An Enthusiast's Notebook(S)

[Moynihan]

Hello Pavoni, I think you will find the paper used within the Midori Dairy is Tomoe River, certainly the plain paper I have is, that was part of it's appeal.

Refill # 013

Is the paper in the #13 refill really made by Tomoe River? It behaves like it,..?

[Newjelan]

Thanks Pavoni, your review has really piqued my interest although I do love my Hobonichi Panner.

[LeonW]

I feel a new acquisition in my future, darn you!

+1, Paving, you are such an enabler...

[aparliamentofrooks]

I adore my my Midori Travellers notebook. May I suggest an essential pocket from Baum-Kuchen.net, it adds a zipper pocket and/or card sleeve made of a lovely black or camel leather, essentially turning the Midori into a wallet. I now use my Midori as a wallet, planner, journal and sketchbook.

[pavoni]

Thanks for the tip aparliamentofrooks. I'll pop over to the Baum-Kuchen site to have a look. I guess it will be toss up between the transparency of the Midori pocket or the classy look of the leather Baum-Kuchen version. Ummm , spoilt for choice!

Pavoni

[BMG]

Hmm... Just noticed that Baum-Kuchen is local. I'll have to make a little journey to the east side...

 

[helene20]

Hi Pavoni, I discovered Midori last year and I am hooked also. I have 2 large in brown and 1 passport size in brown as well. I bough almost all the different paper, pockets etc to go with them and I am so happy. While in Hong Kong last November I found more Midori to add to my collection like a cute Star Ferry Charm. When the blue collection comes to Canada I will buy all of it, the TN, stickers, etc.

 

Now that I have Midori in my life I will never go back to another system.

[pavoni]

Hi helene, great to hear of your passion for your Midori. I envy you having had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong (on my list) and being able to pick up more for your Midori notebooks. The set for the special edition blue version is pretty extensive and I would think it would look fabulous set up and working for real Don't forget to rush your pictures and thoughts to us when you manage to get one. You will either fall in love with the blue immediately or force yourself to like it. To be honest, I didn't get the same instant attraction with the blue as I had to the brown.

 

I am very happy with the way I am currently using my 3 passport-sized brown Midori notebooks; each with its own dedicated theme for the areas I am interested in or studying and, I really enjoying whipping them out in all sorts of places and using them at will. However, I have been wondering how I would use my new blue Midori. In part, this is down to its size. It isn't pocketable and when I am not in work (my Midori is for me rather than work) I don't tend to carry a briefcase or bag, though I do often wear a jacket.

 

The standard Midori is a similar shape as my long weekly wallet (I have a shorter weekend wallet also) and so I had hoped it would fit into my inner jacket pocket (at a stretch) but unfortunately, the standard Midori is 30mm longer and 30mm wider. Not a convenient shape to cart around without a bag of some sort!

 

Anyway, a really curious thing happened to me on Monday. I was in London for a meeting and accidently on purpose found myself in my, by now, favourite London bookshop, hunting out more Midori items. However, on this occasion, much to my frustration, they didn't have the particular item I was looking for (Kraft folder, which I have since ordered online via the excellent Journal shop). Nonetheless, I was determined not to leave London empty handed, and so I purchased some coloured highlighter pens, various sized coloured post-it notes, and some coloured mini bulldog clips, for use with my Midori (what is the plural for a number of Midori?).

 

I had two hours to kill before my meeting so I sat in the Foyles coffee shop (pleasant setting but VERY slow and less than impressive customer service) and, inspired by the hundreds of Midori photos I had browsed online recently, I decided to test these colourful items on my serious but boring (though reassuringly expensive) black, stiff leather Montblanc A5 agenda. Before I had realised, an hour or so had passed and I had accidently reinvented the way I use my MB agenda. Essentially, I just made it more fun to use and, by the end, I was really quite pleased with myself. Actually, I found myself getting more and more excited about using my 'new' (organised) work agenda/diary.

 

That afternoon I had a rather serious meeting with some high powered execs, a TV celebrity, and a number of senior academics. What better place to test my new way of working with my old MB agenda than in a real live meeting where I would need to take notes, list tasks, and confirm diary appointments! I don't ever remember being this excited about organising my work!

 

Well, Tuesday morning saw me re-write the whole of the next 4 months diary and tasks. Wednesday saw me overnight in a hotel in Plymouth, where I again had opportunity to use my MB agenda. In fact, even the eye of a very pretty lady on the table opposite during dinner, couldn't keep me from writing and organising myself (besides.....I'm married ).

 

Now that I am using my work agenda/diary properly, I am even more inspired and excited about my Midori and I now have a better idea of how I am going to use my new blue Midori. I just have to find a way of carrying the thing with me on the weekends to ensure I get full use out of it!

 

Pavoni.

[pavoni]

With no work today, I nipped into one of Manchester's excellent art shops, Fred Aldous, and purchased a Midori pen case for just under £10. It is rubberised and very light.

 

I had thought of getting the brass one (£50) but whilst attractive, it isn't very practical, given that it is just a brass box where all the items inside will noisily roll around and scratch each other and the inside of the brass pen case. The rubberised one is far more practical.

 

Here is the top of the case with a Montblanc 163 alongside for size comparison purposes.

 

Here we have the underside of the Midori pen case, which is a sort of grey mushroom colour!

 

And finally, here is the inside of the case, which is usefully ribbed on the inside bottom.

 

Pavoni.

Edited April 3, 2015 by pavoni

[BMG]

Finally made it out to Baum-Kuchen the other day. Met the proprietor (a lovely person), went through the shop with a fine-tooth comb, and -- thanks in great part to what I've read on this thread -- did buy a Traveller's Notebook + refill. To my great disappointment, it did not come with a vintage MB in it, as slippery when wet's apparently did. I've since been visiting various threads here and blog posts elsewhere regarding customization, to get an idea of the possibilities.

 

I can only second what has been said about it above: it's a really nice, minimal-as-you-like, notebook, with FP friendly paper and a leather cover that will age beautifully. For my purposes, I'm planning to use it as a "daily carry" for notes, to-do lists, and jottings on the fly, at least that's what comes to mind thus far. I'll probably continue to do more serious writing in the Leuchtturm notebooks I've been using for the past couple of years. We'll see.

 

Excited thus far…

[sannidh]

Thank you Pavoni for an excellent overview and covering the many elements of Midori ecosystem - brass nameplates, pen case, refills, pencil, ruler. And, I could read your absolute happiness of unveiling of blue limited edition notebook while going through your articulate and informative review . My congratulations! Also noticed, it's only "MIDORI, Made in Thailand" for a normal MTN; whereas for the Blue LE, it's "Traveler's Notebook, Made in Thailand" on the backcover! Love this blue edition of MTN. Thanks for generously linking my review.

Regards,

Sonik

Edited May 2, 2015 by soniknitr

[pavoni]

Update

 

I have now been living with my special edition Blue Midori Traveller’s Notebook for a month and thought I would share my thoughts by way of update

 

I will admit that I purchased my Blue Midori on impulse, aware that it wasn’t attraction at first sight, as was the case with the little brown passport version. Given the difference in size between the passport and standard version, my first consideration was portability; how was I going to carry my Blue Midori around with me?

 

Eventually, I stumbled across a cute/neat little backpack from TUMI. Not the cheapest of its type but it looked (and does) do exactly what I wanted – enable me to carry my Midori conveniently during the weekends and when on holiday.

 

 

 

 

I opted for the black version of this little backpack, in the main, because I also wanted the option, when at work, of being able to switch from carrying my rather full briefcase to this little backpack and keep my Midori with me.

 

I am not a big fan of the vertical zip on the front. However, given it has the largest compartment, it works out best if I keep the tall blue Midori in this bit. I protect the leather from the teeth of the zip by keeping the Midori in its original canvas bag. Interestingly, most Midori users seem to agree that the brown Midori looks better with age, i.e. the more lived-in and marked, the better. I am not so sure this is the same for the blue version, and I find myself being a wee bit more protective than I might otherwise be – another reason for the cotton bag!

 

 

My second consideration was capacity – how could I realise the potential capacity of this standard version without having to pretend that it really fitted?

 

I found that the ‘essential’ zipper pockets (refill 008) and kraft envelope (refill 020) accessories, whilst hugely sensible, came at a slight cost in terms of practicality. I tend to have these two accessories at the immediate front and back of my Midori, i.e. they are the first inserts. The plastic zipper pockets in particular will not always stay in position – it slides about a tiny bit. Not a huge inconvenience but something to consider when putting other inserts on top. The kraft envelope is bulky and therefore, I feel that having both the plastic pockets and kraft envelope together means that the capacity for other inserts to sit well within the system is quite limited.

 

Scouring the Internet for ideas, I was taken by the thought of adding a second main elastic. I therefore purchased the repair kit (refill 009) and had every intention of punching additional holes into my precious and relatively new blue Midori

 

 

Finally (and thankfully) I decided to not to risk mucking up my (by now precious) Midori by risk making a mistake with the holes (though in reality it is simple) or changing my mind but being stuck with an extra set of holes. Besides, by inserting additional holes for a second and or third main elastic, I thought I would widen the spine of the notebook and therefore shorten the sides of the notebook, leaving any inserts sticking out. Instead, I decided to run a second main elastic through the existing holes and metal clasp, which I think works better. The only slight snag is that there isn’t yet a blue elastic within the repair kit! Not to be deterred, I opted for the red elastic (which looks orange in these pictures).

 

 

 

 

I can now have my plastic pockets plus kraft envelope plus free diary (weekly) (refill 018) insert on the original main elastic (blue), and two inserts (unlined paper and lined paper) on the new second main elastic (red), with spare capacity to add an additional insert on each main elastic without compromising the sytem. Volia!

 

 

Enjoying Midori.

 

 

Pavoni

Edited May 3, 2015 by pavoni

[da vinci]

Pavoni, yet another wonderful post. Very informative, thank you for sharing the level of detail so necessary for understanding exactly the special nature of the notebook. And now a Tumi bag...be careful my friend, I foresee a luggage collection on the way

 

So glad you decided against punching another hole - it feels like that may somehow have damaged the integrity of the notebook, both figuratively and literally.

[da vinci]

Hi Pavoni, I discovered Midori last year and I am hooked also. I have 2 large in brown and 1 passport size in brown as well. I bough almost all the different paper, pockets etc to go with them and I am so happy. While in Hong Kong last November I found more Midori to add to my collection like a cute Star Ferry Charm. When the blue collection comes to Canada I will buy all of it, the TN, stickers, etc.

 

Now that I have Midori in my life I will never go back to another system.

 

Helene,

 

May I ask where in HK you bought your items? I am hoping to travel to HK later this year.

 

Thanks

Da vinci

[Joe in Seattle]

I'm a fan, too. The limited edition Star Ferry caught my eye first, then I tumbled down the rabbit hole!