Gear: Moleskine (mol-a-skeen-a)

Product name: Moleskine Notebook

Made by: Modo and Modo of Italy

Web Site: www.moleskine.com

Moleskines are *oilcloth-covered (*Vinyl-treated fabric) notebooks, manufactured by Modo and Modo of Italy, based on a design by a small stationer in Tours, France. The standard Moleskine Notebook measures 5'x8' and features the following: lightweight body, acid-free paper, an accordion pocket folder built into the back cover, a cloth ribbon attached to the spine to serve as a bookmark, and a woven elastic band attached to the back to keep the book closed when not in use (and to protect the pages from the elements). The name (officially pronounced "mol-a-skeen-a", although it can vary) comes from the French spelling of 'moleskin', which the oilcloth covering resembles, and is a trademark of Modo and Modo.

This small, pocket-sized notebook has picked up a remarkable following among professional and aspiring writers, artists, photographers, designers and diarists. This is in part due to the claim that the Moleskine's design was used by many famous writers and artists of the 19th and 20th Centuries, such as Van Gogh & Hemingway. Such a pedigree might not be enough, for the casual consumer, to justify the notebook's premium retail price (approximately US$10-12), but just one book, and you're hooked. It is worth it. Contemporary fans of the Moleskine cite its slim size and design features as useful for writing 'on the go', especially for travel purposes. For ladies, the standard notebook will fit in most handbags, as well as the back pocket of a pair of jeans for men.

Moleskines are available in many varieties: ruled, squared, plain, address book, info book, and music (192 pages each); sketchbook and storyboard (80 pages of heavier paper); Japanese pocket album (60 zig-zag folded pages); and memo pockets (six pockets instead of paper). Cahier (French for "notebook", pronounced "kah-yay") notebooks are another popular variety of Moleskine featuring a thinner body and coming in sets of three.

I've been working on lovingly filling the pages of my Moleskine Sketchbook for 5 months now, and am only about halfway through. It has become a staple of my (and many others') camera & travel bags, always unobtrusive with its trademark black cover and ready for any trip large or small. It has become surprisingly personal, as if I poured all of my life's passions into a single, compact space.

Some handy tips I've picked up along the way:

• Work the accordion! - Use the back folder to stash things you may need/want close at hand.

- Extra cash for emergencies (whatever the local currency is, wherever/if-ever you are traveling)

- Contact cards (preferably, ones with your photographs on them!)

- Photos of family and friends (for those homesick nights, or just as an icebreaker)

- Spare memory card for your digital camera

- "Inspiration pieces"--magazine cutouts, clippings, stickers, photographs, and basically anything that inspires your creativity (and maybe for future use in a journal entry/collage)

• Everything In Its Place - Can't decide what to use your Moleskine exclusively for? Want to divide up your "Moleskine portfolio" by photography styles? Get some write-on, removable tabs (like for those notebook dividers from high school) and create sections.

• New-Age Shutterbugs: - You're planning on using your Moleskine as an artistic photography portfolio or photo album? Invest in the Moleskine Sketchbook. It has heavier stock paper, still acid-free, that will protect your photographs and also keep the pages from bowing if you rubber-cement them in. Also try and use fine-point, liquid-ink pens for captioning.

• The Traveler: The new Moleskine City Notebook is a backpacker's dream! Available for a handful of European & N. American cities (with more rolling out each season), the City Notebook features (among other things) up to 36 maps, blank pages & tear-out sheets, tabs, and the famous Moleskine accordion folder.

Moleskines can be purchased at major booksellers worldwide. Visit them online at: http://www.moleskine.com/

Get CREATIVE!, get personal, make your photography more than just images on a screen...incorporate them into your daily life! Craft a tangible piece of yourself, your art and everything you're about! And fill that little black book 'till the elastic band cries out for mercy!

Shannon Dagher is an aspiring world traveler & photographer. She is studying Cultural Anthropology (specializing in the Middle East) and can be found online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannondagher/