communication

Quo Vadis Space 17

While I generally use the red-covered Moleskines as my pocket calendar, I received a trial of the Quo Vadis Space 17, so I decided to give a quick test.

I had already purchased a yet-unused Quo Vadis Minister for next year's office calendar, so I was aware of the brand.

This is the general format of the book - time slots with room for notes on the opposite page. I like that format. The cover is a black synthetic material (I'm sure the scratches are from postal handling.)












There are yearly and monthly planners, in addition to the weekly format. The monthly planners range from October 2008 - December 2009. There are yearly planners for 2008, 2009, and a smaller one for 2010.









There's an integral address book, but there is also a tabbed, detachable address book.










The paper is a very smooth-textured, ecru/ivory color - easy on the eyes. But I understand that the Space 17 has thinner paper (55g) than the Minister (90g). So the big question is, how does it stand up to fountain pen ink?

Here are my November 2008 appointments transferred from my regular calendar. The inks I used were: Noodler's Ottoman Rose; Private Reserve black (fast dry); Private Reserve Grey Flannel; and J. Herbin Violet Pensee. As you can see, there's fairly obvious show through with all of the inks tested. (I wanted to try Bay State Blue, but there would be no point to it; I know the outcome.)









Normally I don't consider myself overly picky about the issue of see-through, but this does tend to bother me ... almost enough to consider using a pencil or a ball point pen with this diary. For comparison's sake, here are images from my current Moleskine. There is a bit of see-through, but it's not as noticible.












I get why the company has chosen to use lighter paper in its more compact notebooks, but still, I would prefer the heavier paper. The extra weight or thickness of the journal would not make a difference to me, while the show-through kind of annoys me. I might have used this over the Moleskine, were it not for that. (I also really like the Moleskine stickers and the back pocket.)

Another pet-peeve is the thumb cut-outs extend through pages that are not date sensitive (such as Weights & Measures and Holidays, though not the Address Book.) Accidental removal of these perforated tabs would also remove data.

Given the address capacity, I think I'll use this as an extra diary to track correspondence. I have quite a number of pen pals and it might be interesting to track the frequency of our exchanges throughout the year.

my normal means of communication

Oops, I believe that was a #1 nib on this pen.

What's cooking?

I finally got a digital camera, but I really don't have anything to photograph. So here's the ingredients for all of the dishes I've cooked this weekend.


Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Soup

I doctored it up with a bit of curry & just a touch of muscovado sugar

(should've used flash.)




Cream of Celeriac and Spinach soup

There's actually no cream in this - it comes out to a whopping 80 calories per serving as pictured.






Chicken Pot Pie (crust not pictured)









One thing about being in a CSA, is you have to cook. And you have to be creative in figuring out what to do with all of the vegetables you get in every season.

#44

Well, Barack Obama was resoundingly elected into office. Woo hoo.

I'm glad the whole election is over. I couldn't stand it any more. I took off from work from October 29-November 4 and declared a media blackout. I didn't watch any of the election. In fact, I didn't know the results until 6 a.m. this morning, when I heard (from The Weather Channel) that "Chicago is celebrating the first President-Elect representing the State of Illinois."

He's got a hard row to hoe. I don't envy his position. And he'll get blamed for EVERYTHING! But I'm glad to see him get elected. I understand that many other nations are jubilant as well. I hear they were dancing in the street wearing Obama t-shirts, even in the small towns of Italy. (I don't even have an Obama t-shirt.)

For me, it'll be weird because I may actually start following government. I couldn't stand to hear anything that came out of the mouth of #43. I look forward to the first "fireside chat."

infrequently updated

I haven't screamed into the ether for a while now. Well, that's not entirely true. I have over 40 pen pals; now when I scream into the ether, someone in the ether screams back. That's kind of neat. I enjoy getting snail mail.

I've also been journaling more. One thing about accumulating fountain pens, you want to use them. So, my disposable income has gone towards stationery, inks, and - of course - more pens.

I plan to get a camera in the not-too-distant future. Hopefully, I'll have more to share on this site.