It’s calendar-buying season, and as usually happens, I can’t decide on the optimum system for keeping track of stuff next year. Of course I have the desktop calendar I designed and printed, but it’s for viewing only, not writing appointments and notes. I used to have a Palm Pilot and was good about keeping it up-to-date. But after changing and upgrading computers enough times, it’s no longer compatible with anything I currently own. I’ve tried various paper planner systems, all of which I abandon before March 1. Last year I bought a thick one-page-a-day book, but it’s too heavy and bulky and I can’t see far enough ahead. I replaced it with a month-by-month version that I print on my laser printer, but I have trouble disciplining myself to write everything in (hence the pile of appointment cards and random slips of paper on my desk that I force myself to go through periodically so I don’t miss anything).
At the Pyramid Atlantic Book Fair, I found a 3 x 6 x 1/4 inch day planner with month and week views, covered with marbled paper by Chena River Marblers (that’s the paper above). The paper makes me very happy. The size is just right for my purse (although it may get lost on my messy desk). But my current thought is that by picking something that I like to look at, I’ll use it. I’ll report back in March! (In the meantime, take a look at Chena River’s gorgeous papers.)
One of my favorite afternoon activities is shopping for paper. San Francisco has a wealth of shops to choose from:
The other day as I was letterpress printing cards from photopolymer plates, I noticed a small ink mark toward the edge of the paper that shouldn’t have been there. I quickly discovered that the bottom corner of the plate was curled thus picking up ink and printing on my card! My usual remedy for this problem is to tape down the offending corner and if that doesn’t work, to cut off the curled piece of the plate.
But what to do about the already printed cards? I remembered a trick my friend Laura Jane taught me — the errant ink can be removed by gently rubbing the paper with a bit of very fine grain sandpaper (I used 320 grit). Whew, cards saved!
