3×5 Storage

Levenger has a very attractive storage device for index cards marked down right now. I don’t know if they’re closing out or if it’s a temporary sale, but if I didn’t already have my antique oak storage box, I’d be lusting after this pretty thing.

(The actual storage device holds the three drawers that are open on top.  The one in the foreground is sold separately.)

Keeping It Simple Stupid Isn’t Always Simple.

First of all, I am still in love with my P-Touch Label Maker I bought when I first read Getting Things Done. I use it all the time for creating various files.

You might recall that I have a fondness for those most useful 3×5s and have a lovely old card file I store them in, see below:

And now that I’m working on a new novel (yes, the most recent idea that grabbed me by the throat is for a novel and not a screenplay so I figure what the hell, may as well) and it’s going to require a lot of research and organization and, voila! My card file will come into play.

Now, one of the basic ideas behind the filing system in Getting Things Done is that you don’t color coordinate because that leads to procrastination and disaster. “I don’t have any more red folders, thus I can’t file anything.” That kind of thing.

But I’ve decided that because it’s dark in my card file (see above) and I’m going to have many categories and subcategories filed in there, and if they are all the exact same color, it will get very confusing–

I broke down and ordered P-Touch colored tapes (and I’m already pouting that they don’t have orange, purple and fuchsia).

Yes, colors!!!

It felt audacious and daring.

And they arrived.

And they don’t fit my label maker.

And faced with having to return them and pay postage and pay postage again to get them in the right size–

I decided, oh, I don’t think so.

And I ordered a new P-Touch Personal Labeler that will fit them. (Now that you mention it, my other P-Touch does feel a tad impersonal. I just hadn’t realized that was a problem.)

Ordering a new one instead of returning and reordering tapes is much simpler.

Except.

Well, now I have two P-Touch labelers, both of which I intend to use, and well, somehow this isn’t simplifying my life, is it?

Sigh.

Once I have pretty files set up, I’ll post a pretty picture.

Oh, and, all you writers out there. How do you organize your research? What categories, etc?

Characters, Locations/Settings, Scene Cards, what?

I’m curious.

Because any time I can read about how people organize things, it inspires me.

(And why is it that the fact that ordering colored label tape has been much more complicated from the very start wasn’t enough to warn me away from this system? I fear the answer is because I am blind to logic.)

Revisiting the Index Card Dock

Hey, remember when I posted the picture and info about the Japanese “index card dock” awhile back? Well, evidently some of you do, and are still finding it, because it’s a rare day when that entry doesn’t get hits.

I emailed the good people at Correct to see what it would cost to order a dock out of curiosity (I’ve since bought an antique card file) and never got a response. It turns out that they don’t want to get into the international shipping biz.

But hawk has bridged the gap for those international customers who would like to order some of the Japanese gear he uses.

That’s the dock.

Those are the index cards. (And if you’re wondering what makes them different, there are at least two things. One, heavier card stock. Two, the graphs are consistent from one card to the next. Part of hawk’s personal system is to mark the top of the card by coloring in a square — which square he colors in indicates what kind of info is on the card. American graph cards are not consistent at all — when you look from the top, they don’t line up like the Japanese ones do.

If you look at the pic below, the cards with solid squares on top have been completed; the squares that are only outlined are not. Cool, huh?

And if I’m not mistaken, as expensive as they are, the Japanese ones are still cheaper than the good quality Levenger cards.

Order Japanese Gear Here.

I hope this helps somebody out!

Now. Go get something done.

Any MS Word gurus around?

So I admired this cool and mundane little index card and was told they are easy to design, etc.

Well, no, I’d have to actually learn something to do that.

However, I did design a very basic “project” card for myself, and I like it a lot.

The thing is, I use it vertically (the better for lists and scratching out, thereof) but will file horizontally.

So right now, I’m running it through the printer twice. Once, vertically for the form itself.

Second, horizontally-aligned with a title across the top (which is actually down the side when card is in use).

Is there a way in Word to set this up so that it all prints at once? Or will word not let you design your type to go in two directions at once?

If that makes no sense, I’ll be glad to email the templates to anybody who wants to look and see what I’m talking about.

Oh!

Here it is:

And here it is, filed:

I don’t mind running it through twice, but it would be very nice if I didn’t have to.

Any suggestions?

Little green things.

No, not boogers. Hush.

Years and years ago I was in a friend’s kitchen when her mom picked up an old school can opener and cranked open a can. I asked, “Don’t you like electric can openers?”

She said, “It’s not much, but it’s a little way of saving electricity. I mean, do I really need to use electricity to open a can?”

I always remembered that, and don’t have an electric can opener. I have ye olde basic Swing-Away that I bought at the grocery store early marriage, and has never needed replacing. This:

is the “new” one we bought about ten years ago when we were camping and didn’t have one. So just by default, when we got home I switched it out and put the “old” one in with the camping gear, but they both work the same. In fact, I have never struggled to open any can with these openers. And I have struggled many times to use electric openers at my friends’ homes.

So the question is really, why electric in the first place?

This came up for me recently when my desktop electric pencil sharpener stopped working. After hunting around, I finally figured out it was the only pencil sharpener in the house. I almost ordered a new one, but then thought about the can opener.

Why do I need an electric pencil sharpener?

So I did some research on the web and found all sorts of manual sharpeners, which led me to create a new page (see header above) called “writing green.”

If you need pencils or pencil sharpeners, check it out. And please feel free to add your own comments and suggestions.