Writing on KemoNine's Blog

On Writing Digitally

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It would seem I’ve regained the ability to write more frequently and regularly despite my health hassles

My Preference

Normally I write posts for this blog by hand using a pen, Tomoe River paper and a clipboard. Sadly, my health hassles make this approach to writing very difficult and I do not have the capacity to write using analog methods regularly or reliably. Over the last few years I’ve had to patiently wait for windows when my health hassles doesn’t interfere with my writing. With analog I have to slowly write blog posts over the course of weeks and sometimes months. It’s quite frustrating but I enjoy writing and refuse to give it up, even if frustrated by my health hassles.

How I Research

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What’s Within?

This post lays out how I research topics. I’ve struggled with “research” in the past and, thanks to a friend, finally figured out a methodology that actually works for me. This post goes through my methodology, how I use it with success and the details needed to recreate and/or adapt it.

What / Why / How

Important Context

Over the years I never really figured out how to research a topic properly. Basically if I needed to research anything I just sort of went digging around the internet, read books, read published articles and similar but didn’t really take notes or create summaries or similar. At best I’d catalog very basic snippets that I could turn into something actually useful at a later date.

My notebook & organizer journey

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What’s Within?

Within is a walk through of all things analog and digital that I put together to be effective with notebooks and organizers. Things I’ve cataloged, setup, used, tinkered with and more. It even includes the how and why of my personal needs, preferences and opinions.

In short: it’s a very long breakdown of everything that actually works for me as well as many things that didn’t work for me. Think “Kemo’s Notebook & Organizer Autobiography”.

Health Hassle Handwriting

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Editors note: KemoNine wrote this post before realizing they had already written Digital Writing Tablet Mini Review 3 ish months ago. Some information below overlaps with the prior blog post but the core of this particular post is how KemoNine is using a drawing tablet day to day for handwriting.

Prelude

Let’s get this out of the way up front: I am a pen and paper human at heart. Despite being labeled a ’tech nerd’ I use pen and paper as a default medium. I do have some health hassles (read: serious, chronic health issues) that prevent me from using pen and paper with the frequency I desire and, arguably, need in order to stay on top of daily life and more.

Digital Writing Tablet Mini Review

Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This post is about 2 different writing tablets. The Wacom One and XP Pen G430S. Both are very small drawing tablets.

I bought both of these recently to help me with note taking on my computer. For my $dayJob I do a lot of implementation work and I regularly receive PDF specifications that I need to annotate. I’m also a remote worker (work from home) so I can’t just print the files and use a pen to annotate. I also can’t ‘break the glass’ in terms of moving data between my $dayJob environment and personal environment so I need some kind of drawing tablet so I can annotate PDFs as part of my job duties. I also need competent note taking software with a focus on handwritten notes as well as a tablet that has enough precision to allow me to write in cursive or printing within my chosen note taking application.

Organizers [Universally Stink]

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Good Intention, Failure Imminent

I intended to write a post about all the systems and ideas I’ve tried over the years. Instead it was more appropriate to call bullshit and tell you it’s a brain wiring problem and until you find something that ‘clicks’ it’ll just be failure after failure and soul crushing.

This post is meant to inspire you to think about organization systems and let you know that you’re not alone with this topic. It’s a non-trivial concern for people and it can take a long time to find a good organization system tuned to an individuals needs. Don’t worry: I’ll let you know what works for me but it’s not dogma, gospel, the best or anything else. What I use to stay organized works for me, I have no illusions it’s a strange system that won’t work for most humans walking the planet.

Interesting, if not odd, Discoveries

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: All of the interesting discoveries

Forward

It’s been many, many solar cycles since I found myself embarking upon the analog writing path. During these cycles I have managed to dial in my preferences and have found many supplies I may not like much but are great recommendations for others. I’ve also encountered some odd supplies that are worth calling attention towards.

Tamoe River Redux

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: The Test

I’ve never kept my love of Tamoe River Paper (link) a secret. I’d have posted about it specifically but I’ve never really had anything to say beyond an ultra mini review of ‘This stuff is AMAZING, BUY NOW’. It’s the perfect loose leaf paper: cheap, thin, easy to work with and translucent.

Waterproof Writing

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: Waterproof Kit

Why?

I spend a lot of time outdoors. I may be a geek/nerd but I like being outdoors and actually spend time outside. One thing that rarely stops me is the weather. Because of this I can end up outside in the rain or during a blizzard. This is a big reason I only buy archive grade and water resistant inks and papers.

Monteverde Tool Pen (Grumpy Opinion Within)

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: The Pen

I recently picked up a Monteverde USA Tool Pen Inkball (link). The pen is, uh.

One of the worst pens I’ve laid hands on

I cracked the box open, discovered there were no ink cartridges or adapters and… it didn’t get better once I ordered a converter and some standard international mini ink cartridges.

American Cursive Handwriting Mini Review

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The [work]book ‘American Cursive Handwriting’ by Michael Sull (Goodreads Link) is an interesting ‘read’. I picked up a copy years ago when I first started getting interested in writing. I was looking for ways to slow down, think and better remember things. After I entered the world of analog writing it quickly became clear it helped me on too many levels to properly enumerate here.

The biggest problem I had early on with analog writing was my legibility and writing speed. I could barely read my own scribbles and anyone else had about zero chance of reading my handwriting. Despite other gains I had with analog writing, these were major hurdles for me. I would definitely have thrown in the towel on analog writing if I hadn’t found ‘American Cursive Handwriting’ during my research into ways of improving legibility and speed.

A riff on Bullet Journals

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: The Setup

Riffing

a monolog or spoken improvisation, especially a humorous one, on a particular subject

or: break the rules and see if there is no spoon

Bullet Journals (BuJo)

The official Bullet Journal site (link) is a full, end to end system of organization. It’s been a huge hit in pen/paper circles for several years now. I read their documentation, tried “the system” and walked away with a bad taste in my mouth. I also was left in a bad spot organizationally.

Pen Pals

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Figure 1: One of the post card images

Going the Distance

I recently finished mailing 32[!] letters as part of the InCoWriMo (link) ‘challenge’. I put out a call online for interested parties on my primary social network(s) and the response was overwhelming. So much support and positivity among the analog lovers online. Some even asked if I wouldn’t mind becoming pen pals as a fun way to keep the project alive long-term.

Writing on KemoNine's Blog

On Writing Digitally

My Preference

How I Research

What’s Within?

Table of Contents

What / Why / How

Important Context

My notebook & organizer journey

What’s Within?

Health Hassle Handwriting

Prelude

Digital Writing Tablet Mini Review

Organizers [Universally Stink]

Good Intention, Failure Imminent

Interesting, if not odd, Discoveries

Forward

Tamoe River Redux

Waterproof Writing

Why?

Monteverde Tool Pen (Grumpy Opinion Within)

American Cursive Handwriting Mini Review

A riff on Bullet Journals

Riffing

Bullet Journals (BuJo)

Pen Pals

Going the Distance