Mando.org

I love it.

It’s everything I thought it would be. It’s a scratch pad, note taker, wallet and organizer all in one. Utterly amazing.

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dr. Jones (the elder, not the younger) has a sweet little pocket notebook containing his life’s work: a (highly stylized) map that leads to the Holy Grail. After years and years of searching, I’ve found it. The notebook, that is. Not the Grail.

The notebook is a Moleskine (pronounced “mo-le-skeen-eh”, as it’s Italian in origin). According to the website, these things have been used by great artists of the years such as Hemmingway, Wilde, Van Gogh and others. Maybe it’ll make me a great artist as well .

Seriously, I’ve searched long and hard for something that can be a journal/note keeper/second brain, and nothing has ever worked how I expect. Palm Pilots weren’t quick or cheap enough, and regular notebooks are too big to carry around. This thing fits in your back pocket and is cheap enough to justify.

Thanks to Prentiss for the link.

Truth comes from the most unlikely of places. I found this link while reading an awful story about a hurtfully-named website run by an aide of Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).

Three years ago, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, his son and an aide died in a plane crash while he was campaining for his Senate race. The death of a popular public servant notwithstanding, this was a pretty big deal. With Carnahan a near shoo-in for the Senate seat held by then Repulican Senator John Ashcroft, the Democratic party had a good chance to re-take the Senate majority.

The tail number of the plane that went down was N8354N. The website’s name was N8354N. Words can’t adequately describe the tastelessness of the website’s name, but even amoung swine a pearl may be found.

Read it and remember. Don’t forget what you felt or what it was like when you heard the news. Don’t forget the drop in your stomach or the hopelessness when the reality of it all sank in. Don’t forget your fear and sense of loss, or your desire to help.

We as a people are excellent at forgetting but so bad at remembering. This is something that should never be forgotten.

Read it and remember.