A MONTHLY UPDATE FROM INSIDE FIELD NOTES | | Hi, it’s Jim from Field Notes. This is our 19th monthly newsletter containing a variety of stuff that doesn’t really fit anywhere else. Please respond to this email if you have comments, questions, or suggestions. | | TLDR Version: Headliners, Fastened, We Get Mail, Gisnep, Files Saved, Raw Truth, Chicago in June. | | An Art Project Based in Wisconsin | | Let’s say the artists we have collaborated with in the past were to get together for a fictional music festival. Wilco, Maggie Rogers, and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit would make for a terrific line-up. Now let’s assume this festival was to be a four-day affair, so we would need to book one more headliner. Who would that be? | | What We Talk About When We Talk About Staples | | As Bryan has explained numerous times over the years, the binder we use most frequently, the Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 270 5-pocket saddle stitcher with cover feeder/scorer & Rima RS 10S in-line stacker, uses spools of wire rather than individual staples, so we’re not using staples, we’re making staples. | | “I spent twelve years in the U.S. Army, deploying a few times along the way. It was during my time in the military that I discovered your notebooks. They fit perfectly in my uniform pockets and were lifesavers for jotting down critical info I needed at a moment’s notice. Fast-forward to my last deployment, where I had the pleasure of surviving multiple IED explosions. In one particular blast, I took some shrapnel to the head and arm –but don’t worry, I’m fine. God had my six.” | | “What I didn’t realize until I got home, though, was that those repeated close encounters with high explosives left some lasting effects. Turns out, having bombs go off near your head repeatedly is, who knew, not great for your brain. I started struggling to remember dates, times, people, and, well… most details in general. If my thoughts weren’t written down, they might as well have never existed.” | | “I went through rehab, where I learned to lean on technology and, crucially, pocket notebooks to keep my life together –helping me stay functional as a husband, dad, and employee. Then, earlier this year, I started a new job in a facility with Top Secret spaces. Sounds cool, right? It sounds cooler than it is. But the big downside? No personal electronics allowed. So, in the interest of national security (and my ability to remember literally anything), I’ve gone fully analog.” | | “Here’s where it gets fun –my neurologist actually wrote me a prescription for pocket notebooks. That’s right, I have a doctor’s note that says my brain medically requires Field Notes. For some people, Field Notes are a fun thing to collect or journal in. For me, they’re a lifeline –holding the thoughts my brain can’t.” | | Thanks a million for sharing Mike C. We appreciate you, and your neurologist. | | Note: On patrol or in battle, to identify positions relative to your own, think of standing in the center of a clock face. Twelve is in front of you, three is to your right, nine to your left, and six is the position directly behind you, where you are most vulnerable. When someone “has your six,” they are watching your back. | | Staple Day Readers, do you need a new bag for spring and summer trips to the farmers’ market or weekend getaways? Our Pitch Black Rolltop Backpack is made from recycled ocean plastic and is lightweight, durable, and looks great. Order one by Monday (4/14) and save $20, plus USA shipping is free. Just enter the coupon code NEWBAG when checking out. | | If you enjoy crosswords† or Wordle, or Spelling Bee, I have a recommendation for you. Try Gisnep. It’s a free daily word game by David Friedman, in which you try to decipher a quote and uncover its author by recognizing word patterns and conventions of grammar and spelling. I play every day. Like all good puzzles it’s a little challenging at first but gets easier and infintely more fun as you start to develop your own techniques for solving. If you want to give it a go, today’s puzzle would be a very good place to start. | | A collection of beautiful design sketches from the files of the now defunct Beverly Sign Co. make up the bulk of a new book by Kesley and Andrew McClellan, The Golden Era of Sign Design. The sketches were used to to sell designs to clients and then as references for sign painters, also known as “Wall Dogs,” who painted the signs on location. | | These sketches were saved by a young employee named Dan Colyer who was tasked with throwing the sketches into the trash by his union foreman. Instead he inquired if he could keep them. The reply went something like, “I don’t care what you do with them, so long as you get them out of here.” | | Lucky for us, and for anyone interested in typography, design, and the artistry and history of hand-painted signs. Watch our short documentary to learn more about The Beverly Sign Co. and “The Chicago Look,” our Spring Limited Edition. | | Margo, James, and Michael | | As noted in a previous Staple Day, I’m keeping a commonplace book to record quotes that resonate with the present me, so that the future me knows where he’s been. Here are a couple recent entries. | | “Because that’s what art is, in the end. One person trying to get another person they have never met to fall in love with them.” | | Note: That is the brilliant final line of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe, which made it to the semi-finals of this year’s just-concluded Tournament of Books. I was rooting for Margo, but I am looking forward to meeting the new champion, James. | | “An’ The Hog of the Forsaken
Got no reason to cry
He got to chew the angels
Fallen from on high” | | Note: Folk legend Michael Hurley died last week at 83. He was truly one of a kind. In a rollicking 2021 interview with Klemen Breznikar of Psychedelic Baby, Hurley said, about the music he appreciated, “I like to listen to people who are playing themselves, not somebody else or who they think they should be. I like a raw truth.” Seems to me he was also describing what folks most appreciated about him. | | Our Summer Limited Edition is at the bindery this week. It is a simple concept and collaboration, but to a greater extent than usual, the devil is in the details. Fall is in the works, and Winter involves a ton of production testing and historical research, just the way we like it. Please consider joining the thousands of folks who are along for the ride as subscribers for this year’s line-up of Memo Books, films, and subscriber exclusives. | | As always, thanks for paying attention. If you’re making plans to visit Chicago this summer, you might want to consider being here on the day of June 22nd and the evening of the 23rd. Just sayin.’ | | * Coined a long time ago in the Field Nuts Facebook group, “Staple Day” is traditionally observed when a writer reaches the exact middle of a Field Notes Memo Book, revealing the metal fasteners which bind the cover and the interior pages together. | | † My current crossword regimen is to solve the New Yorker crosswords on Monday and Tuesday and The New York Times on Wednesday through Sunday. The New Yorker puzzles are much more difficult than the early-week NYT ones. And they’re more fun and topical too. | | | | |
