I’ve looked at a ton of diaries and planners for 2020 and I’m not sure any are more wild than the Maruman Mnemosyne Diary 2020. This is a planners dream, with two separate notebooks containing calendars, Gantt charts, daily note pages, and more. On top of that, there are additional accessories, like Calendar stickers and Monthly Block stickers that help turn this diary up to eleven. I’m giving away this full set of goods to one reader, so read the rules below and enter away!
Life Bank Paper Review
What is bank paper? According to Merriam-Webster:
“a thin strong paper similar to but lighter than bond paper and commonly used for business letterheads”
Bank paper products, such as this A5 Life Writing Paper, have begun to appear more frequently in our world, mainly because it lives up to the definition above. The paper is thin, durable, and can handle almost any ink or graphite well.
This Life Bank Paper pad has been recommended to me many times, and I took way too long to acquire it. It is downright excellent. It features a light ivory color page with the slightest bit of texture and feedback. The 100 pages are glue bound in an A5 size, which make it perfect for letter writing. This is a pad that will be empty when you are done with it, not kept like a spiral bound pad.
I mostly wanted to test fountain pen inks on it, and I’m happy to say they work well. There is no feathering or bleed to speak of, even when I laid down heavy swabs of ink on the page. All nibs feel smooth on it, even though you can feel the texture of the paper. It’s a very light texture, and I didn’t feel it was detrimental, even when using my finest nibs.
The dry time was also decent. This isn’t a glossy page like Rhodia, so I expected it to be quick, and it is. The only ink that took some time to dry was with the Montegrappa Miya Flex nib, due to the fact it was putting more ink down on the page. Even so, dry time was fine, and a pink blotting sheet is included if you so desire.
There is some ghosting, as you can tell by my picture of the pages when still attached to the pad. I personally wouldn’t use the back of the sheet to write a letter on, but it is workable.
All of my non-fountain pens performed well on this bank paper, with the lone exception being plastic tip drawing pens. The texture causes problems with this type of pen, leaving white space in the line, or sometimes skipping. It is at least usable, which is more than I can say for other textured papers and plastic tips.
All ballpoint, gel, and rollerball pens worked well - even my micro gel ink pens. Brush pens performed better than expected, and pencil graphite was an absolute standout. The texture allows the graphite a darkness and depth that smooth papers do not.
Being a bank paper, you might think there would be a watermark in the page, and you would be correct. It’s not that noticeable when writing in the pad, but it is more noticeable once you remove the page and more light surrounds it. It’s by no means a deal-breaker, or even a minor annoyance, but I thought I would point it out in case someone really dislikes watermarks.
So, how will I be using this pad? You are going to make me write letters, aren’t you? I think that’s what this pad is tailor made for. The glue binding comes off so cleanly you would think these were loose sheets. I’ve even punched them for my William Hannah notebook.
At $20 for 100 pages it isn’t cheap by any stretch, but the A5 Life Writing Paper Pad is purpose built, meaning you should have a purpose in mind when buying and using it. It’s not a desk pad, work pad, or a scratch pad. It’s more than that, and should be used as such.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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Misfill, Deep Dark Edition
Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:
— Diamine Cult Pens Deep Dark Inks (Mountain of Ink)
— review: robert oster signature direct sun (ink between the teeth)
— Lamy Made a Pen with Wacom EMR Digital Writing Tech (Cool Material)
— Reviewing the Dingbats Case Bound A5 Notebook (Write eXperience)
— Madrid Pen Show 2019 (Crónicas Estilográficas)
— My Very First Impressions of the New 16-inch MacBook Pro (The Newsprint)
— Over 300 Books Are Available for Free Download in the Getty Museum's Virtual Library (Hyperallergic)
— Journal Accessory Review: Himekuri Sticky Calendar (The Well-Appointed Desk)
— The UN's World Health Organization Says Art Is a Powerful Prescription (Hyperallergic)
— » Keeping a Gratitude Journal (Rhodia Drive)
— My Jibun Techo: The Planner Geek's Planner (The Gentleman Stationer)
— A decade of Plannerisms!!! (Plannerisms)
— Zebra Sarasa Clip Peanuts Limited Edition Review (Writing at Large)
— This ‘Adventure Journal’ Belongs in Your Backpack (GearJunkie)
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