Silent Sunday

 

Observers book with Winchester Iguana in tan

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 30 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this next instalment of his wonderful guest post series. 
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.   There is an index of all the previous filohax posts here.

 

The perfection of imperfection

A member posted recently about protecting their card dividers by laminating them and this got me thinking about the Japanese art of 'Wabi-Sabi' - the acceptance of transience and imperfection. 

I think I can call myself a student of Wabi-Sabi as the favourite Filofax from my collection is the one in the most advanced stage of disrepair - a really lived in and beaten black Winchester Ostrich.

 

On the other end of the condition spectrum, there is currently a pristine condition black Winchester Ostrich for sale for a thousand pounds on an online auction site , but personally I would be horrified to own it, for fear of accidentally landing the inaugural blow that deflowered it!

And why wouldn't we want to actually use a binder in real life anyway? Their very existence is to shield the paper contents and the information within from 'wear and tear'. To keep them locked away in a drawer or sitting idle on a shelf is to deny them their reason to exist...

Anyway, is not the word 'imperfection' a lot less stressy than 'perfection', with all of the attendant impossible standards to keep up with!?

Or is it 'change' that we really fear when we see our binders (and card dividers/ inserts!) becoming degraded?

When you start from the only logical position that exists - that the whole Universe is in a state of flux - then the pressure lifts and the focus moves to the contents of the binder/inserts, the ideas, opinions, art that the physical object aims to contain and protect. 

And then you find something magical happens - one day you see the scuffed leather with the scratches and indentations, the dog eared and worn round corners of inserts carried lovingly over months and years - made by not only your own life but maybe even previous owners lives, and instead of  imperfection you see the perfection...

Guest post series 'Filohax' - index of all posts

We are very grateful to Paul for his wonderful guest post series here. 

We thought it would be helpful to maintain an index of all his posts, which will be updated with any new content.

Filohax 

No. 1 The road back to Winchester

No. 2 DIY calendar 

No. 3 Why modern technology doesn't satisfy

No. 4 Filohax: Time for a change 

No. 5 Filohax: A Pigskin story 

No. 6 Filohax on holiday

No. 7 To pen loop or not to pen loop  

No. 8 The Filohax Filofax Filosophy - a first year review 

No. 9 Balmoral 10 CLFJ 5/4 

No. 10 Flatability's Filofax pen hack 

No. 11 Filohax sketchbook

No. 12 Making my own inserts 

No. 13 Argyll C2CLF 7/8

No. 14 Filohax Gloucester review 

No. 15  Filohax wallet 

No. 16  Filofax Grosvenor review 

No. 17 You can only write on one insert at a time, so why try to carry them all? 

No. 18 Cavendish/Portland big rings review 

No. 19 Decoration... for Men (or for anyone really)

No. 20 To mollycoddle or not to mollycoddle...

No. 21  Sunbathing experiment 

No. 22  Why tech needs analogue 

No. 23  Simple Perfection

No. 24 The A to Z of maximalism vs minimalism

No. 25  Don't take Filofax damage lying down... 

No. 26  Zibaldone zone 

No. 27 Filofax Winchester Ostrich skin review 

No. 28 Just enough space

No. 29 Indexing your life- 'one binder to rule them all'

No. 30 The perfection of imperfection

 

Silent Sundays

Winchester 4CLF 7/8 / Tintin album 

Winchester 4CCF 7/8 / Observer's Book of Birds and book of Birds Eggs

Argyll C2CLF 7/8 / Battle comic 

Winchester 5CLF 7/8 / View Master

Winchester 5CLF 7/8 double gusset/ Battle comic

Winchester 4PLF 5/4 / 25 years old Moleskine sketch books

Argyll 2CLF 7/8 / Brooke Bond Picture cards

Winchester 4PLF 5/4 / World War 2 magazine collectors cards

Balmoral 10CLFJ 5/4 / World War Two magazine collectors cards

Kid leather slim personal and Viewmaster reels album

Swatch Mezza Luna on Filofax Ostrich skin Winchester

1994 Swiss Army Knife and Slimline Executive in Kid leather  

Grosvenor 9KLF 7/8 and Observers Books

Winchester real Ostrich and 'What to look for in Winter' Ladybird book

Winchester 4CCF and 1979 Alien graphic novel

My first Filofax Winchester and Matchbox series 75 Ferrari Berlinetta

Winchester 5/4 Pigskin and Tintin album 'Explorers on the Moon' 

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 29 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this next instalment of his wonderful guest post series. 
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.    There is an index of all the previous Filohax posts here

Indexing your life- 'one binder to rule them all'

 

If anything is going to bring people back to Filofax and journalling in general it's Doom scrolling...(If you don't know already, it's wasting hours every day disappearing down digital rabbit holes)

I've been a devil for it, and once I got diagnosed as a doom scroller (only joking...or am I?!) I realised I needed something to fill the gap. That's where a wonderful post by Samm Menzies got me hooked on 'Indexing',

 

which described keeping a master index of her Filofax insert content to make it easy to reference any subject mentioned in any of her binders. What struck me as the 'killer benefit' was not having to trawl through the individual indexes of each Filofax to find a subject that may have been covered in a number of different binders. Instead the dedicated master index can be your first port of call. For example, in my section showing the letter 'c' for entry 'cafe' you can see from the third column (which is for the location/s that the subject is located) there are three different places that I've written about cafes. The locations can be separate binders, sections within binders, physical books, or online resources - it's up to you. 

Structure 

I decided early on to use the vintage Filofax 26 letter A-Z tabs - only made possible by housing my index in a massive ringed Cavendish personal (and since then expanded into two Cavendish!). If you're going to take this seriously you will quickly realise you will need the capacity!

Each page covers only one letter, and the beauty of ring binders (versus bound binders) is that it allows constant expansion - which you will need. 

First column 

The first column is the subject, 'cafe' in this example (I'm getting ahead of myself, but the little circular symbol underneath with an arrow pointing backwards denotes that there is also 'cafe' content earlier in the 'c' section, and guess what it means if the arrow points forward?!). The subject can be as practical as cafes that you have visited, or more subjective subjects such as 'Emotions'... and everything in-between.

Second column 

 

The second column is where the content's short description goes. The content here should be descriptive of the full item you are pointing towards in the source binder. What I have come to realise from doing this for a few years is that you are collecting data in doing this, and once you have data, information, facts, statistics can be used for various purposes, including analysis, decision-making, and communication.

Third column 

The third column is the location of the item in your collection. Unlike an index in each of your binders, the master index places all references to a key word together, making it more efficient to retrieve information from multiple sources.

It also doesn't have to reference just a binder - you could reference any book in your library or an online resource (you can see in the 'Cafe' example the word 'Google' - there are files I only have in Google notes!) 

Fourth column 

The fourth column is for the date of the entry. As you may notice, the entries aren't always in date order - you might fill in an item from one location that is actually before its predecessor. Part of me is freaked out by this, but at the end of the day this is just giving me a staging post for easier information retrieval.

Indexing benefits for journalers 

I must admit that initially I started this project on faith that Samm was on to something, but the real benefit of the index system became clear to me once I started to input information into the index from my daily journalling practice. 

Have you ever tried looking for information on a subject in your journals, but had to give up as there is too much information and you can't even remember which year to search in? Now all I need to know is what letter of the alphabet that subject begins with and the index gives me everything relating to it - which ever binder it resides in and however many dates.

Difficulties 

Sharp eyed readers may have noticed the biggest problem with indexing - it's impossible for all entries within a letter tab to be alphabetical - it's highly unlikely that the first word that you write in 'A' section will be 'Aadvark' and the last 'Azyme'! (I've also come to realise that you never finish an index ..)

This is because compiling a master index is ongoing and very organic, therefore you just have to scan through the pages until you find the word you are looking for - which has its own pitfalls, such as when searching for one keyword but getting distracted by another one that catches your attention! The only way to ensure truly alphabetised entries is to use a new insert for every new word. It's do-able but you would end up needing a library to house all of your master indexes! I have pondered if A.I could take on the task - and print off, crop, and hole punch the inserts for me! 

Questions 

Q. But where do you find the time to keep it up to date? 

A. Where this article began - I used to find time for doom scrolling (insert your own time wasting activity here!) so it's not that you don't have time, you've just chosen to spend it in an unfocused way.

My method? On a Monday I review all new content in my binders from the week before, making choices of what I need to index and what can stay un-indexed (again it's up to you but you would be surprised what may be interesting in 6 months time, so record everything.)

Q. You surely don't need to reference that much information unless you're a researcher or your biographer?! 

A. I don't at the moment, but what I'm beginning to realise is that you aren't just making a master index for the current you, you're making it for future you too, and who knows, your descendants?

Q. I use my smartphone for everything, and the search facility on my email can do this better? 

A. There are two answers to this very good question. The first - where is the first email that you ever wrote, and the important information within it? It's probably easy to find that (most probably not). But how about that journal you kept in an online app 15 years ago that closed down five years ago, leaving you with a link to a document that requires a specialist piece of software to access? Or if I bring things up to date - what happens when a ' bad online actor' (enemy state hackers) figure out ways to permanently take down online facilities that we all imagine existing forever? Ask British company Marks & Spencers about that likelihood... The second answer is simple. If you are reading this I know that you place value in physical binders, and writing within them. A master index becomes the 'one binder to rule them all', something that you love to pick up and open, contribute to, that builds up over a year, a lifetime, into a record of your life - and times. Something I'm guessing that your descendants will thank you for...

Regrets 

I'm a student of 'make a start' rather than 'make it perfect' as I know from experience that I'll never start if I waste my enthusiasm energy on over planning. Thus, I decided to start where I stood and move forward with what was in front of me - an insert with the letter A on both sides, all the way up to Z. Next, I took the previous day's journal entry and added each keyword to its insert - 'Cafe' to 'C' - and if the second word beginning with C happened to be 'cyan' then after leaving an amount of space to fill in all future mentions of the word 'cafe' (the whole two sides!) then I would add 'Cyan'. Big mistake. This means that I have to trawl through all of the 'C' inserts to find 'cyan' (or whichever c word I want to look up) instead of flicking to the last insert under 'C' section.

For anyone interested in starting their own life index - alphabetise by first, second, and third letters if possible!

 

Who knows, reordering my master index might become my first retirement project

“A good idea is not of any use if you can’t find it.” —Logan Heftel                  

Silent Sunday

 

Winchester 5/4 Pigskin and Tintin album 'Explorers on the Moon'

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 28 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this next instalment of his wonderful guest post series. 
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.   There is an index of all the previous Filohax posts here

Just enough space

I've been using Filofax personal format inserts off and on for nearly 40 years and it's only just occurred to me why this format has proliferated for over a century... 'There's just enough space. '

The 6 ringed binder that has gone on to be called 'Personal' or 'Bible' size was always intended to be a portable housing for technical information sheets - for taking 'off site', so portability was essential (the original ring size may have been a slim 1/4 inch, only big enough for slipping into an overall pocket). 

(Here a couple of posts by Steve about personal size, in case you'd like more details - https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2022/06/personal-size.html and https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2018/01/why-is-personal-size-still-most-popular.html)

The depth 
But why the portable size that it is? I think this was dictated by an average handwriting size writing a list that covered 31 days, a day per line. I don't think it's a coincidence that after a space for heading information there are 31 lines...so that covers the depth of the page.

  

The width
Again, an average hand will be able to write 7 or 8 words on a personal insert line - just enough for a to-do item.

Disadvantages versus advantages 
There is a downside to this 'just enough' format - it's not really large enough to write, for instance, a daily journal on one side. However for me, it's a trade off - in the past whenever I've tried journalling in larger format bound journals I've given up before too long as I mainly journal 'on the go' while out and about and these weren't portable enough for me.

However since I started journalling in personal format I've been doing it daily for 3 years - a compromise that works for me, how about you?

Silent Sunday

My first Filofax Winchester, bought new in 1989, and my Matchbox series 75 Ferrari Berlinetta, bought new in 1970 (ish?!)

Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 27 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this next instalment of his wonderful guest post series. 
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.   There is an index of all the previous Filohax posts here

Filofax Winchester Ostrich skin review 

After lusting over photographs of 'Buttercup' Ostrich skin Winchesters and being unable to justify the crazy prices being asked (and accepted) for them, I resigned myself to only ever viewing them from afar. Then out of the blue a black one popped up for sale on a website that rhymes with 'she may'! It had definitely been around the block a few times - but I like that in my vintage binders - it also made it within a sensible price range. I can't tell you the rigmarole I had to go through to purchase it, but eventually it arrived and for all of its rough and shabby edges I love it.

 

Except I didn't love the barely closing ring mechanism... I could use it, but you know that feeling when something isn't right? I had that feeling, which was harshing the good vibes I got every time I picked it up and felt the quills...

 

 

To the rescue came a Hamilton I had previously acquired for free. It was a perfectly good personal sized Hamilton - scruffy looking (which as I've said, I like), but I found it a little bit bulky and heavy, so I moved out and it had been storing inserts for a while.

However, the Hamilton's rings were perfect, so I decided to swap them into the Ostrich as this was going to become my daily work binder. One thing I did notice whilst handling these two binders was the difference in weight - the Ostrich skin is noticeably lighter, and as I carry my Filofax a lot at work this would make a big difference. 

So, with some trepidation I got Steve's YouTube video on changing rings on (even though I've changed rings on Winchesters a few times now) and swapped them over. I love 'de-skuzzing' the leather once the back plate is out - we're talking 30+ years of gunk!

 

I'm over the solar system with the results - the Ostrich skin has been my work companion for over three months now. This binder, although once an 'exotic' is my workhorse (I should say 'Work-bird!') like my other work binders before it over the last three years:

• My original Winchester 23mm I bought in 1989 
• Cavendish 30mm 
• Winchester Cognac 23mm 
• Gloucester 23mm 
• Albany 23mm 
• Gloucester 23mm 
• Portland 30mm 
• Argyle 23mm 
• Winchester Croc 23mm 
• Hamilton 23mm 
• Winchester Ostrich.

There's something rugged yet light about the Ostrich (paradoxically the world's heaviest bird!) - the black colour masks the rich texture of the quills - until you feel it. But it's the lightest weighted Winchester I've held.

A few months in and the wear that was visible (top and bottom where the metal clips of the ring mechanism touch the leather) - has advanced so that the metal is starting to show through, and it won't be long until slivers of ostrich skin will be shearing off...I can't wait! I know, to collectors this must sound maddening, but the value to me is in the use, and the visible effects of a job well done. 

 I'll post again in a few months with updated photos of the wear and tear.