January 5, 2021 by Amy

What I learned today: commonplace books

I learned something new today! I like to learn something new every day and this week that has included learning that there’s an animal common in North America called the pine marten, and learning that according to CDC guidelines there is a massive difference between two masked people standing right next to each other but not touching and two masked people standing right next to each other and touching. But that’s not what I’m writing about today.

I learned what a commonplace book is!

For years, I have jotted down notes, quotes, and interesting info on my phone, on scraps of paper, and in notebooks of various sizes that were being put to various uses. I scribble ideas for blog posts anywhere I can when an idea hits. This, as you can imagine, is not the most effective way to gather ephemera, especially if you want to access it later. I knew of no other way to do it. It seemed like such a pain to have a dedicated notebook for that stuff, and to find that specific notebook every time I wanted to add something. And how do you keep that organized? Paginate and then create an index? No way.

It turns out that the thing that holds all the notes, quotes, research, and interesting information is called a commonplace book. I have not yet researched why it’s called this, as I got too excited about there being an actual name for what I do, even if so far I’ve been doing it half-assedly.

Some people use actual books to make a commonplace book, which is fine. It’s called a “book” after all. But today, after learning that there is such a thing as commonplace books, I also learned of a fantastic system for collecting and organizing your precious finds. It’s a bit old-school, yes, and sure, I guess you could find an app for that, but there’s something appealing about using…wait for it…

Index cards!

In a box with little tabbed dividers!

As digital as I am, I do love the very nature of writing by hand. It’s soothing. And there are so very many great pens available. (I’ve been in a fountain pen tear the past few years, and refill them by hand from bottles of ink. So much fun!) So long as I don’t have to do a ton of writing by hand since my handwriting has gone to hell due to typing 99.9% of the time and also I’m old now so I’m pretty sure arthritis is setting into my hands and it hurts to write too much. Keeping notes on index cards and filing them in a box is just the right amount of writing. Not too much, not too little. Just enough to be satisfying. Plus I’m the only person who would read these cards so who cares that my handwriting now requires deciphering by NSA spies.

This system also works because I can leave the box on my desk where I write and carry a handful of index cards with me. I can write notes at will and then file them when I return to my desk. Brilliant.

So now I’m on a hunt for just the right box to store 3×5 index cards. I don’t want a crappy plastic box. That’s too ordinary. I don’t want wood. That feels too provincial. I want metal. I want a bent metal box, like from the 50s, that is sturdy and takes no shit from anyone. I want a box that says, “Yeah, I’ll store your cards, punk. Is that all you got?” And look good doing it.

And then I want to buy index cards. Lots and lots of index cards. In different colors. Maybe without lines so I can be loose and free with my writing. So what if my writing slants downhill like a drunken sailor on shore leave? (This is the very reason I demand my notebooks have blank, instead of lined, pages.) (I don’t like to feel constricted.) (Except with parentheses. I love that shit.)

So now I have started the hunt for The Perfect 3×5 Index Card Box. It has been slow-going, friends (she says after searching for 10 minutes). I thought I wanted a plain box, but there aren’t many out there and most of them look exactly like you’d expect something that barely survived the atomic age. Recipe boxes kept filling my feed, and at first I was scrolling past them mercilessly. But then my brain kicked and said, “Wait. Aren’t what you are planning to put in the box something like ingredients? Ingredients for writing?” Hmmmm. An interesting concept. So I expanded my search to recipe boxes, which greatly increased my offerings but I’m still not finding what I want. 

Do people who design recipe boxes think that women who cook (yeah, I said it…women…because these are very obviously designed for one specific socially-constructed gender in mind, clearly by the other socially-constructed gender) have no taste? “Eh, this is going to sit in the kitchen where we spend all our time, so yeah, let’s have it look like utter garbage.” Seriously, there’s a dearth of decently designed metal recipe boxes in the world.

So far, I have found options along these themes:

• Country western with cowboys, cowgirls, and covered wagons
• Gaudy flowers in obnoxious colors (no, not the retro look, the cat barf look)
• Vegetables and greens of unidentifiable origin, sometimes with mushrooms
• Tea kettles, coffee grinders, and more kitchen tools, oh my!
• A Gathering of Fine Victorian Ladies
• Dutch folk art. So. Much. Dutch. Folk. Art.
• Branded boxes from Campbells, Coca-Cola, Chef Boyardee, and my favorite: VanCamp’s Pork & Beans
• Salad fixins’
• Pixelated cacti

None of these suits me, so I shall keep looking. It is a valiant quest to find The Perfect Commonplace Book. Or Box, rather.

#organization#writing