On the Virtues of the (Paper) Address Book

Mead "At-a-Glance" Telephone Address Book

My computer died last week - gave-up-the-ghost died. (I'm writing this from my work laptop  - on my own time, just in case anyone's asking!)  But this is not a post about what happens if you lose your phone/computer/tablet and it contains all your addresses. And I do have a thing for paper and office supplies and wrapping paper and cards - always have. But this is not a post about how awesome paper is for paper's sake.

What this is about is the artifact we create over time when we keep a paper telephone-address book. This is about the way shifts subtle and dramatic in one's life are revealed in this simplest of devices.

I have kept a paper address book for years. I loved watching my mom keep hers, updating it with each birth, graduation, marriage, separation, divorce, move to a new house, new state, new job... and occasionally, a single solemn line through an entry marked the passing of a friend or colleague or family member. I'm sure the Franklin Planner people would advise to write everything in pencil, so it can be easily erased and updated. But that's not for me. I want to see the history etched into the pages. It's a living time capsule of your relationships. It's your past and present and it's always at your fingertips.

Much has been made of the tactile experience of reading a book that even the best e-ink on the best e-reader cannot replicate. The smell of slow decay that releases warm tobacco and vanilla notes from the paper as you turn the page will never emminate from an electronic device. And likewise, writing - and over-writing - one's contact list will never provide an equivalent experience to flipping through a paper address book. I can use different color inks to represent my family and D's. I can tuck a book of stamps into the pocket, so I'm not always searching for them in the junk drawer. I can slip business cards for the new salon I visit in the pocket, until I am sure I want to make it a permanent resident of the address book. (And when I tear the addresses off envelopes at Christmas I have a place to put them until I'm ready to update everything instead of sticking them on the fridge :-D)

I'm not advocating an 'either-or' approach, by the way - I keep both an electronic address book and a paper one. But it's the paper one that sit with when I'm writing party invitations or graduation announcements. It's the paper one that I reach for when I'm on the phone with someone and they need an address, and my computer isn't booted up. And if there's a major power outage, or I lose my phone, I will not lose access to my friends and family too...

Because ultimately, it all comes back to people. Physical addresses don't represent Facebook friends - they're real friends. Flipping through a paper address book is like flipping through a yearbook for your life - the good and the bad, by a name and address - but meaning much, much more.



Isn't this way better than a little black book? ;-)

 

At-a-Glance DayRunner 4-size Address Book from Staples

One more thing....
You always think you will remember forever the place your family lived when you were two. You think you will always remember the address where your grandparents lived when you were twelve and spent the summer with them. You think you'll always remember the address of the beach house you stayed at when you were fifteen. And chances are, you won't - but you won't realize it until it's too late. I make a habit of putting even 'obsolete' or un-used addresses in my book, as a kindof archive- addresses that I don't actually need for mailing anything, but they remind me of a time and place, and they provide fodder for a fun rainy day activity, to use Google Streetview to "revisit" places you used to frequent with your friends and family.


Tips - obvious, but true!

• If you can afford it, choose a model that allows you to add pages so you can add pockets, business card holders, and other 'add-ons' to customize the book's functions
• If you buy a refillable model, choose a brand carried by Staples, Office Depot, or another office products store or website, to increase the liklihood your style/size will not be discontinued
• Don't limit an address book to addresses: keep a list of your frequently-used websites, online accounts and passwords in the book - some, like the DayRunner, have pages just for documenting them
• A model with pockets lets you keep address labels, envelopes, cards, etc. until you have time to sit down and update your list - and keeps the fridge and junk drawer uncluttered!
• Buy an extra pack of page inserts when you buy the book and put them in it to guard against discontinuation of a specific size/style you like, even if you know it will be a long time before you need them, otherwise you'll lost the extra pack, I promise!