I’m a techno-nerd. There’s no denying it. I love my iPhone. I’m deeply attached to my laptop. My Kindle accompanies me everywhere.

I was introduced earlier this year to the Evernote application. Evernote is a program that allows you to save just about anything; pictures, video files, notes, and even voice recordings to electronic notebooks. You can share your notebooks with individuals via emailed links. I quickly signed up for the paid subscription finding that I “maxed” out the free version’s information allotment size within days.

Having just described my crush on all things digital, there’s nothing that quite compares to knowing where to turn to in a notebook to find your doodle or scrawled phone number. There’s no waiting for the device to power up. There’s no need to slide through other notes, no removing gloves to tap a screen or cleaning a screen of a messy fingerprint only to find the information sought was just erased.

I’m a devoted pen and paper note-taker. I’m even picky about the paper. Give me a reporter’s notebook and I’m a happy girl.  Reporter’s notebooks are like skinny stenographer notebooks. They fit perfectly in your palm and flip open with a nice swish of confident expectancy. Just flinging open the front of one of my notebooks provides the feeling that this new page is going to be special. This page is “the one.” Every note is going to be brilliantly encapsulated and just brimming over with possibility.

My pens, if ballpoint, have to be cheap and Bic®; otherwise give me a nice hefty rollerball or a good feeling ultra-fine artists pen. The ink must always be black. The only sanctioned highlighter color is yellow. Any pencil usage must be from an approved mechanical pencil with the “clicker” button for lead advancement located near the point allowing for easy thumb access.

Paper and pen is king but electronic notes do have their advantage.

The ability to search for information stored in my electronic files is nice. At times I’m in too big of a hurry to search through my current stash of 11 reporter notebooks. Thankfully, I think I’ve found a solution.  From now on I’m going with what works best; good quality paper and great pens. I’m going to doodle, scribble and sketch to my heart’s delight. When I’ve completed my “old school” approach I’m going to grab up my iPhone, snap a picture of the page and file in Evernote.

Problem solved. Old school say hello to your digital friend.