American Birds

Another incredible post over at Firmuhment. Initially, I quickly scanned it but left the tab open so that I could read it again, completely with all of the details. I wasn’t disappointed. Amidst all of the hoopla of Tumblr and Google Buzz, I found this post extremely relevant. It’s about a writer named Lorrie Moore who starts a blog, a tumble blog most likely.

PSN Notebook Giveaway at Notebook Stories

Nifty is giving away a few PSN notebooks. Head on over there for the review.

Rhodia Pad Sizes and Numbers

Rhodia pads

Rhodia Drive has a cool list of all the pads that they make, including dimensions and numbers.

Never Enough Notebooks

I’ve currently got 6 Moleskines and 4 Rhodia stapled A4 notebooks. I’ve got a few other notebooks that are lying around, including two teNeues Magneto Blanks, but I just tested them and they won’t be used for any note-taking. Why? The paper is pretty cheap and fountain pen ink tends to bleed a bit too much. Actually, it bleeds enough so that the writing is close to being illegible. The magnetic clasp is a really good idea, but it makes the notebook uneven. I prefer the simpler MS design that uses a paper of better quality. That’s what it all boils down to. That being said, if I find other manufacturers that make great notebooks, I’m always keen to try them out.

Researching Trends

Clifford algebra representation

I

I met a very helpful second or third-year grad student¹ that really helped me out with finding interesting research assistant positions. There are two for which I will be applying for. One will be for next semester, and the other one will be for next year, running for a whole year from July 2010 to July 2011². There was no way that I would have been able to apply for these this year. Still, it’s going to be interesting. That only leaves me to check out all of the profs with grants at my university to see if they need a RA for this semester. I think that it will most likely in PDEs since NTNU received some major funding on two large PDE projects.

One of my colleagues is an SAT tutor to some senior high school kids. This is paid quite well, something around 3 times what a usual foreign ESL teacher makes in Taiwan³. I’m going to see if I can teach something similar. It would be different from teaching English. The good thing is that I have taught math before, as well as science. What’s really interesting is that I wouldn’t have to work that many hours. I doubt that many hours are available anyway. Two hours would be the same as 6 hours of ESL teaching.

Moleskine Hacks and Dusk Jackets

Dan Hillier's Tentacle horrors laser-etched by Modofly

I just read through Nick Cernis’ Moleskine guide. It was interesting, but left me wanting for more². I’d never pay for customized Moleskines, but I’d modify the covers myself. Even so, it’s somewhat daunting because if you make a mistake, you’ll kind of ruin a MS notebook, which is usually expensive. I like MS enough to find out if I can buy them in bulk for cheaper. Well, maybe not in bulk, but scour some deals on the web. MS are pretty expensive here in Taiwan⁴.

Personally, I don’t really like modifying a MS to put in a pencil holder⁵. I find that ludicrous since I go pretty much everywhere with a pencil case. I’ve seen some very small and effective pencil cases that can be taken everywhere⁹. There’s no need to do that to a MS. Here’s a link to some MS hacks, two of which I don’t find useful. The pencil holder and the pencil sharpener don’t really work for me as I either use a mechanical pencil, (0.7mm Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic⁶), or have a good pencil sharpener with me. I also have a micro backup solution if I need one, just a plain sharpener that I have in my pencil case. In exams, I’ve learned to be prepared. A simple lead pencil with a pencil sharpener is my backup solution.

Notebook Obsession and Rhodia Love

Rhodia notebooks and pads

For some reason, I can’t seem to find Hilroy-type notebooks in Taiwan⁴. I use these types of spiral notebooks to do my math exercises. I couldn’t really find equivalent ones. This means that I have to check out different types of notebooks for that sole purpose. This is good and bad. It’s made me consider using Moleskines for class notebooks³, something that I had been thinking about. Moleskines are expensive. Even in Canada, they were expensive. They are also expensive in Taiwan, but thanks to ESLite’s 15% student discount, it’s not that bad¹.

Moleskines and Graduate Texts

MD Paper form Midori Japan

I had to get another Moleskine for my Modern Algebra class. I just received the textbook, appropriately called Algebra [Hungerford, Springer Verlag, vol 73], and needed to get back to class quickly. I spent an obscene amount of time waiting at the ESlite at Gongguan to get served. I wanted to get a red Moleskine XL Plain Paper softcover. They had shown me something similar, but I must have remembered it wrong, because they don’t have those types of MS. They only had the L size in red, as well as a bunch of Cahier Journals. For some reason, it took about 20 minutes to get this answer. I was getting pissed off. I almost left without buying anything. 

But I got the softcover Moleskine XL Plain Paper instead. Why? Well I need to transfer over my notes before class tomorrow and this is the only class that’s left that I haven’t done so. I plan on using a Japanese notebook from MD Paper (Midori Paper Japan) to note stuff about the colloquium we attend every week³.

The Memoirs Featured on Moleskinerie

The Memoirs were featured on Moleskinerie

It looks like my Moleskine obsession didn’t go unnoticed. I was featured in a post on Moleskinerie yesterday. I think my post was interesting¹. I tend to read my posts over and annotate them. It cuts down on the digressions that I usually do. Plus, it’s something new to try. I have taken some photos of my notetaking. I’ll post them on the weekend.

* * * * *

[¹]: I actually meant to say that this is the post that they are referring to. I don’t know why that didn’t come out right.

Using Moleskines As Class Notebooks

A3 Moleskines vs standard size

Honestly, it has been my plan to do so since last week, but the price of it all didn’t hit home until I was going around trying to find some Moleskines at ESLite.

After asking around to see what was available, I finally bought a Plain Soft Notebook – Extra Large (19x25cm), which is almost 8.5×11″, standard school sized paper. I was going to buy one for each class, but they are just so expensive here, about twice the price in the US. I think I’ll get them online. There’s no point in wasting that much money on these. I’ll try looking around to see if I can buy them cheaper, but I doubt it. Actually, you can get one like that for $13 on Amazon. The list price is $20. I paid $25.

Update: I just started using the Folio A4 Plain Notebook and it’s a joy to use. No bleeding from fountain pens or ink, the 100 g/m2 really makes a difference. The Plain Soft Notebook’s paper is noticeably of a lesser quality. The price difference easily justifies the purchase of the A4 Folio instead. The Folio A4 Sketchbook has got 160 g/m2 and the Folio A4 Watercolor has got 200 g/m2. The last two have noticeably less pages, 96 and 60 respectively, whereas the plain notebook has 176.⁴