than that, progress continues – though it did take me a bit to figure out what needed my moderately awake brain this morning before the descent into the standard postprandial stupor that awaits.

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Day two of giving the reMarkable 2 another go: seems that the latency issue which caused me to switch back to paper NBs is gone (probably just crap from my hand that I couldn't see and I, as is my way, made a mountain out of a hillmole) but the main reason is that my hands hurt all the time now and I've found that the digital Lamy Safari + rM2 is (literally) less painful for me to use, a pleasant textural mix of fountain pen and Papermate Flair in digital form. Kinda nice to (again) include a PDF of the page in my Obsidian Daily notes without need for duplicates and rewriting; makes the daily notes significantly more useful.

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In the wake of the reMarkable2's fall from utility, I’ve switched over (switched back, technically) to Baron Fig's Confidant Plus notebooks. I’ve used the flagship size for years, but found them too small to replicate the systems I'd developed in the rm2 (namely, scribbling rough drafts and word salads to find some rhythmic combination that speaks to me in addition to my journals and etc). Plus size (blank, as that’s the only thing available) seems like this is the best fit for my writing needs. Bonus: the CP is the same size as the rm2 so it fits in the leather folio I had been using for the digital chickenscratching. So far so good.

journalboxing

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Boxed up 15 years worth of paper journals and notebooks yesterday and replaced them in (the tall drawers of) the card catalog with power tools. While much of this shift comes from me having switched over fully to the reMarkable2 as my journal / thought-scratching tool (synced manually at the start of each day to import the previous day's sheet into my Obsidian daily notes), the remaining part is from the realization that I never once consulted those copious notes and, as I have no generation following me to whom they would be interesting (or blackmail material), have little need to take up valuable space with them in the day-to-day in The Paintshop.

(Better that the totality of my thoughts be placed on a thumb drive while saving drawer space for impact drivers and socket sets which are more proving far more useful in the day to day.)

My journals are – and always have been, romanticized notions of youth aside – little more than vessels in which to empty my brain, the only use for them being in the moment, in the act of taking pen to paper (physical or digital) and offloading generally useless notions and thoughts (invasive or otherwise) and reflections. As such, the import of enjoying the act of taking pen to paper is all that matters and right now, I enjoy the feel of the Lamy AL-Star EMR to the rM2: it's like writing with a felt tip pen housed in my favorite fountain pen body on an infinite sheet of paper.

So there's that then. Feels like this half-cocked notion needs a better conclusion but this is going to have to suffice.

reMarkable 2: six weeks later

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Despite the occasional nostalgic yearning for and effort to return, haven't rushed back to paper journals as I found that, as soon as I used the reMarkable 2 for work, I missed using it for everything and went back to its digitally papery embrace, a combo of writing with a thick fountain pen and a Papermate Flair.

(Rite in the Rain index card wallet more than fills the handwriting capture void – though I've shifted from pencil to a Rite in the Rain pen; prefer the clicky on the go).

Present function is as combo daily note, journal, and scrap workings, all scrawled across a single infinite scroll page and moved into Obsidian as a PDF at the start of the next day, rinse/wash/repeat. Tried the Typefolio again, but, as my wife said of hers (she bought an rM2 a few days after mine arrived, and has been loving it for teaching), the instinct is to write by hand and so I do. Pen remains the Lamy EMR nib / top half with my Lamy Studio bottom half (prefer the weight) and posted cap. Don't feel a need for erasing since I did everything in pen before anyhow. Only complaint is that I wish there were more highlighter color options.

Still in love and don't see that changing anytime soon: easily the best work purchase in ages. Essential.

goals

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For the next few months or few years however long it takes:

  • More concrete usage of notebook / journal as corporeal thinking brain with improved legibility or at least enough to get the notes into Obsidian at a few hours' remove for digital workspace / zettelkasten purposes.

  • Press(A) 02.

  • An acceptance that the morning is when my stores of willpower are at their peak and when I'm at my most creatively fertile and that efforts to expand that throughout the day are, at best, a way to avoid other realities of life that would be best served by being present for them.

  • Further incorporate randomness-by-choice into my day.

  • Decide on how to integrate social.parentheticalrecluse.com into this space and implement it. Would love to use it as comment system. Though I have no clue how to go about doing that. Anyone want to help?

  • A full embrace that being a writer is only part of my identity not all of it and that all of those other parts fuel and infuse one another though am I always thinking and seeing like a writer.

  • This this is the only this that there is right now.

More if and when I figure it / them out.

links/2023w06.1

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Splitting up the links posts into Wednesday and Saturday offerings. Should make each a little less unwieldy.

implements/20221117

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Thought I might make this a regular feature here, my own version of “Uses This” / “Cool Tools.”

on screen :: primary writing app / second brain is a combination of Obsidian (for generating, storing, and linking) and Muse (for drawing scribbles all over texts and arranging it all across a 34-inch widescreen monitor).

in hand :: Lamy Studio LX black with fine point nib (same nib I've used on all of my Lamy pens: I always take the one that came with the pen off and replace it with that first nib, been there since my first Safari) flowing with black Pilot Iroshizuki Take-Sumi ink upon Baron Fig Confidant notebooks held in a Cold Creek Leather A5 journal cover..

on person :: Rite in the Rain's (appropriately titled) On-the-Go mini notebooks for being on-the-go in Rite-In-The-Rain Wallet (which is pretty useless as a wallet but is an excellent running/daily-wear-n-tear holder) with mini-pen; first thing that goes in my pocket in the morning and stays with me all day long…. Gerber Lockdown-Pry Mutlitool: I never realized how much I would use a small exacto knife until I used it all the time. The rest of the components are great too. I was using a Leatherman Skeletool but I need scissors far more often than I need pliers on a daily basis…. Any one of two “tough solar” Casio G-Shock watches in the current rotation: a GAB2100-1A or a GAB2100C-9A. Simple, no-frills. Love them both.

in orbit :: CW&T's Superlocal: my relationship my daily ritual has been forever altered. A work of functional art… House of Marley Stir It Up turntable: oh, how I love this thing – and how I love the ritual of vinyl. Will probably upgrade speakers though – I prefer more bass than the HOM speakers allow…. Donner Practice Pad + Vic Firth American Classic 2B sticks (wood tip) + George Lawrence Stone's STICK CONTROL: a perfect combo for drumming while thinking. STICK CONTROL is a warhorse, published in 1935, still the go-to-text. Repeat each exercise 20 times. A meditative way revisit a previous iteration when stuck in the current – and keep my increasingly arthritic hands moving.