Notebooks: Rhodia and Myndology

I'm on a notebook kick lately (this really ought to be pencasted) and gradually scrawling my way through all the notorious notebook brands out there, the latest being the traffic-cone orange Rhodia. Legend has it that these notebooks work well with fountain pens, unlike most other paper I've tried (including Moleskines and Apica notepads, both of which I love anyway).

Yesterday I put Rhodia to the ultimate test: a medium-nib fountain pen screed on one side of the paper, and typewriting with an old platen on the other. Surely this kind of text-intensive stunt would result in braille-like punch-throughs, or bleeding ink? Rhodia paper doesn't *look* like anything special. And yet, it held up. You can use both sides of the page! Amazing.

Rhodia has a large legion of fans who've flickerized their obsession, like any proper fanatic should (do I need to remind you again to get your typewriters up there on the Strikethru flickr site?).

Was a time I studied the Japanese language, and greatly enjoyed the kid's books and study aids I could obtain at the Kinokuniya book store. One of my favorite products for memorizing hirigana and vocabulary words were these tiny little decks of flashcards, strung up on a keychain ring. Apparently commonplace in Japan, these innovative, yet simple study tools were nowhere to be found outside of Japanese-specific stores in the United States. fortunately, since then, it looks like Myndology has stepped up to fill the gap. I don't own any of these notebooks yet, but they look intriguing. In addition to the clever ring-bound notebooks, Myndology makes disc-bound notebooks, which apparently enable you to remove and rearrange sheets, use refills, and put different sizes of paper in the same notebook. Clever.

Problem with notebooks is, they are theoretically affordable, and easier to hide from a hoarding-phobic spouse than a Remington Quiet Riter. Thus, it's even harder to resist the urge to collect. Will I be able to say no to a Myndology notebook? As the Magic 8-ball might say, outlook not so good.