Time-management experts often tell us to take short breaks throughout the day. It’s advice I find easy to agree with but hard to put into practice, at least regularly, because I don’t remember, or I just wasted time checking email and don’t see how I can justify it, or I’m not really sure what I should be working on now, anyway.

Yesterday around 4:00 pm I realized I had a serious case of work doldrums — it was a sunny day, and I hadn’t gotten much accomplished, and though I knew I was in no danger of, say, blowing a deadline because of it, I couldn’t bring myself to give up… and yet I couldn’t focus. Usually what I do in such times is take care of some small, domestic errand like folding laundry or doing the dishes, which is generally enough to kick me back into action at work. Instead, I took a short walk.

Lo and behold! It was glorious, and I felt great on my return, and though I was initially tempted to grab a book and relax on the sofa, I sat down on my desk and enjoyed a compact, productive next hour.

One of the more specialized product lines in the Clairefontaine catalog is our modest collection of music notebooks.

Since the task is so specific, we don’t spend a lot of time promoting them, but we recently got an inquiry from a New York based music store, and it occurred to me to poll our readers and see how many of you write music. After all, why should composers have to put up with shoddy paper and an inferior writing experience?

Do you write music?

The Sketchbook Project was created by Steven Peterman and Shane Zucker in 2006 to collect and archive travelogues, photo logs, memoirs, and, of course, sketchbooks — more than 12,500 from 130 countries, according to a piece in Sunday’s New York Times. Participants pay $25 for a 32-page sketchbook, which they then fill and send back to add to the collection. For an extra $30, you can also add your book to the Project’s online digital library.

The physical collection was first housed in Atlanta, and has been in Brooklyn since 2009, though I somehow managed not to hear about it when it was in my neighborhood, Red Hook (it’s since moved to Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Art Library). The coolest part, in my view, is that each sketchbook is available for checkout, where it can inspire new work.

For those of you who don’t live in the area, there’s also a touring component.

Have you participated in the Sketchbook Project?

I thought it might be fun to work with a group of people from Quo Vadis Blog and see if we could develop our own ghost story – either a page or two of writing each, a sketch, a collage–whatever writing or artwork we want to create to tell our part of the story.  We would pass the notebook along and create as we go.  The last person would write the ending.

Please send me an email (karen@exaclair.com) if you might be interested in participating.  The goal is to have fun, work on a collaborative project together, and publish our Ghost Story on Quo Vadis Blog when it is done.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

This is really more of a linkshare than a review roundup, but that’s just the way it’s got to be on this in-New-York lovely spring day.

• Have you seen Brian Goulet’s new Fountain Pen 101 series? The idea, according to Brian, is that “there is a desperate need for education for those who are interested in fountain pens but who need to learn the basics.” In the video I’ve embedded above, Brian discusses how ballpoint pens, rollerballs, and fountain pens work. Worth watching, even for those who aren’t absolute beginners!
• Guest blogger Kate Marshall posted a nice satiric writing exercise to her own blog recently, worth checking out on its own and because of the Rhodia cameo. O muse! O moon! O rich, dark, quick-drying ink!

Happy Friday…

From my perspective in the US, I wouldn’t have guessed that Europeans think they live in a disposable culture… it seems so much worse here! With the exception of certain large cities (I’ve patronized repair specialists for umbrellas, microwaves, and vacuum cleaners in New York), it’s practically impossible to find people who can fix stuff and not just replace it.

There was an interesting piece in yesterday’s New York Times, though, about a Dutch foundation called Repair Cafe, which facilitates events at which volunteers come together to fix lamps, clothes, appliances, and whatever else comes their way.

Inspired by a design exhibit about the creative, cultural and economic benefits of repairing and recycling, [founder Martine Postma] decided that helping people fix things was a practical way to prevent unnecessary waste.

Very cool, no? Here’s a link to the foundation’s website for those of you who live in the Netherlands or are simply curious to see inspiring pictures of things being fixed.

Speaking of retailers… one of the questions that comes up again and again is where to buy our products and what to do if you’re not lucky enough to live near one of the independent local stores that stock them.

On our website, we try to make the connection as seamless as possible not just by listing online retailers but by noting the places that carry specific products and even specific planner/cover combinations. But there is still a jump between our site and theirs, and we aren’t able to list prices because prices are set by each outlet. There are multiple reference numbers because each combination has a different number even if it’s the same planner insert, or a refill only.

And then there’s the problem of shipping, which Karen has already tackled at length.

All this to say, I guess, that we hear your frustration, and we know it isn’t easy. If you’re having trouble tracking something down, you can always contact us for help. Over time, many fans of our products find particular outlets whose service and selection they appreciate, so if you’d like to solicit advice from your fellow consumers, you can always check the Fountain Pen Network.

A lot of you like to give your old planner covers new life by reusing them on notebooks, and there are a number of different combinations that work.

So what if you want to buy a new cover on its own, either to replace one that’s damaged mid-year or to use alone on a notebook? Generally, this is a question we’re hard put to answer, because we rely on retailers to distribute our products, and those retailers tend to sell covers and planners together since that’s what most people want.

However, we’ve been able to confirm that New Jersey based Classic Office Products is willing to fill special covers-only orders. If that’s something that interests you, I’d suggest you email their service department at customerservice [AT] classicofficeproducts [DOT] com or call 888-285-6330.

Happy (re)covering!

We got a question recently from a fan of the pocket-sized staplebound Clairefontaine notebooks:

Is there any way you can produce that in a blank format? As a pocket notebook, I use it for sketching quick ideas as well and a blank format would be killer.

What do you think?

Wow! Many thanks to the nearly 160 of you who entered our A4 Habana contest. I’ve run the numbers at Random.org, and here are our four lucky winners:

• Chaunacey D.
• Jennifer B.
• Dawn L.
• Delesa W.

If your name is on this list, you should already have received an email from me, so check your inbox and get in touch if it’s not there. Otherwise, and as usual, check back soon for more giveaways…