I'm a sucker for a decent notebook. If it has a nice cover, an extra feature or two, or even if it's just college ruled (with neatly-printed lines, please), I'm going to like it. I don't use notebooks as much as I used to, since I spend about 18 hours online every day, but I still thought it might be a good idea to order this one from Club Bing:
I ordered it on the 9th of this month, and received it via USPS, today. The notebook, itself, is nice. The covers are sturdy and attractive; it includes a built-in elastic pen holder and a matching bookmark; the last two pages are a contacts page and a two-year (2009 and 2010) calendar. The pen is bright orange. That's a good thing. But clicking the button on the pen made it feel structurally unsound. The pen was quickly donated to my mother -- the family collector of novelty pens -- who reports that it writes smoothly.
And here's where Bing gets ya -- their cleverly-devised advertising page:
Why is this clever? Because my first instinct was to rip it out, but if I do that, then all that will show through those holes in the front cover are the lines on the writing paper, instead of pretty pictures. There will be no glossy sheet to protect the writing pages from inevitable beverage spillage. And, hey, no block between prying eyes and whatever I choose to write on that first page!
Touché, Bing! Touché! You've successfully forced me to look at your ad every time I decide to write!
And I still like the notebook.
