VHS Notebook by Peleg Design

So in March last year the UK went into it’s first Covid lockdown. On my fucking birthday. Which was the first day of a week off work. I’d planned to go out to museums, exhibitions and see films at the cinema. Instead I couldn’t even walk in my local park.

So the next day I decided to start a journal. I’d always thought I’d start one if I lived in “interesting times”. And it’s a good excuse to use a notebook. Especially one I’d been saving for a good reason like the Peleg Design VHS notebook.

Now I’ve almost filled it after 13 months it’s a good time to do the review. Over the past year I’ve kept track of key events (lockdowns, Covid news, losing my job, getting a new job), things I’ve been doing and how I’ve been feeling.

One thing I found straight way is that fountain pens bled through the paper. Rollerballs like the Pilot HiTechpoint V-7 were okay. So I curated a little pot of gel pens and a pencil to mix up the ink colours for different days. Oh, and a Sakura Pigma Micron RN fibre tip pen. The paper is okay to write on, not totally smooth but perfectly usable.

The book has 7mm lined pages with a larger gap on the top line. There is no numbering or other ornamentation. It doesn’t say how many pages there are but the paper section is about 15mm thick. The covers are hard and feel strong. I’ve not been carrying it about but after a year’s use the cover is like new.

There are no little extras like back cover pockets, book mark ribbons or closure elastic or fastenings.

I adore the level of detail on the book. It even came with a sheet of stickers with little icons like actual tapes did. I used the spine and front stickers for the title.

Overall I like this book a lot, even if I can’t use FPs in it. It was a gift many years ago and it’s been great to get to use it. I wonder if I’ll ever look back on it, maybe many years into the future. Here in the UK we’re coming out of our third national lockdown and have vaccines being issued. I never expected to still be writing about it in my book 13 months later and am now looking at my paper stash for what I use next. I hope I’m not writing about the pandemic and how sad and anxious it makes me much longer.