Whilst Xmas shopping at borders we came across a collection of snappy looking notebooks called Moleskines.  They really caught my attention when I noticed the squared paper version.  I've always loved graphing paper, and was just talking to Sam about how I needed a pad.  She had been suggesting that I get a notebook anyway, so I picked one up.

There are two personal flaws I'm currently working on.  One is remembering things that I need to do, and the other is just keeping stuff straight in my head.  I've found that writing things down really helps, but I write it down on a scrap which just gets lost.

This Moleskine is perfect.  It's small enough to carry around but not too small to write in.  The hard back makes it easy to write when you don't have a surface.  And best of all there's an elastic strap to keep it closed when your not using it.  There's also a cool accordion pocket in the back to put stuff, like money.

I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, so I looked it up and apparently the proper pronunciation is "mol-a-skeen-a", but most people just say Moleskin.  Whew, I didn't want to sound like a news anchor when they have to say something "ethnic".  

I've only had this little bugger for about three weeks and my head feels clear as can be.  I can dump anything that's bothering or confusing me into the notebook, and worry about it later.  I have a system for keeping track of different things.  For example, next to todo lists I put a square, blog ideas or outlines a circle, and business ideas a diamond.  Each time I create a new category I put a new shape so I can thumb through and easily find common things.

One of my current development goals is to put more thought into the design of software, instead of digging in and coding like a madman.  I've been using the notebook to write down ideas, diagrams, flow charts and prototypes.  If this works well for me I'll probably get a larger notebook dedicated to design.

I also found a blog called moleskinerie dedicated to the obsession.  Apparently most people that use them are fanatics, to which I can relate.

Buy one today!