Takin' It Back

“It’s alright man, I’m takin’ it back” This is the only good line form Clerks 2. The movie was crap but that whole sequence about takin’ it back was excellent. Hilarious even. Sure the premise was highly offensive but even my friend who might have been offended by the premise were laughing their butts off. What does this have to do with books?

Dude, I’m taking it back, moleskine that is. Moleskin is a historical term used to describe a variety of book styles- small pocket sized, with a pocket in the back, an elastic closure, and a place marker. It is not JUST the Moleskine brand journal and the historical inaccuracies of their popular insert it is the journals that I make and use. Hedgehog journals ARE moleskins. Moleskine (brand) journals are moleskins. Any small 3.5x5.5 inch journal is a moleskin.

Check out the wiki article here.

And check out this article on the famous lies of the advertising.

So take it back with me: Refer to moleskins as moleskins and the brand moleskine as Moleskine brand.

(Just a note here, I LOVE moleskine BRAND notebooks, I have more than a few myself, but my rub here is not with their company but that they have co-opted a historical term that refers to a style of notebook. As such when I refer to my notebooks I’m forced to refer to them as hedgehogs (cute name without the history.) I  want to be able to discuss my notebooks with people and refer to it as a moleskin without them getting all up in arms and saying “no it’s not.”

I digress. I’m Taking it Back!

You can download the image below if you'd like to take it back too: