2011: The Year of my Last Paper Calendar?

I use a paper datebook. Because I want to see the entire month at once and be able to read what's in each square. Look quickly down my Wednesdays or my Thursdays or my Saturdays. See what weeks are slammed, and when, and if, there's some open space.

Portable tech has not existed for this. I used a Handspring device in film school to manage the chaos of being on eight different productions in eight different roles at once, but when I hit L.A. I went back to paper, and within a few years landed on the perfect calendar from Leather Gallery, which I've used for the past six years including this one:

I've learned not to bring my paper calendar into job interviews. Potential employers seemingly don't think, "How quirky that this tech savvy person still uses a paper calendar." No, I'm pretty sure they take a gander at this 39-year-old woman with gray hair and think, "Old Women Don't Understand the Internetz!" (I'm not making this up in my head. In one of my previous jobs someone told me this was a concern during the interview process. And it doesn't matter what you say, because most people trust their beliefs over what you're honestly telling them.)

 So what's changed? Why do I think this may be my last paper year? Two things, one practical and one gut.

Practical: The emergence of pad products. I can't afford an iPad, and I'm waiting for the next version to see if a couple changes are made, so I haven't investigated the calendar options, but clearly, if a pad product comes out where the screen can support a month-in-view calendar, surely the application will ultimately exist. And on that day, I will ecstatically move to an electronic calendar with all the functionality I can't get from paper.

And the gut? Well, simply put I love this year's calendar. The color, the texture of the leather. It is my perfect baby this year, and if you're a filmmaker, you know what must be done with babies. You must kill them.* I've always had a great instinct for this and am ruthless about it. Finding the perfect calendar this year, I felt certain in my gut it was the last one the minute I touched it.

2011: This is the year I find a new full-time position, start plotting my move to Silver Lake, upgrade to a smart phone (is it September yet???), and... get a pad product with a calendar application I can use for 2012.

*I couldn't quickly find a link to explain this. It refers to cutting a beautiful shot or scene in editing because it doesn't work within the flow of a piece. I can spot a "baby" shot in dailies. You leave it in, you leave it in, and then inevitably it goes in the end. But you've always got to try...

Comments

[tonkelu]

Five years ago we got a Mac, I discovered iCal and I stopped using my paper calendar. Two years ago I got an iTouch, discovered I was able to sync the calendar on it with the calendar on my Mac and, lo, I'm a happy little camper. I love that everyone in my family is color coded, that I can take people away to figure out when one of the kids saw the doctor or when I had a meeting. I can add notes, directions, URLs- it's awesome. I can view by day, month or week. Every once in awhile I miss my paper calendar but the ease and convenience of my iCals gets me over it pretty quickly.

[kazari]

I think you'll find the babies thing is actually:
"murder your darlings"
and it was a writer thing first, about getting rid of the sentences you love.

[lizriz]

Hi kazari!

Interesting, thank you! :)