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I bought a large Moleskine Carnet Ligné - an A6 softcover notebook. There are many cheaper notebooks, but the combination of the soft cover and the thin but fine grain ivory paper just pleases me.

I was trying to explain the appeal. For me, writing with a pen or pencil is aesthetically pleasing - The tactile feel of the paper, the pleasing smoothness of a good pen or pencil dragging across it, the colour and opacity of the ink and it's contrast on the background.

In many ways I don't use a notebook for it's utility, though I do use some small pocket notebooks for sketching, keeping shopping lists or jotting down things to refer to later, it's all about the enjoyment I get from writing as opposed to typing.

Which is not to say that I don't enjoy the game of typing, picking words for effect, judging the best way to punctuate and array the words for impact (even if it often falls short of the mark!). It's merely a different way to enjoy - cream in coffee as opposed to whipped and piled on a banana.

Damn. Now I want a banana split.

The problem with buying a Moleskine, which is really a very expensive notebook, is putting anything in it. It feels too expensive and fine to use for jotting a note about laundry or making a shopping list, but keeping a diary, while a noble goal feels a little pretentious. It's hard to know what to do with all that paper. I'm filling mine with amusing or entertaining quotes and quips, again, just for the pleasure of writing.

It takes three things to write anything: A tool to make marks, a surface to make marks on and a mind equipped with knowledge of writing. All else is detail. Having covered the writing surface, I think it only fair to cover my marking implement.

I'm using a pencil. It is one of my blackings, which I use a lot for doodling, making notes and generally making marks. It's slightly darker than my other pencils so quite up to the task.

I'm also using a fine tip Sharpie pen, because the Moleskine's paper is thin and many inks bleed through or the pens leave deep marks on the page. The Sharpie is a felt tip with a none bleeding ink that I suspect is a descendant of Indian Ink, meaning black particles suspended in a bonding medium, as opposed to a liquid dye. The resulting writing isn't quite black, but a pleasingly deep smooth grey on antique ivory.

I'd be prepared to go back to a fountain pen and some of Noodler's inks, purely for the colours offered, but that can wait until I find a pen I like...