Commonplace Book

I love pens and notebooks. I have been keeping journals for the last 15 years. I mostly write down thoughts and keep lists, but I am not very structured. I almost never go back and read the things I have written.

A couple of years ago I read about the commonplace notebook. If I had describe it, I would say a commonplace notebook is a physical notebook[1] where you keep track of the best insights you have come across. It is place to log the ideas that resonated the most with you.

Like any journal, a commonplace book can be whatever you want it to be. Here is a reading list that I went through when trying to learn about the commonplace book. I got a lot of insight from these posts.

• Commonplace book - Wikipedia
• How And Why To Keep A “Commonplace Book” | Thought Catalog
• Keeping a Commonplace Book | Toasted Cheese
• What Is A Commonplace Book & Why You Need One
• Keeping a Commonplace Book (Why/How, with Ideas & Examples)

I recently started my commonplace book in a Baron Fig Confidant. We will see how it goes, but I really hope it sticks. So far I have written down a few quotes, and made notes about a couple of the books I read this year. I plan to add anything I learn from books, movies, articles, or any gems that I happen upon in daily life. Like many of the articles stated, it is important to review your commonplace book and keep those insights in the front of your mind as you continue to grow. Maybe this will be a journal I will actually go back to.

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1. This could also be a digital notebook, but I think a physical notebook would be more effective.  ↩

If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.

-Albert Einstein

Swiss Army Man

Swiss Army Man is a crazy movie. It is also one of my favorites of the year. I didn’t find it extremely deep. It mostly sticks to stoner philosophy that is ultimately coming from the brain of a disturbed individual. Even so, I found the writing to be clever. I can also see why some people hate this film. If it weren’t for the performances Swiss Army Man could have been a complete disaster. It struck a chord with me. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I watched Swiss Army Man on Amazon Prime Streaming, where I believe it is still available.

I really enjoyed this movie, while at the same time it doesn’t really feel like a movie. I actually think it would have been more effective as a short film. It feels like the Daniels got high and came up with a handful of good ideas for a story. That story could have been told in 30 minutes, but they decided to build an entire film around it. I enjoyed some of the “filler”, but in the end it didn’t come together for me as a satisfying narrative.

I enjoyed the premise, and there were great moments of writing. It just didn’t feel like a story that needed 1.5 hours of screen time. Maybe if I go back and watch it again I will feel differently.

I found it intriguing how the movie presents us with so many disgusting ideas and images… but then tries to mold that into something beautiful. Ultimately, if you go along for that ride and are able to see even a bit of beauty in the story, I think you will like the film.