Month: April 2018

This Week’s Long Run

It was relatively breezy and it drizzled during most of today’s long run, but that just made for a refreshingly interesting run.

Check out these waves. There was a surfing competition going on, which was befitting these 3.5 meter waves.

Things were calmer in the park:

A very nice 8k run. I’m easing myself back to longer distances, and as I got pretty tired near the end, I’ll stick to my original plan and run another 8k next weekend before pushing up to 9 and 10k.

I tried one of the NTC app’s new post run workouts, and it was very nice, and brought me up to 100 workouts completed as an added little bonus.

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Drinking Puer for #nationalteaday

I’m not a cooked (Shu) Puer person normally, but this aged cake that I got from the Chinese Tea Company in London is a joy to drink.

My gongfu setup waiting for the water to boil:

My very happy tea pet:

The brew – dark and delicious.

Sketch: My Old Headphones

A quick sketch on a Moleskine Star Wars Limited Edition plain paper with a Waterman Phileas fountain pen (Extra Fine) filled with Colorverse Selectron pigment ink. I thought I’d test how Moleskine friendly the new Colorverse Selectron ink is (it is), while also creating a farewell sketch to my old headphones.

Narrative Trouble

Just discovered a giant plot hole that I somehow missed on my second draft. Now back to pen and paper to try to figure it out. At least I can use pens and ink and paper that I love…

Field Notes Signature Plain Paper Sketch Book review

I just received a pack of the Field Notes Signature blank page edition and noticed that on the front of the band it said,”Sketch Book” right below the “Plain Paper”. I opened it up and saw that unlike my beloved Dime Novel edition, these notebooks had no page numbers (a plus for me) and their pages were white and not cream coloured. That made me decide to break them out for a very quick sketching opportunity, to see how well they faired.

The notebook doesn’t open flat, and it tends to want to close on itself, so I used a clip to keep it open when I was sketching. Ideally you’ll need two clips and maybe a backboard of some kind to use it comfortably. The paper, as is normal with sketching paper, doesn’t take washes too well. It’s relatively thin and it buckles pretty easily, so only the lightest of washes should be attempted with it.

The drum set above was sketched with a Sanford No-Blot Pencil. You can see the paper buckling even though very little water was applied with a water brush.

The paper fared better with fine brush pens:

A tiny bit of spread when you lay down the ink too thickly:

Zero complaints when it comes to pencil sketches:

As is to be expected with this kind of paper, it works well with pencils and coloured pencils, having just enough tooth to make it work well with them, but not so great with fine and extra fine fountain pens and thin technical pens.

As you can see above, the Extra Fine Waterman Phileas (with Colorverse Selectron pigment ink) stuttered on the page.

The Signature also suffers from being an awkward size for a sketchbook: too large to be truly pocketable, too small to allow for anything more than tiny, quick sketches.

As a sketchbook, I’d not recommend it. There are better options in the market, ones that open flat, in better sizes, with hardcovers (a plus when sketching on the go), that take washes a bit better than the Signature does.

That being said, it’s a fountain pen friendly Field Notes, and so long as you’re not set on using nibs that in the extra fine realm or using this notebook as your main sketchbook, it’s a nice little thing to carry around and play with. There’s nothing wrong with a notebook that can take a little doodle next to your todo list…

 

Moleskine Star Wars Lightsaber Duel Review and My Journaling Habit

Yesterday I finished a Moleskine Limited Edition “This is London” notebook. It took me a little less than 2 months to fill its 240 pages.

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My journal is a personal, private thing that I create for myself, both to log each an every day and to process things — from various frustrations to purchasing decisions. It’s a brain outside my brain and it can take a lot more than my brain can oftentimes handle.

This is my second journaling notebook filled for 2018. My first was a Moleskine Limited Edition Denim “Hand Wash Only”. It took me a little over two months to fill (I started in the end of 2017). The Denim Moleskines are probably my favourites ever, which is why I have four more lined up on my shelves. The texture of the cover and the design is just stunning.

And here they are stacked:

I wasn’t sure which Moleskine to use next, so I listed them all and just rolled a dice to see.  The Star Wars “Lightsaber Duel” came up, and it’s a lovely edition as well. Here they are old and new:

I love Moleskine’s new use of the flip side of their wrapping bands. The “This is London” band had lovely illustrations and instructions on how to make tea (this was an exclusive edition for Moleskine London stores).  The Star Wars Lightsaber Duel has illustrations and the Pantone colours of the various lightsabers used in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Look at those endpapers!

And of course Star Wars stickers. One can never have too many Star Wars stickers.

I use a Ti Arto pen with a Uni-ball Signo UMR-85 gel refill, and I fill four pages a day every day. When I started out I filled a half-page, page a day and gradually worked up as I started to get more out of the journaling experience. I write for myself only, I glue various bits and pieces inside my journal (business cards, cool wrappers or fliers, stickers), and sketch in it sometimes, even though it’s lined and not my main sketchbook by far. I use it to plan things, from my running goals to my writing goals, but I don’t try to make it bullet journal/Instagram pretty. It’s a working journal, and it’s first and foremost meant to be a tool, not a museum piece.

I use Moleskines because I enjoy using them and because for some reason beyond me these are the only notebooks that I’ve managed to consistently journal in. I tried Baron Fig, Rhodia Webnotebooks, Leuchtturm, Exacompta, Field Notes, and others and I haven’t been able to stick with them, even though some of them allow me to use my beloved fountain pens. There is just something about these notebooks that makes it a joy for me to use them (and at least when it comes to the LE lined versions, Moleskine has improved its paper stock). I pick up the regular black notebooks for work, but I love a lot of their stunning LE designs, so I splurge on those for my journaling needs.

Which brings me to the bottom line:

Use the notebook that you enjoy using, without giving a damn what other people say, so that you can journal for yourself.

That’s really all there is to it.

This week’s long run

It’s Israel’s 70th Independence Day next week and there was an exhibition celebrating this in Ben Gurion Boulevard.

The weather was perfect though it did heat up a bit later on. Sunscreen season is upon us.

You know you’re doing well as a fisherman when both a cat and an egret are waiting for you to fail.

Ain’t she pretty? I love Tel Aviv so much, especially on days like these.

All this made for a fast and fun 7k.