Scratch pads.  An ancient and forgotten technology.  Once the steadfast partner of the wall-mounted kitchen land-line.  Scratch pads, I’m afraid, have all but disappeared.

For those of you who don’t remember them allow me to explain.  Back in the days when phones stayed put you could often find a small, seemingly decorative pad of paper next to them.  This was where you would write a grocery list.  If someone called you and you wanted to call them back, you would need to write their phone number down.  Here was where you did it.  Caller ID hadn’t “happened” yet.

So, why are we talking about the extinct scratch pad?  Because the scratch pad’s absence from our lives creates a landscape of thin ice on which a Notebooker must tread.

There are times when we, as Notebookers, need to write things down so we don’t forget them.  As we’ve talked about before, we advocate writing these things anywhere EXCEPT your Notebook.  The reason being that no grocery list or doctor’s appointment is well written enough to keep for posterity.  This is the perfect use for a Spartan, as a sort of filter or shield for your Notebook. But, what if you don’t have your Spartan on you? (shame on you) What if all you have is your Notebook?

Then, my friend, it is time to break some rules!

Don’t despair.  So long as we’re here, let’s go over a couple of reasons why this isn’t the end of the world (and one reason why it might be).

First and foremost writing things in your Notebook that are best left to a scratch pad tends to lower your Notebook a peg or two on the “supercilious” scale.  You might not need this, but you might.  It is an unfortunate tendency that all people have to elevate their writing to a revered level.  A lot of bad things happen when we do this but the main thing is that we start to take ourselves too seriously (seemingly an epidemic these days).  This is not only inexcusable but it also leads to bad writing.  Personally, I prefer to use goofy humor to keep things light in my Notebooks but a chili recipe followed by an urgent reminder to buy toilet paper does that job really well.

A funny thing can happen when you use your Notebook as a scratch pad.  Very occasionally you will find it has become a Written Souvenir.  A Written Souvenir is an incredible yet simple thing that will happen if you try and occasionally when you don’t try.  Let me explain, some time ago I spent an evening with some friends.  The evening was seemingly normal.  We were all at Dave and Katrina’s house.  Dave seemed out of sorts and there was a nervous energy in the air.  As the evening wore on we got hungry.  Dave announced that we should order Chinese food from Katrina’s favorite place.  Since there were no scratch pads (damn you progress!) we all wrote our orders in my Notebook.  After we ate Dave got down on one knee into the “half-begging position” and got engaged to Katrina.  Dave later explained that in lieu of fancy restaurants and tall buildings, all Katrina wanted was her close friends present and a full happy belly.  I immediately wrote in my Notebook, “The night Dave and Katrina got engaged they first dined at home with friends (I listed all of us) on China Hut Mongolian Feast II.

I knew then that this Chinese food order had become a Written Souvenir.  I even toyed with tearing the page out and including it in my wedding card to them (If you’re wondering, I got them a 4 foot tall pepper mill because I am either the best or worst gift giver of all time!).

The danger with allowing yourself to use your Notebook as a scratch pad is that it is a slippery slope that can end with carrying around a scratch pad that looks like a notebook.  The best policy here is to try to avoid it, realize that some scratch pad utility is inevitable, and be open to the possibility of its benefits.