Looking for the perfect solution: Circa?

This new adventure started over the weekend, as I searched for fountain pens for me and the kids (leaning towards Lamy Safari right now and/or Pelikano Jr.) — and a new notebook/planner/journal/not sure exactly what…. my current Moleskine is almost gone. I went back to Franklin last year after two years of Palm. The Palm was too small, too cold, too mechanical…. the Franklin too bulky, not flexible enough. I just tore out pages from 12 notebooks I’ve used off and on over the years and stuck all of them in a 3-ring binder… so when I was browsing at Levenger, Circa jumped out at me, yelling “Here I am!!!”

A bunch of Levenger Circa items are in my shopping cart right now, and as always I’m taking time to do some research first before plunking down all that money.

A video of how it works — wmv file from Levenger

Forum discussion on Circa and other systems

There’s this whole other world of GTD folks (should I be surprised I’m not the only one obsessed about these things?). I was mostly perusing their talks on combining analog/digital organizational systems, etc. which is what I’ve been trying to do for quite some time — no real success yet. It’s funny when I come across something from the periphery, it’s like the Venn diagrams of my world intersecting.

The other day I was at the Fountain Pen Network forum looking for what brand to buy for the kids. I don’t know why it surprised me to find that a large group of people can be collectively passionate about pens. Paco’s a pen lover so now I’m understanding him a bit more. I never was obsessed although I did go through a phase in college where I spent hours deciding on the perfect tech pen. It must have been Vienne’s influence — she used a tech pen to take her notes and I was impressed with the fineness of the point and how clean her notes always looked; hence my disappointment when I found “my engineer” and he doesn’t use tech pens in his daily life. Hee. Anyway, going back to planners and such…

What I don’t like about Moleskines: it’s so limiting. No calendars, no planning pages, no blanks, just lines, lines, lines….They don’t even make their Storyboard notebook in large size. What I want is one of those sketch-and-write books, but not the kiddie ones.

What I don’t like about Franklin Covey: the guilt associated with not using every page of their refills. Of course, I could just go with a customized FC, get their planning tabs and calendars and go with a bunch of blanks…. however, I’ve always gone with the Classic size, and a Monarch would be too large for me and therefore too bulky to carry everywhere I go, and I’ve tried the compact but it was too small…. I suppose a customized Monarch can work too, but that would mean another binder. I thought I’d love forever my Classic purse that can be a clutch or a shoulder bag and holds everything, but it kills my shoulder when I’m out shopping. Which is why I think the Circa is a much better system — large, small, medium, everything can fit together in the end.

a review of Levenger Circa

Thinking that the DIY-Circa route would be the one to take here…. maybe with some Rollabind things thrown in there…

The possibilities! My to do lists, in small, my notes and project plans, in the bigger sizes, I can have everything together — the saints project, the sewing project, the room-by-room project, all in one place, and then separated out later into their own folders and rings…. small scrapbooks/lapbooks/research reports, curriculum and lesson plans, even recipes, etc….

Levenger/Rollabind comments/comparisons/ideas

The Rollabind connection

Make Your Own from DIY Planner – the folks over there are definitely *my* kind of people!

This review/overview says everything!

Very thorough review here, with suggestions on DIYing, etc.

the Myndology version — hmmmm…. maybe for Aisa, or Yena… or wait…. eco-friendly wood discs! would look mighty fine with leather…

And here’s the perfect how-to for little ol’ me! Setting Up a Circa System, D*I*Y Planner Style (can actually ignore all the other links and focus on this one — it answers all my questions)

Levenger Outlet on eBay, which currently doesn’t have any of the things I need

Whoa! Rollabind on sale

Levenger Circa at Flickr

DIYPlanner Group’s Circa photos

Peeked at CIAK. Nah.

Okay, so besides Levenger Circa, Rollabind, Myndology, there’s also ADOC.

And yet I haven’t stopped looking at Exaclair’s brands — most of which are available through The Daily Planner

I’m putting this decision off until tonight, or maybe even tomorrow. Gotta mull some more.